Shellcracker

Just now starting to find some bedding in one of my favorite spots in North AL. Caught 6 really nice ones I added to the cooler after a quick lunch break trip today. The one pictured below was one of the better ones at 10" and a beautiful specimen. Didn't have time for a bait store run, so I used a black squirrel hair jig tipped with a Berkley Powerbait Honeyworm. There were plenty of good fish I could see that wouldn't bite, but I managed a few. I'm going to try to sneak in another trip tomorrow afternoon and have some redworms ready to go and hopefully load up.

Also, something I've never had happen before that I could hardly believe. I had caught 3 good ones and put them on the stringer. I was re-tying and noticed the stringer had gotten way out into the water and figured the fish had just swam out. I pulled the stringer back in and there was a 15-20 lb flathead cat that had grabbed one of them and took off. He finally let go after I dragged him into about 6" of water, lol. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I'll try to post some pics of the one grabbed when I clean them later this evening and show y'all.

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Vibrant coloration! Sneaky ole cats!

Good job and cool story. Looking forward to pic, the snapping turtles used to get my fish on stringers.

Nice catches

Some nice fish, and the flathead was an opportunist. Easy lunch almost. Looking forward to the. Pic.

Pics before cleaning. That one ended up with a big chunk of his dorsal fin missing from the catfish.

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pretty cool ,glad he didnt take the entire stringer for sure ....
KABOOM is the word

Sounds like a fun trip for sure. CraZy about that catfish. I hate those slimy jokers.