Nice video, having said that. I fish for catfish a little differently. I learned to use a surf rod as I don't have a boat. I use what i learned as a Sliding sniker for bottom fishing. You slide the sniker up the line and either tie a know about 1 foot from the end and put a split shot sinker there for a stopper for the sinker, or put a large swivel snap at the end for the stopper. Put the hook at the end and when you cast the stopped allows you to cast way out there, but when the fish picks up the bait, they can't feel the weight of the sinker. When I moved to the East Coast, I found that they call that a Carolina Rig. If using cut bait, remember to use the head also. Learned that last year. I was throwing away the best part of the cut bait. LOL
I also use a surf rod, and conventional reel..... shock leader, and 6 Oz wt...... launches out 100 yards or better every cast
About casting overhead for distance, have someone use there phone to video you as you cast, from the side if possible. Then watch when your releasing and if it goes straight, like a bullet, or arcs up. If it is going up then your releasing to early. Just a thought now that almost everyone has a cell phone that does video. Have them do it when your casting and make your casts go farther without changing weights/sinkers. So much easier that way to learn what you are doing wrong, even though you never knew that you were releasing early.
The bigger the eyes 👀 on your surf rod , the distance increase a lot more!! My dad made me a14’ one piece surf rod and the folks on the beach couldn’t believe my cast! I was some where in my early teens! Turned 18, sent to nam, come home, found out my younger bro sold my surf board and surf rod to go to California in my 69’ nova!!! I had to start over!!!
I have caught the biggest catfish by using a 1 or two ounce sinker. this is really heavy. I get a 3 way swivel and I cut 2 pieces of line about a foot or foot and half long. Tie one piece to a swivel head then the other. Then tie the remaining head to your line. I use 4 aught hooks with a long shaft. cut bait stays on well. dead chubs, clams, shrimp, crawdads even worms and mud leeches. tie the heavy sinker to the other piece of line. I have even been known to find the right size rock and tie it on if I can't find 2 oz weights. I cast into dams and always get big cat.
I hope you are using a big sea fishing reel next to dams. Cats there can really get big. Really big, like 6 foot across the eyes and bigger. On the Gila River, Coolidge dam was the first dam in Arizona. In 1964, I watched from the top of the dam with a friend as about 6 foot of Carp almost beached itself getting away from a "BIG" shadow chasing it. About the size of a Van. We were on top of the Dam trying to figure out if we should go swimming and fishing on the Dam side or the river side, We went to the river side. LOL The the friend's Grandfather had been there years before and where the old boat dock was pulled in an 80 LB Blue Cat, it was longer than his Grandfather was tall. They had hung it on a Deer block and tackle and he was standing next to it in the picture.
Well I have seen some big catfish at the Mississippi river museum that were as big as a man. I fish the cedar and the Wapsie rivers. They are smaller rivers a little bigger than a stream. The biggest I have caught is 8 1/2 pounds channel cat in the Wapsie my son caught its twin the same day. They were within an ounce in weight. A guy last week caught a 34.4 pound Flathead in the Cedar.
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