Choose the right hook to ensure fish reach the net. Circle hooks shine for trolling and drifting; J-hooks excel when anchored. (Shutterstock image)
Sometimes I accidentally do the right things to catch catfish. Take, for instance, the time my brother Bill and I were slow-trolling in 15 feet of water along a shoreline on a big flood-control reservoir. I hooked a nice 5-pound channel cat. Bill put the boat’s motor in neutral as I fought the fish, and the boat drifted with the wind for 5 or 10 minutes while we landed, unhooked and admired the fish. When Bill turned to get back to fishing, his rod was doubled over in the rod holder.
That prompted a "Dumb and Dumber" scramble that involved tripping over our net’s handle and bumping into each other twice. By the time we got his 8-pound cat into the boat, the wind and...