Kayak Catfish Hunt for Thai Spicy Catfish: From Slow Start to Kitchen Success

Kayak Catfish Hunt for Thai Spicy Catfish

From Slow Start to Kitchen Success 🎣🍛

Ever had one of those mornings where the fish make you earn every single bite? That’s exactly how this kayak fishing adventure started.

I launched before dawn with one clear goal: catch fresh catfish for my favorite Thai Spicy Catfish dish. The shad that normally hang out at the boat ramp were playing hard to get. I spent way more time than I wanted chasing bait, but that’s part of the honest outdoors life, right?

Patience paid off. I finally gathered enough shad to set out a full dozen juglines. Once those lines were soaking, the catfish started cooperating. I ended the morning with more than enough fat, healthy fish for the recipe — plus plenty of extras to share or freeze!

There’s nothing quite like paddling home with a cooler full of fresh catch and turning it straight into a hot, spicy meal. From kayak to kitchen — this one felt extra rewarding.

Have you ever had a fishing trip that started slow but finished strong? Drop your favorite catfish recipe or cooking method in the comments. I love hearing your stories!

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Thanks for watching and reading! Tight lines and good eats 🐟
Average Angler Life — Real fishing, real food, real stories.

YouTube Shorts | Kayak Fishing | Juglining for Catfish

YouTube Shorts video on a fun trip fishing for catfish using homemade diy juglines while out in the kayak on the local lake! Caught a big one that I had to land on shore… no net and windy conditions. Better to take it to the boat ramp. Add it to the COAF Shorts playlist – click to see more.

iFishNews Fishing Podcast #7 - More Jugline Fishing on Lake Lavon

Had a fun time fishing with jug lines this past Saturday. Posted the video on our YouTube Channel – COAF Field Team. Here is an accompanying iFishNews Fishing Podcast to point out a few lessons learned this round!

Key Take Aways:

• Have a backup plan for bait. Cooler temps and windy conditions, changed the pattern. No Shad at first. Luckily, able to pickup Nightcrawlers at a bait shop / convenience store.
• Adjust for wind, if too windy… move to calmer waters. In our case, across the cove to a leeward shoreline.
• Don’t wind the jugline’s line. The up and down motion resuls in a slack in the line, giving the chance for the Catfish to twist off the hook Instead, retrieve the line, keeping a steady strain on the line to keep the fish from throwing the hook.
• Circle Hooks tended to work better when the Catfish were slowly taking the bait and setting the hooks themselves. J-Hooks tended to work better when the Catfish struck hard on the first bite and then started to run. Best to have both available, and adjust as needed.
• Adjust jugline pattern starting sets shallow, deeper, and along a bottom slope and/or humps… move to the “money zone” concentrating the juglines as the Catfish tend to one of the sets.

All for now, and Good Luck and Good Fishing!

More Jugline Fishing for Catfish #lakelavon

Was a tough start Saturday… windy and a little chilly, plus no shad at the boat ramp at Highland Park. Made the quick adjustment, and decided to head to calmer waters… Bratonia Park, and to the Branch Convenience Store for bait.

No shad but they did have Nightcrawlers. Enough for us to get started setting out juglines. Luckily, did catch a few shad in the shallows as well.

In short order, had our lines deployed. But, took almost two hours before the first bite… a Blue Catfish that went for Shad.

After the first one was caught, bite stayed steady with several undersized caught and released; and then, we caught six Catfish – five Blue Catfish and one Channel Catfish, for the stringer for Dinner… Blackened Catfish and Shrimp Etouffee!