Lazy river days
By Matthew Neal
Argus Observer
Thursday, June 19, 2008 12:36 PM PDT
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| Matthew Neal | Argus observer
“I don’t touch bait or catfish,” Elizabeth Neal said. “But I like to reel ’em in.” Neal, seen here, is busy fighting a slimy catfish in the Snake River on Monday. |
Ontario —Sure, they are ugly, whiskered, freaky fish, but they are fun to catch. Almost anyone can catch a catfish, and you don't need a boat to do it. All it requires is some really disgusting, smelly bait, a fishing pole and a lawn chair. Throw in a few ice-cold beers (or sodas), lots of bug spray, and you’re golden.
The boys down in Huntington really get serious about it. They even throw a big catfish party/derby to celebrate these bottom-feeders and people come from miles around to try and catch the biggest catfish of all.
More than that, though, people just really enjoy the relaxing nature of soaking a night crawler in the river, sipping on a cold one and watching the pole tip, waiting for the tell-tale bite.
Because then, it’s fish on!
The catfish is a real survivor. Essentially, it can tolerate greater levels of a variety of factors that would be harmful to many other species of fish and so they are able to live in an environment like the Snake River, which, to say the least, is not the cleanest river in America.
Nevertheless, people from all walks of life, both young and old enjoy the lazy nature of catfishing.
In Idaho, the record channel catfish is 31 lbs. While the record flathead is 58 pounds 8 ounces, and was caught in Brownlee reservoir in 1994.
The Oregon channel cat record is 36 pounds, 8 ounces and was landed in McKay Reservoir in 1980.
