King Kat Catfish event returns to record-setting Lake Tawakoni

Published 8:13 pm Wednesday, February 25, 2015

In my mind it isn’t exactly fishing weather, but then I am not among those chasing giant blue catfish.

For the 50 or so teams entered it should be perfect weather for Saturday’s Cabela’s King Kat catfish tournament on Lake Tawakoni out of West Tawakoni City Park in Quinlan.

This is big catfish season and anglers on the tournament circuit have learned Lake Tawakoni is the place to be around the first of March.

In 2013 a King Kat tournament record was set with a five-fish, 239.8-pound winning stringer. The tournament was won by Paul Miles of Lake Dallas and Dan Miles of Irving. They had a big fish weighing 61.4 pounds in a tournament that produced two other stringers over 200 pounds.

Last year, under less than perfect conditions, the winning five-fish stringer was just 217.5 pounds, and tournament fishermen weighed in seven over 50 pounds including two over 60 and one topping 70.

This year expectations are high for the tournament because fishing has been good this winter on Tawakoni.

“We believe that this year we will see the Cabela’s record stringer weight of 239 pounds broken,” said Paul Miles, a member of the record-setting team. “This lake is fishing so strong that we wouldn’t be surprised to see a 300-pound stringer show up. (Tawakoni) is that good.”

With a blue catfish lake record of 87.5 pounds, Tawakoni hasn’t produced the largest blue in the state. That would Lake Texoma’s 121.5-pounder. Also, Tawakoni’s record is just the 14th largest blue recorded in the state, but it is hard to find a more consistent big cat winter fishery.

“If compared to last winter, last winter was the coldest winter I can remember ever, and it was the best fishing we have ever had. This year has been as good. It has been wonderful. We have had a boat on the water every single day and we have had at least a 20 (pound fish) on every trip,” said Tawakoni guide Michael Littlejohn.

Littlejohn said he actually had a client land what could have been a lake record 89-pound fish according to his scales. It would have required leaving the lake for certified scales, and the fishing was too good for that.

“That trip we also had a 60, a 58 and a 44. He decided to release it and keep fishing,” Littlejohn said.

The guide also added his personal best this winter was a 78, but his wife Teri, who also guides and will be entered in the tournament, had an 81.

While this week’s cold snap in Northeast Texas has shut down most fishing, Littlejohn said it is just what catfish fishermen want.

“This is a real good thing for the guys fishing the tournament Saturday. Blue catfish are prolific feeders in the winter months, feeding up for the spawn,” he explained.

Littlejohn also noted that with the current conditions fishermen should be able to find the fish easier.

“As the water temperature falls, all the baitfish will ball up into tight schools and that makes it easier for the big fish to find them. Ninety percent of the baitfish will be in 10 percent of the lake,” he said.

Even facing brutally cold weather, fishermen have been attracted to the lake to battle the leviathan cats for several years. Unfortunately the fish don’t always cooperate as planned.

“We landed a 68 last week. That fish took the bait down like a crappie, and as soon as the fisherman hung the fish it came to the top of the water and he brought it straight in. The angler was disappointed it didn’t. The same day we hung a 40-pounder and it fought like it was a 70-pounder,” Littlejohn said.

With most of the big fish coming out of shallow water, he said a six-foot-long fish breaking the surface is always a sight.

With females carrying eggs and naturally beginning to migrate into shallower water toward spawning habitat, Littlejohn agrees with Miles’ view that the King Kat tournament record could be in trouble.

“I think we are going to see some really heavy stringers weighed. I think if there has been a year with a great chance of breaking that record, it might be this year. It could be 300 pounds, which this lake is capable of producing,” he said.

Even though Tawakoni’s blue catfish fishery is hitting its prime, there are some concerned how increased pressure may affect it.

“According to our growth estimates and other fish we have aged, the current lake record blue catfish was most likely a 25-year-old fish from the original 1989 stocking, spawned in a state fish hatchery,” said Dan Bennett, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Fisheries biologist.

He added the population of trophy blues in the lake can all be traced back to that stocking of 366,000 fish.

“These blue catfish appear to take at least 10 years to reach a size of ten pounds, and the largest individuals are teenagers or older. Given their relatively slow growth rates and long life span, it may be important to protect these larger fish in reservoirs where trophy fisheries exist and are important to the majority of anglers,” Bennett added.

On a positive note, almost 80 percent of all fishermen surveyed in a multi-year study indicated they practiced catch and release when fishing for the big fish. Most guides and recreational fishermen return everything over 10 pounds back into the lake.

Still, Bennett said the department has considered a more conservative limit for the lake, but has withheld action until a statewide plan can be established.

While the weather may not be an issue for this weekend’s fishermen the lake’s level will be. Tawakoni is down almost 11.5 feet, and at present just three ramps are usable.

The tournament will begin at 6:30 a.m. with weigh-in at 3 p.m. The public is invited to the weigh-in.

Have a comment or opinion on this story? Contact outdoor writer Steve Knight by email at outdoor@tylerpaper.com. Follow Steve Knight on Facebook at TylerPaper Outdoors and on Twitter @tyleroutdoor.