80 Year Old Catfish Rookie Unforgettable Day

[Ragman]

My father has been my longest fishing partner. We’ve had some great days fishing together but today may have been the best yet. This spring I lost my father-in-law which was a hard blow. Four days later my dad celebrated his 80th birthday. He is in great health, but watching my wife go through the loss of her dad really drove home that 80 is a pretty big number and you just never know. So I’m feeling the need to do as much as I can with him while he has his health. One day I watched a fishing show where they were fishing at Selkirk, Manitoba for channel catfish. Neither one of us has even seen a catfish before so I asked him if he’d be interested. He was! So I booked a one day trip with CatDaddy Fishing Guide Services and we were set. During the five hour drive from his home in Saskatchewan we discussed what we hoped to catch and what we expected. Well today was the big day and to say that our expectations were blown out of the water is an understatement! The number of fish we caught and the size of them blew our minds and killed our arms. This trip took place on the Red River by Selkirk, Manitoba and it is a world class fishery. We caught over 30 fish (three double-headers) and most were over 20 pounds. What a day. Dad said it was in his top 3 fishing days in his life, so that alone made it all worthwhile. Here are a few pics.

 

[Aaron N]

Did you keep them, or catch and release? I have a friend who lives in eastern Manitoba on the Winnipeg river, and they seem to smoke all the channel cats they catch.

Looks like you had a great trip and made great memories!

 

[Trogon]

Awesome trip, great you and your Dad did it together! Looks like a great day of fishing! Some whopper channels you guys got, I'm envious.

 

[Ragman]

Did you keep them, or catch and release? I have a friend who lives in eastern Manitoba on the Winnipeg river, and they seem to smoke all the channel cats they catch.

Looks like you had a great trip and made great memories!

They all went back in the river. All too big to keep and the 3 that weren’t too big were too small. It was a great trip. Hope to come back next year.

 

[steve white]

Catch and release...into hot grease! The big ones are good, too--just cut all the red and fat off.

 

[BRICKBURN]

They do have some great Catfish in Selkirk. Glad you caught your fill. Dad's highlight reel is a pretty damned good trophy.
Congratulations on a great adventure.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Great job! I miss my dad every single day, but blessed to have had the man as a father. Spend every minute you can with him brother!

 

[Tundra Tiger]

@Ragman ... Sir: you da man! Congratulations.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Great day indeed!!

 

[Ragman]

They do have some great Catfish in Selkirk. Glad you caught your fill. Dad's highlight reel is a pretty damned good trophy.
Congratulations on a great adventure.

Thank you. He said last night that he hopes he can handle a trip out here next year when he’s 81!

 

[Ragman]

Great job! I miss my dad every single day, but blessed to have had the man as a father. Spend every minute you can with him brother!

Thanks Cody. Believe it or not I think about you losing him quite a bit and we’ve never even met! Now that you’re back in Montana you could drive up and catch some of these tanks!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the trip and thanks for sharing!

 

[Jfet]

What a GREAT TRIP and ADVENTURE with your Dad!

….and then the Southerner in me says, “You Did What!”

 

[Jfet]

And as a Southerner I have never fished for pike, muskgee, or walleye. Nor have I have fished in a hut on a frozen lake.

Regardless, of our fishing experiences it is a good thing that our Dad’s have taken us fishing. You have provided a good return on investment.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

That certainly looked like a fantastic fishing trip. Must be something about rivers named "Red River." I seem to recall @gillettehunter posting a few photos of a rather large catfish he caught on the Red River in Louisiana. It was about the size of the one in front of McDonald's. Maybe bigger. (Hey, it's a fish story, right).

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Great trip, good on you. It is always fun catching fish hand over fist.

 

[cls]

Wow, you guys done well. You gotta spend time with your Dad before that time is all but gone. Thanks for posting.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Thanks Cody. Believe it or not I think about you losing him quite a bit and we’ve never even met! Now that you’re back in Montana you could drive up and catch some of these tanks!

Now that is a damn fine idea!

 

[Nyati]

Not a fisherman myself, but congrats for a great day with your father, you will keep those memories forever

 

[Ragman]

That certainly looked like a fantastic fishing trip. Must be something about rivers named "Red River." I seem to recall @gillettehunter posting a few photos of a rather large catfish he caught on the Red River in Louisiana. It was about the size of the one in front of McDonald's. Maybe bigger. (Hey, it's a fish story, right).

It might sound like a fish story when I tell it too! But honestly by the third hour I was starting to dread catching another right away and I don’t think 15 minutes would go by without one of us catching one.