My First Catfish in Ohio

My First Catfish in Ohio

Coming from a foreign country where there were no catfish to be caught by this youngster, it was a real experience catching my first catfish in Ohio. As a youngster, I was never fond of sitting still and waiting around for fish to nibble or bit my bait but I did eventually learn to fish for catfish as a means to pass the time and spend the day away from all the hustle and bustle of life itself. 

Barely a teenager and never owning a fishing rod or reel, I decided to join my buddies to go fishing one day down by the muddy river about three miles from where we lived. It was a long walk but once we got there we had plenty of time to rest as we decided where to cast the pole and the wrap and wiggle the live bait on the hook. 

We choose a spot near the bridge crossing the Scioto River and Greenlawn. It was one of the widest spots around and the depth there was just right for us to wade in if we had to or give the fish some room to swim in. Rocks on the bottom of the river made it slippery but we were focused and ready to haul in some fish to eat. 

I didn’t know a catfish from another fish and I was naïve to think that all I had to do was put on a worm, put the pole in the water and pull out a catfish. I have seen it a thousand times done in front of me but I had never done it myself so I was learning as I was watching the others do their thing with their poles. 

I didn’t have a fancy pole. It was just that, a pole, a bamboo pole with some nylon string and a red bobber, a piece of lead and a hook. Nothing fancy here but a typical south end Columbus Ohio fishing pole. 

Putting the bait in the water I was ready to fight the fish if it took the bait. It seemed simple enough to me. I was told catfish are strong and can break your line. My line was new and I thought it was strong enough to catch any fish stupid enough to eat my bait. 

Hours went by and no fish had either nibbled or swam around the bait. The water was clear considering the rest of the river looked muddy but the fish were being picky today. I moved around a little getting impatient moving from spot to spot. My friends told me to be relaxed and just sit down or lay down on the riverbank and enjoy the moment. 

I was thinking maybe I would catch a big one or even a medium one but so far nothing even touched my bait. I had no fancy lures, no fancy reel and all I had was a worm and a hook. I felt like I needed something else to catch a fish let alone a catfish. 

Even after hours of sitting there fishing for catfish my friends had failed to tell me the most important thing about catfishing. It wasn’t the type of bait, the lure or the place but rather it was the fact that catfish were different from other fish when you hook one and its time to take the hook out of its mouth. 

Finally, I felt something on my line. The red bopper was bopping and the line was moving and all of a sudden, the fish was swimming away with my bait. I missed it but I learned what to look for when they are nibbling and it gave me confidence there were actually fish around this spot. 

Calmly I sat down and started the process all over again. Thirty minutes passed and the bopper was bopping and the line was moving. This time I jerked the line and hooked the fish. It was a catfish, a real live catfish. I was so excited I quickly pulled it in and without thinking twice, I grabbed it as it wiggled and tried to pry the hook out of its mouth. Then it happened. A loud scream and dropping the fish back in the water, I was stung. My hand turned red with blood and I didn’t know what just happened. Shaking my head I was stunned.

I was not told about the unique whiskers of the channel catfish. Whiskers that protrude from the mouth and that can sting people when handling it wrong.  Secondly, my friends failed to tell me about the sharp spines these fish have near their fins. Each has three spines and a stinging thingy that hurts when you touch them or worse, grab them like I did.

Needless to say I experienced severe pain and my skin was turning red like it was on fire. When my friends were done laughing at me they told me to put my hand in the water but it didn’t help much. The pain was excruciating and all the fun of fishing went downhill from here on. Feeling like an idiot I put my hand in the water and swirled it around hoping the pain would go away. It didn’t but I knew I was going to survive.

When all the laughing was done and the rolling on the ground was over, their bellies hurting from the pain of laughing so much, I told them I didn’t know these fish could sting you. It was then when they showed me how to remove the hook from the catfish without getting stung. 

The moral of this story is if you are going catfishing, ask what is to be needed to know about the fish before you cast your bait into the water. Taking a break in the shade we found a nice ledge under the bridge to relax and talk about how and what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I said I was done fishing and you can have my pole because I am doing fishing for catfish today. 

Contrary to believe all fishermen are not create equal. I didn’t catch a monster as it must have been less than 12 inches or so but that channel catfish was a mean one and likely the last catfish I will ever expect to catch.