Anymore Catfish Tournaments?

[Catmando]

I can't believe we are nearing the best part of the season for Titan catfish and there is not 1 tournament scheduled for the next 6 weeks. This is the time you are going to see the biggest fish come out of this lake and we all know tournaments bring big business. Otherwise people start putting away their cat poles and dusting off their noodle rods for trout. I suggest a Catfish Titan Tournament for early October. The biggest fish on record was caught mid October and because of these heatwave, the water temperature hasn't started to drop as usual which is delaying the start of the best time to fish. Surface day temperatures are still near 80 while the feed bags don't go on until the temperature starts cooling a few degrees a week for the next 6 to 10 weeks. Of course there is the King of Cats on October 25th but that is already set in stone. For the rest of the guys and gals who enjoy tournament fishing, it is over and way too soon in my opinion.. Everyone wants a chance at a TITAN and tournaments bring them out. So why is nothing scheduled? Come on Bites ON, Turners, BOOYAA, IRVINE LAKE or any other business. Host a Titan Tournament! If it were trout season, there would be at least 2 more scheduled so don't miss out on the business, advertisement and money that may be associated with the biggest fish of the year. It's like getting a commercial during the super bowl! Tournament fishing is such a rush and I can't believe no one wants it. Oh well, just my 2 cents put in. Hopefully it was worth the write. Love for you guys to weigh in on this subject. The more comments and likes, the better chance we have. Oh yeah, it should have extended hours until 4 am and maybe even the opportunity to fish the other side of the buoy line or "forbidden zone" like we had many years ago. You can even charge an extra $10 for wristband entry. Just something to chew on. Please chime in if you think it is a good or even bad idea. Thànks!

CMD

[johnnyraptor]

Good idea. I agree Catfish season ending too soon!!:Fishing Catch:

[fisherman951]

CMD i see u talk alot about that forbiden zone is the fishing really good in that area? I know that u have studied the lake for many years and are good at what you do but im.just curious of how good that area is

[Catmando]

Well catfish are generally drawn to dams especially on bodies of moving water. Many large cats are caught near the dam certain times of the year. The forbidden zone is also a main attraction to fishermen. It kind of goes with the saying that, "The grass is greener on the other side". When people are told you can't do something, you just want to do it even more, right? Years ago when we were allowed to go over there one special night, it actually turned up being a dud. Everyone was excited to go across the line. We all got anchored up and no one was getting bit, so most people ended up going back to their original spots back in the flats and all. I am sure some large fish do cruise that area but I won't necessarily say it is packed of fish all on the other side of the buoy line. The fish are spread all over the lake so it's not that huge a deal, just would be nice to explore uncharted waters. Get me?

[etucker1959]

Well catfish are generally drawn to dams especially on bodies of moving water. Many large cats are caught near the dam certain times of the year. The forbidden zone is also a main attraction to fishermen. It kind of goes with the saying that, "The grass is greener on the other side". When people are told you can't do something, you just want to do it even more, right? Years ago when we were allowed to go over there one special night, it actually turned up being a dud. Everyone was excited to go across the line. We all got anchored up and no one was getting bit, so most people ended up going back to their original spots back in the flats and all. I am sure some large fish do cruise that area but I won't necessarily say it is packed of fish all on the other side of the buoy line. The fish are spread all over the lake so it's not that huge a deal, just would be nice to explore uncharted waters. Get me?

I would like to see a 100 lbs catfish caught at Irvine lake to prove they exist!!!! So my suggestion is we hire Quint (Catmando) to catch that (Shark) I mean catfish. To do so we allow him unlimited rights to go in the Forbidden zone anytime he likes!!!! lol

[Doghunter]

Fishing till 4am would be great, it seem like for us, we starting getting a lot of bites at about 11pm.

[troutdog]

I think that's a great idea. As a knowlegeable local catfish guide, bait manufacturer, regular patron and current big fish of the lake title holder why don't you host the event? Come on Ronson, you're a Catfish Baller....do a catfish seminar, how about a free guide trip on your boat to the winner? You and your crew have cleaned up the past few events, give something back to the lake that helped put you on the map!

Whatever comes of this I say any fish that comes to the scales over 15lbs needs to be ALIVE and well for release back into the lake, no stiffys, no fish with bleach white gills, no sunken eye balls.....

Team 57 will be there as always in support! PM me if you would like help promoting Catmandos "Fall of the Titans" Tournament


TD

[Hometown]

I am with Troutdog Team 57 would help out

[guide]

Ronson as soon as I read your post all I could think was the tournament named " TOP THE TITAN TOURNAMENT ". I think its a great idea. I personally think you are the king of catfishing and this would only benefit the lake. I'm very competitive but have met some very special friends from fishing during tournaments. I personally am going for a 100 pounder and have a lot to learn before that day comes. I'm on board for another tournament.

[crappiemike]

I'm down with that!!!
Maybe I can hang a
Floating light over the
Rail,,,LOL.....




