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Trophy Catfishing

by Kevin Patton

Ken Freeman explains his system for catching trophy catfish at the Illinois Fish and Feather Expo. Freeman runs the Big Cat Quest tournament circuit, which will have stops at Rend Lake and the Illinois River in 2008.

Trophy catfishing is Ken Freeman's passion. He likes other types of fishing, but nothing excites him more than the challenge of catching monster catfish.

The native Tennessean won his first catfish tournament while fishing with his dad at the young age of eight years.

Despite being tempted by the allure of bass fishing (he won the B.A.S.S. Southern Invitational in 1993), his first love is chasing big whiskered fish.

He is quick to point out that catfish tournaments have been around a long time, ever since a man from the Chicago area named "Big Cat" Patterson organized one decades ago.

"It is exciting to catch big catfish," maintains Freeman. He should know, having caught catfish as heavy as 90 pounds.

He was present when Phil King caught a record 103-pound catfish during a Memphis, Tennessee tournament, only to have his record eclipsed by a 108-pound fish a mere 16 hours later.

Freeman pointed out that Illinois has a fine tradition of yielding big catfish. The current world record 124-pound, blue catfish was caught from the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois.

Freeman discussed some of what it takes to successfully pursue trophy catfish at a seminar at the Illinois Fish and Feather Expo, held at the Interstate Center in Bloomington last weekend.

This monster catfish won first prize at the tournament held on the Illinois River at Havana last year.

"There is no wrong way to fish for catfish," says Freeman, "but you must be confident in your tackle to catch the trophy fish."

The time of year, maintains Freeman, is what determines the rig that you use to fish for catfish.

For instance, during the beginning of winter shad, herring, and other baitfish begin to die off and vertically float to the bottom, so this is when your presentation needs to be vertical.

Another important aspect of trophy catfishing is the tackle. The rod he uses is a Quantum PT salt water model with plenty of backbone in either a 6 1/2 or 7-foot length.

Freeman's favorite "river rig" consists of 25-pound monofilament as his main line, which is attached to a three-way swivel. A 13/0 Daiichi circle hook is attached to a leader that is tied to the middle part of the swivel and a no-roll, triangular-shaped sinker is tied to the bottom of the rig.

During more vertical presentations, Freeman utilizes party balloons as floats and he does use 100-pound Power Pro line in some situations, but the stout Daiichi hooks and big bait are mainstays when pursuing trophy fish. He recommends putting 20-pound monofilament on your reel spool as backing underneath the Pro line.

Recognizing that some catfishermen like to drift fish, or "bump" fish as he calls it, Freeman's system involves finding fish using his electronics and then anchoring for them.

He emphasizes that we need to learn to be three dimensional fishermen to increase our fishing success.

"We see the top of the water and our depth finder tells us where the bottom is," he says, "but the most important area is in between the top and bottom."

Freeman uses these big circle hooks, with big bait attached, to pursue trophy catfish. He has caught fish weighing more than 70 pounds with them.

In addition to locating where the fish are, Freeman takes into account the effect that the sun and moon can have on fishing. He notes that the catfish bite usually lessens during a full moon.

"Dinks, danks, and dunks" are how Freeman describes the various levels of catfish bites. A dink is just when your rod tip slightly moves and he advises to "leave it alone."

He says "dinks" are caused by smaller fish and most fishermen make the mistake of reeling their line in to check their bait after such a bite.

A "dank" is a harder bite that moves your rod more and a "dunk" is when your rod doubles over and you know that you are in for a fight.

"When the dinks stop, big fish have moved into the area and the little fish leave. That's when you see your dunks," says Freeman.

For Freeman, it's those "dunks" that get him excited about catching monster catfish and he makes a good point.

After all, how many bass fishermen, or any other fishermen for that matter, can boast of catching fish as long as your leg that weigh 70, 80, or maybe 90-pounds?

If you are interested in learning more about catfishing and catfish tournaments, visit Ken Freeman's web site at: kenfreemanoutdoorpromotions.com