Mississippi River Monsters

Mississippi

River Monsters

Outdoors Columnist The Mississippi River is crossed quite often and seldom fished. One can only imagine the fish monsters that live in Big Muddy.

Josh Doyle recently caught and released a blue catfish that weighed 81 pounds.

He was fishing within 20 miles of the bridge. The river record is over 110 pounds.

37 year old Josh Doyle is the regional business manager for a medical supply company. He and his family live in Marion. When asked why he like to fish the river, he said that you never know what you are going to catch. He and fishing partner Matt Bingham were fishing south of the bridges in a new place they had never fished before when the big cat took a hook baited with skip jack, a bait fish. The fight was on!

Doyle launches his 17 foot Sea Ark boat powered with a 115 hp motor, from the north ramp at Mud Island. This is the only launch site for almost 100 miles stretching from Osceola to the north to the Battle Axe ramp south of the bridges. He says that quite often they do not see anybody else fishing. They see an abundance of wild life like deer, turkeys and other river animals enjoying life along the river. It is very peaceful and helps get your mind right!

When he first decided to try Old Man River, he hired river guide James Patterson to teach him the basics, especially boat safety and “reading” the river. Life jackets are an absolute requirement as the river can be extremely dangerous. Doyle teamed up with Matt Bingham from Memphis and they fish together often. He said Bingham really knows the Mississippi and has taken him under his wing to teach him how to catfish.

Bingham owns the Mississippi state record with a 77.7 pound flathead cat. They fish about 20 times a year for big catfish only. Their best day was 25 fish weighing over 300 pounds. They weigh and release all they catch.

Catfish this big would not be good tasting.

Josh uses heavy action rods with big Shimano reels with line counters.

These large capacity reels hold more than 400 yeads of heavy line. The line counters show how deep and how much line is out.

This is necessary for walking baits and drifting. His big cat peeled the drag down to almost bare spool. There are three main techniques for catching big cats on the river. First is “walk the bait” where the hook with bait is thrown into a channel and allowed to bounce off the bottom going down stream.

Second is anchor behind a dyke or deep hole and put out several rods and just wait. If nothing in 20 minutes, move to another spot.

Last is drift fishing down stream with a trolling motor going against the current. Drift speed must be around 1 mph. The big cat was caught walking the bait.

Josh and Matt usually fish two tournaments a year, the Osceola and the Bass Pro Shop tournament at Memphis that expects at least 100 boats. The entry fee is $250 per boat and Bass Pro has a $25,000 prize package. Their best placements are a 3rd at Osceola and a 4th at Memphis.

Doyle and Bingham only fish for big fish. Josh has two children, daughter Harper and son Hayes. He uses Harper as his measuring stick on the cats. If the fish is not bigger than Harper, the fish does not get its picture taken. A neat way to judge fish. The 81 pound blue cat is his largest fish followed by a 53 pound flat head. Before having a family Doyle used to fish a lot more but he looks forward to the kids joining him on the river. They have both caught bream from a local fish pond.

The Mississippi River can be big and scary but it is open to anyone with the equipment and knowledge to enjoy it. The fishing can be spectacular but extremely dangerous. Find someone with a working knowledge to teach you the ropes. Doyle suggests James Patterson, known as BIG CAT, out of Memphis to guide. He is very knowledgeable and river savvy.

By the way, Lakeside Taxidermy does not mount catfish.

With the fill moon coming this week, the fishing in local lakes should be very good. Take that kid with you. He might teach you something.

Papa Duck Lakeside Taxidermy 870-732-0455 or 901-4823430 jhcriner@hotmail.com

By John Criner