West Tawakoni, Texas- I recently returned from a fishing trip for catfish with guides George Rule, Casey Nobles, and a few of their good friends at Lake Tawakoni. We found the catfish receptive to the pungent aroma of punch bait and soured grain, as they usually are.  After a few hours fishing, the ice chest was brimming full of channel and blue catfish.  Nothing especially noteworthy about catching lots of catfish here, regardless the time of year one chooses to fish.  Tawakoni is, arguably, one of the best, if not THE best catfish lakes in the country and I was fishing with some ‘sure nuff’ catfish pros. I fully expect to catch catfish, LOTS of them when I head to good ‘ole Ta-Wak on a catfishing expedition.

What was different about this trip is the fact that we had a physically challenged  gentleman, Dennis Newton, aboard the specially designed 25 foot pontoon barge. Folks bound to wheelchairs are limited when it comes to fishing, many are relegated to fishing from the bank or possibly a sturdy dock. Rule and some of his lifelong friends worked with Voyager Tritoons of Tulsa and designed the safe, roomy craft that accommodates folks in wheelchairs. The boat has plenty of open deck space and a wide entrance ramp for loading and unloading the cumbersome chairs.  The craft has an extra pontoon that adds greatly to its safety and stability. “There are lots of folks out there that simply cannot get out on the water because of physical handicaps. We want to put as many of them as we can out on the water where they can enjoy catching fish just like the rest of us. ” says Rule.

Very quickly into this fishing trip, it became quite obvious that Newton was having the time of his life and, catching as many or more fish as anyone on the boat! With a special device attached to his wrist with Velcro that holds the butt end of the rod, Newton’s lightning reflexes jerked the rod sidewise to set the hook. He was obviously quiet adept at catching catfish, a veteran of many trips with Rule and Nobles.

Rule will continue putting his regular clients on catfish and Nobles will be the primary captain in charge of this new boat rigged specifically for physically challenged anglers but the team will work together closely,  I’m betting where you see Rule’s guide boat, the big tritoon barge won’t be far away, after all, fishing over baited holes with soured grain is the ticket some non-stop catfish action right now and, in this type fishing,  the more the merrier! 

ANOTHER PATTERN- Fishing with prepared catfish bait over holes baited with soured grain in water 20-24 feet is a great way to catch numbers of catfish weighing between 1.5 and 3 pounds but trophy class blue catfish are also being landed during the evening hours. Drift fishing with fresh shad during the evening hours or, very early in the morning is producing blue catfish up to 45 pounds. Blues have been reported from water as shallow as 5 feet but most of the fishing is in depths 20-30  feet. Circle hooks work best here on a Carolina rig with 4 foot leader. A small floater placed 6 inches above the hook keeps the bait up off bottom during the drift, which makes it easier for the blues to grab the bait as it drifts by. LC

Listen to Outdoors With Luke Clayton at www.catfishradio.com. Email Luke at lukeclayton@prodigy.net