Cm

[Hitts0n]

We know you can pull it off go for it

[Catmando]

I think that's a great idea. As a knowlegeable local catfish guide, bait manufacturer, regular patron and current big fish of the lake title holder why don't you host the event? Come on Ronson, you're a Catfish Baller....do a catfish seminar, how about a free guide trip on your boat to the winner? You and your crew have cleaned up the past few events, give something back to the lake that helped put you on the map!

Whatever comes of this I say any fish that comes to the scales over 15lbs needs to be ALIVE and well for release back into the lake, no stiffys, no fish with bleach white gills, no sunken eye balls.....

Team 57 will be there as always in support! PM me if you would like help promoting Catmandos "Fall of the Titans" Tournament


TD
TD, I would love to put on the tournament. Issue is that it costs money. That is why I suggested it to the companies that are out right now including the lake. I quit all by business ties to fishing years back. There were a lot of people from this site complaining aabout me ein a guide and being able to be in tournsments. Guiding and seminars were my way of sharing and giving back what I knew. I only guided about once a week which in no way gave me an advantage since I already had a full time job elsewhere. It actually crippled my chances at doing good in tournaments because I had to spend my time trying to put fish on the boat of any size instead of spending my time Lear in the lake and finding the big ones. Those who were complaining were actually shooting themselves in the foot!...lol. So because of all the complaints and wbining, it came down to giving back by guiding and teaching others or being able to improve my skills and fish tournaments. Well, since I love tournaments, I quit guiding. I am sure that bunch of complainers wished they could take it back now. That was the worst thing they could have done. Anyway, that is why I cannot host any tournaments anymore, just participate. I am sure 5 years later it us on jobs that me being a guide had nothing to do with my success. Irvine stay always. Knew that but had to side with the masses to keep the complainers happy. Happy now?!...lot. I would lo en to offer a guide trip but as I said, I was forced into retirement. I am sure there should be no problem now if I decided to start guiding again. It is a win win for everyone. So if enough decide to have me guide an compete. I will definitely consider it..of course I would have to negotiate it with management. I will always do seminars if asked. Sorry, I deleted half of this post by nodding off with mmy finger on the wrong key...lol

[Catmando]

After reading my post, I apologize for all the typos. I get up early an start typing away on my phone and then I start to fall back asleep...lol I can't even remember all that I left out. Something did pop in my mind though. I heard someone had an issue with a fish not looking fresh...lol That is hilarious to me. I will explain why my fish don't always come up wiggling around and this should be added onto my Fall Fishing 102, especially when dealing with tournaments. I like to fish starting first thing in the morning which means we are on the water by 6:15am. Now any fish you catch that you may plan on weighing in for a tournament, should NEVER be put on a stringer. I don't trust stringers at all. I have lost fish up to 15 pounds on what look like strong nylon stringers. Even before that, NEVER use those metal chain stringers or baskets. You are just asking for your fish to get away. Ok, back to nylon stringers, even the thick ones have a metal circle ring at the end. If you put 2 to 3 nice cats 5 to 20 pounds on there, the pressure will widen the gap on that ring enough for the nylon to slip through it and there goes your fish! Best thing to do is have a large designated ice chest half full with ice. Keep your fish in there to keep the meet fresh. I however, have a live well but it will only keep your fish alive if you continuously run it which also runs down your boat's battery. So what we do to try to keep them alive is periodically pour fresh water in the live well. It works good for smaller fish but if you have a big one or a number of fish, the oxygen runs out quickly. Then you have a gang of dead fish sitting in 80 plus degree water for hours and hours. Unfortunately, they start to lose their original color. For instance, the 22 pounder we caught was caught around 9 or 10am. At that time, the decaying starts. That fish sat in that warm water for over 5 hours after it died. If the weigh in was at 11pm it would have been so bad that it could have started to stink. Unfortunately, I don't have a specific cooler for that purpose. The moral to the story is once you have a fish to weigh in, never sit it back in the water hanging off the side of the boat. There are way too many things that could go wrong. Unfortunately, some fish end up dying and changing colors. Now if it is a Titan, take it in immediately, weigh it, take your pictures and get it back into the water asap. We can't afford to lose these big fish.

[Catmando]

Well you guys, the tournament is on! Great job!

[VineVideos]

I would love to film a "Titan" Open tournament at Irvine Lake for FOX Sports. Catfish tournaments are rarely seen on television and I'm sure it would be of interest especially in SoCal.
There are ways to unobtrusively film at night (night vision, etc) and in the stealth mode. I will check with Sergio and lake management to see if we can plan that for next year.
Everyone knows these fish just get bigger and aren't going anywhere.

Right now, I am looking forward to the next few weeks and getting some of those big guys on film.... and then instantly releasing of course. Thanks for everyone's input.

Tight Lines !!

DJ

[johnnyraptor]

When is the tournament?

[VineVideos]

When is the tournament?

Hopefully next year in October.

[devin828]

Its easy to talk **** about someones catch it being dead gills white skin off color talk is cheap out fish the guy its as simple as that

[Catmando]

LOL!!! Preach my brotha!!!