Catching a catfish on a rod and reel is one of the most fun things an angler can do. But many of us who love catfishing also enjoy alternative methods of cat-catching, such as jug fishing, trotlining and — one of my favorites — limb-lining.
In its simplest form, a limb line is nothing more than a baited hook and line tied to a stout yet springy limb overhanging the water. The fisherman usually baits his hook with a lively baitfish, such as a live bluegill, bullhead or big shiner. The line will then be adjusted so the baitfish hangs very close to the water’s surface, where its struggling and splashing will attract a hungry flathead, channel cat or blue cat. When a catfish takes the bait and gets hooked, the limb’s flexibility keeps the fish from breaking the line until the fisherman makes his rounds and removes his catches.
The technique is simple and effective, but on some waters, it can be difficult to find just the right overhanging limb in the right location, and if the branch isn’t sturdy or springy enough, a catfish could break it or pull free of the hook. On lakes and rivers with lots of standing dead timber, anglers often surmount this problem by tying or nailing boards or poles to tall, straight, vertical snags and hanging the limb lines from those. But attaching crosspieces in this manner can be very time-consuming, and the boards or poles should be removed after each fishing trip, which makes their use unfeasible for most casual fishermen.
Now, thanks to Steve Green of Spring Hill, Kansas, there’s a new way of catfishing, similar to limb-lining, that’s much more convenient and productive. Tinkering in his shop, Green developed a sturdy metal device called the Topcat that quickly straps onto a stump or standing snag to create a lining spot even where no overhanging branches are available. A semicircular “collar” at the base of the device fits against the tree, and an attached nylon strap wraps around the tree and tightens down to hold the Topcat securely. Protruding at an angle from the collar is a short, ultra-sturdy pole on which you attach the provided line, which comes pre-rigged with a top-quality hook, swivel and rubber bungee specially made to handle the thrashing and twisting of catfish weighing up to 100 pounds or more.
On April 13 and 14 this year, Green joined me and my son Josh Sutton on Lake Conway in Faulkner County to show us the Topcats in action. We chose Conway because it has lots of standing timber where the Topcats can be placed and is loaded with big flathead and channel catfish. Most of the state’s Game and Fish Commission lakes, which have similar cover and catfish, would work just as well.
After catching several dozen sunfish we kept alive to use as bait, we attached 30 Topcats to snags and stumps along a half-mile stretch close to shore in shallow water. We baited each with a big lively sunfish near sunset the first day, then left the Topcats overnight and checked them at first light the following morning.
Green said Topcats work best in spring as the water temperature rises from 60 to 80 degrees, then again in late summer and fall when the water temperature falls from 80 to 60 degrees. That’s when catfish are likely to be prowling shallow portions of lakes and rivers where Topcats work best.
“We like the bait up near the surface where it’s splashing and making a commotion,” he said. “The more commotion it’s making, the more likelihood that the big lively baitfish is going to get eaten. I tell folks if the bungee on the Topcat line is in the water, then you’re placing your bait too deep.
“We catch the most and biggest catfish by placing Topcats in areas where the water is 3 to 8 feet deep,” he continued. “If the water is deeper than that, catfish won’t come up for the bait because they can’t see or hear it splashing, or smell the scent stream it gives off.”
The best Topcatting locales tend to be transition areas — for example, where a tributary flows into the main portion of a lake, or side channels that rise onto shallow flats. These provide deep-water areas where catfish can retreat, and shallow-water areas where cats feed at night.
“I like areas with a lot of structure,” Green said. “For example, if I see a big stump field where a lot of treetops have broken off and are lying in the water, if it’s in the right depth of water, that can be an excellent fishing spot. I also like to see a lot of doubles and triples — anything with double branches, triple branches or clusters of snags that provide areas where baitfish can hide. Big catfish routinely come to such spots to feed.”
Green noted that it’s important to avoid handling baitfish when you have something on your hands catfish might find offensive. Whiskerfish have extremely acute senses of taste and smell, and if they detect certain compounds in the water they don’t like, they won’t bite.
“You’ll catch more catfish as you avoid coming in contact with gas, oil, bug spray, perfume or cologne on the day you’ll be fishing,” he said. “I gas up my truck and check my oil well before I go on a fishing trip so there’s no chance I get any fuel or oil on my hands that might transfer to the bait. And I avoid using insect repellent and cologne for the same reason. Anything unnatural that’s off-putting to catfish will be a deterrent.”
Before Green visited Lake Conway, he had enjoyed Topcatting success on 136 trips in a row.
“I’m proud to say we caught fish on every single trip — more than 800 altogether that weighed a total of more than 5,000 pounds,” he said, smiling. “We’ve never gotten skunked.”
I’m proud to say Green didn’t get skunked on Lake Conway, either. As he, Josh and I cruised out to check the lines at first light, we were giddy with anticipation. Some people say lining this way isn’t as much fun as fishing with a rod and reel, but I beg to differ. When you get near and see one of the Topcat poles dipping toward the water, you know you’ve caught something, and you’re eager to pull the line and see what it is. The anticipation breeds excitement, making
this a superfun way to fish.
The first two fish we caught were big channel cats — around 7 to 8 pounds each. Then we all got drenched when Josh pulled the line on a 15-pound flathead Steve deftly netted. Another nice flathead — a 10-pounder — was on the next line, and three more jumbo channel cats after that. The baits we used were filleting-size bluegills intended to entice some of the lake’s 50-pound-plus flatheads, so our catch was limited to catfish big enough to swallow 6- to 8-inch-long bream. Had we used smaller live fish as our enticements, I have little doubt we’d have caught a catfish on every line.
Even so, none of us was unhappy with our success. The cats we caught produced eight quart bags of delicious boneless fillets for future fish fries, and catching those hard-fighting fish made our Good Friday fishing trip fun and unforgettable.
For more info on Topcats and Topcat fishing, visit Green’s website, www.topcatfishingtackle.com, or friend him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/topcatfishing.