Thoroughly catisfied!

Between 6 and 9 PM tonight, I landed eleven channel cats from dinks to almost 4 pounds.

I think I've found the way to keep almost all the turtles off my hookbaits. I just feed them lots of floating trout chow, dog food, and bread. They stay preoccupied with the floating fare, my hook stays unbothered (excepting one 10 pound snapper--hey, they don't feed on top!).

All cats were caught using a puddle chucker and fishing punch bait on a #6 treble hook about a foot deep. As it got close to dark, I could see larger fish chasing minnows on the surface out in the middle of the lake (within or close to maximum casting distance). Several times after dark I cast directly to a swirl and got an immediate take. Of course, as darkness approached, I changed out my float's day-glow orange insert for a "Starlight" glow-in-the-dark insert. Float fishing at night? No problem!

I must say it was a gorgeous night to be on the water. Upon my arrival I sprayed myself with a Eucalyptus-based bug repellent, and it seemed to work very well indeed! No mosquito bites whatsoever! The temperature was just right, the water was like a mirror, and the moon was almost full. If I didn't have to get up early tomorrow for early transmission control duty, I might have stayed out another hour and caught a few more. No matter and no need to get greedy; a beautiful night with plenty of cat action--delightful!