Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network Show Name: What’s The Catch?Episode Title:  Feline Frenzy

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch?  We’re gonna discuss: Catfish, what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should wanna catch them.

Segment 1: Species Background

Catfish are a type of ray-finned fish. There are many different species of catfish and can be found pretty much anywhere in the world except Antarctica. They get their name from the barbels on their face, which look like cat whiskers. To make this episode more interesting and less time consuming, we’ll just be talking about the ones I'm most familiar with, that being the Channel catfish and the Blue catfish. Both are extremely common, with the Blue catfish being the most plentiful in the country. Both also can grow to be extremely big, with the blue in particular being able to reach over 100 lbs!

Fun facts:

• Average Blue catfish length: 25-46 inches
• Average blue catfish weight: 83 lbs
• Average channel catfish length: 22 inches
• Average channel catfish weight: 3-10 lbs
• Biggest blue catfish ever caught: 143 lbs, 57 inches
• Biggest channel catfish ever caught: 58 lbs, 48 inches
• They don't have scales like other fish, they have something that is very similar to human skin
• They have taste receptors all over their body
• Their bottom dwellers, meaning they eat whats on 
• They taste delicious to eat when deep fried

Segment 2:  Where can I catch them?

Both of these types can be found in Lakes, ponds, and reservoirs all around the State of New Jersey.

Even if you're not fishing in Nj, if you find a new spot and want to check it out, I would recommend throwing out a line for these guys. You never know if they could be in there or not

Places in/ near hopewell

• Rosedale lake: pennington
• Curlis lake: hopewell
• Beaver pond: Yardley PA
• Delaware River

Segment 3: What can I use to catch them?

Unlike other types of fish, trying to catch them using plastic baits isn’t that effective, you gotta go old school. This means nothing but live bait. These guys are bottom feeders and will almost eat anything, so trying to find the right bait for these guys won’t be hard. Since they are bottom feeders, you’ll want to rig up with some kind of weight to have the hook on the bottom of the lake/pond.  For rods, you want a strong medium-heavy action rod with a 12-20 lb test of either braid or monofilament line. For hooks, I would recommend octopus hooks, their rounded shape and barbed tip makes it much easier to hook into these guys. 

Best rigs

•  Slip rig: you can either use an egg sinker or bell sinker, it’ll just be your preference. Will not affect your ability to catch these guys

Best baits

•  Liver
• Worms
• Crawfish
• Frogs
• Live bait/ cut bait
• Hotdogs
• Really could be any type of food or meat

Segment 4:  Why should I want to catch them?

These aren't the prettiest fish around, but they make up for it in their size and strength. With how big these guys can get, you expect a challenge when reeling them in. They are just all around fun fish. I feel that any type of fishermen could catch them, there isn’t a big skill needed to catch them like other species. They’re also cheap to get bait for because you can just pull some worms from the ground or get a pack of hotdogs from the fridge, so they won’t kill your wallet with a trip to cabelas or dick’s.  

Music Credits: 

•  Caravan By Oliver Tray on Soundcloud

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