# Something I've been curious about does anyone know?



## CatchFeesh (May 21, 2009)

I'm wondering if anyone has a definitive answer as to how long after you catch and release a catfish that it will eat again? Just curious as to whether or not they kind of realize what happened and are more cautious or if they just say screw it I'm hungry and don't care. Thanks for your help!


----------



## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I dont think anyone REALLY knows the answer. There are a lot of guesses on how long it takes before a fish will bite again. A lot of studies have been done on bass since they are fished for so much.

I think its really going to come down to the fish. Each fish is going to re-act different. I think that food availablity also comes into play. An area where there is not much food, teh fish are trained to eat whatever they can and when they can so they would probably bite sooner as they dont want to miss out on it.

I am interested it know if anyone has some info on it. Like I said I have read some stuff on bass, but never on catfish.


----------



## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

i seen a steelhead break off a piece of ropo as a stringer and get caught 1 hour later with about 2 foot of rope atill tied thru his gill/mouth.


----------



## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

beleive it or not i have seen the same flathead catfish re-caught in 15 minutes at a pay-pond. wasnt a starving fish either, was fat and healthy. i caught the fish, had a pic taken and got it weighed, it was then re-tagged and released. before i got back to my spot someone else was bringing back up to the bait shop where it was i.d.'ed as the fish i just caught. it swam approx 100 yards from release point and engulfed someones nightcrawler.


----------



## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

2 years ago my brother hooked a nice flathead and fought it in to the bank where it made a hard run and broke his line just above the swivel...............about a half an hour later he hooked and landed the same flathead a 22 lber ..............the fish still had his leader and hook and swivel in its mouth from when he broke his line ...............both times the flattie hit on a 5-6 inch bluegill !! so i think they will eat again immediately if they are hungry .


----------



## PIKEMAN (Apr 14, 2004)

It only happened once, but my brother and I had a small channel cat on a light rope stringer over the side of our boat. My brother was screwing around and dangling his hook and work just over the side of the boat when the channel cat grabbed the bait.... while attached to the stringer.


----------



## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

2 years ago steve and i was fishing a spot and he got a run. He set hook and fought the fish for about 20 seconds and it came off. About 10 seconds later my clicker started screaming. It was a 19 pound flathead and it was bleeding badly where steve had just hooked it. its crazy but when a catfish decides its hungry basically nothing will stop it from feeding


----------



## Predator225 (May 14, 2005)

2 weeks ago, I caught a channel cat (about 20 inches or so) on stinkbait. Released it, and a couple hours later - after catching several other cats - caught the same fish again. I knew it was the same fish because it was missing an eye and it had my treble hook marks in the corner of its mouth.


----------



## 2percent (Jun 27, 2009)

We were out at east branch 3 weeks ago and my cousin caught a cat on his pole and started to reel it in let his drag out and it ate his other line he had out there. one fish 2 poles never seen it before.


----------



## AkronCATS (Nov 5, 2008)

Wow, that is crazy that that fish bit on both his poles at the same time, I'm sure the grandkids and great grandkids will hear about that story. AMAZING!!


----------



## Bassnpro1 (Apr 6, 2004)

2percent said:


> We were out at east branch 3 weeks ago and my cousin caught a cat on his pole and started to reel it in let his drag out and it ate his other line he had out there. one fish 2 poles never seen it before.


I've seen that happen once with a bass in Florida. We were fishing shiners and the bass ate one, and got over to the other one before I realized I had a bite. So my dad and myself were both hooked up to the same fish.


----------



## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

2percent said:


> We were out at east branch 3 weeks ago and my cousin caught a cat on his pole and started to reel it in let his drag out and it ate his other line he had out there. one fish 2 poles never seen it before.


I have seen that a couple of times where a fish ate a bait and then ate another one, without knowing it was hooked and the fisherman did not know. We all know cats arent line shy so that probably does not bother them. It is definitley crazy though when they do that. That is why they were one of the tops on the fish food chain, they will eat anything and everything and a lot of it!


----------

