Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>> Hey folks.
Jason Gauthier here fishing with my good buddy Jeff Gustafson.
I'm lucky enough today to be on "Fishing with Gussy."
We're in the Red River near Lockport, Manitoba.
We're chasing some big monster channel cats.
Tune in because you want to see Jeff battle the monster
he catches today.
Stick around, it's going to be a great day.
You don't want to miss what's coming up next.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
>> "Fishing with Gussy" is proudly sponsored by
and uses Shimano rods and reels.
Visit Shimano.ca for all the specs.
>> Gussy: Just had a little bump, bump, bump.
Okay.
Oh.
>> He should be there now.
There you go.
>> Gussy: Nice.
That didn't take long.
>> All right.
>> Gussy: My first catfishing experience.
I'm with my good buddy here Jason Gauthier from Winnipeg.
>> Hey, how you doing?
>> Gussy: And he, we got Ryan Sproule from Lund boats and
his little guy Brock here with us.
And we just got out here.
We're on the Red River and made the ride up.
Oh, we got, it's not a cat.
It's something else.
>> Looks like a drum, buddy.
>> Gussy: We came up to catch catfish,
and I'm going to get my first something else here.
>> Fresh water drum, buddy.
>> Gussy: Cool.
Can you eat him?
>> Some people do.
>> Gussy: Looks like a saltwater critter.
>> You'd look at me, Jeff, and think that I've eaten a couple
of these, but I'll tell you, I haven't.
So explain your circle hook here.
I like that.
I mean, that's what people are using.
>> Gussy: Circle hook.
I set the hook a little bit there,
and it's mostly out of habit, but circle hooks really
popular in salt water and for a lot of fresh water fishing
situations as well, and we'll talk more about that
a little bit later.
>> So fresh water drum, the guys call them silver bass.
Plentiful.
I mean, you bring the kids out here, it's fun.
I mean, it's close to Winnipeg,
and you're not always going to get the big cats.
We're going to get some today, but --
>> Gussy: How big do these suckers get?
>> Probably 21, 22 pounds.
>> Gussy: Oh, wow.
>> And there's some big ones.
So I mean, the further you go into Lake Winnipeg,
the bigger they get.
So I'll let it go.
Lots of power.
>> Gussy: Oh, yeah.
It fought pretty good.
>> Well, hey, it's a bass.
Leave it to Jeff Gustafson to get a bass on the Red River.
>> Gussy: Thanks.
>> Right on, buddy.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: What we're doing here, Jason knows
the river pretty good.
Grew up here.
He's going to position the boat in a, you know,
you can see there's a bunch of boats out here,
but he's going to position us where,
you know, kind of where he wants us.
And I've got, what we're doing is just throwing
a big anchor down.
So I'm the anchor boy.
And when he says to throw it over,
I'm going to throw it over.
>> Toss her out, Jeff.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: Okay, Jay, talk to us here,
tell us where we are and kind of what we're going to do today.
>> Well, we're in Lockport, Manitoba,
which is just north of Selkirk and north of the south basin,
of course, of Lake Winnipeg.
Or south of the south basin of Lake Winnipeg.
And what we're fishing for is big channel cats.
And what's happening here is the cats are coming in,
they're getting ready for their spawning.
And they're in here and they're in here hot and heavy.
They're ready to rock and roll and basically when you tag
into one of the big ones that their famous for,
you're ready to do battle.
Now what I find interesting is I grew up in Selkirk
a long time ago.
And as a young kid, 7, 8 years old,
I used to sneak down to the river and catch catfish.
And basically I was channel cat fishing
before catfishing was cool.
And I'll tell you, Jeff, the rules
were a lot different back then.
It was so much fun catching these big catfish,
and I used to bring them home in a shopping cart.
I mean, nowadays you'd never do that.
I mean, I'd bring home 150 pounds of catfish
and we'd smoke them.
And then, you know, people would just be,
you know, they'd enjoy all the smoked catfish.
Nowadays it's changed, of course,
since, you know, there's conservation rules and such.
But we're just south of Winnipeg.
I live just in the north perimeter of Winnipeg
and I'm 15 minutes away.
So it's a nice close place to come fishing.
>> Gussy: Just south of Selkirk, just north of Winnipeg.
>> Yep.
Just right smack in the middle.
And these are the locks, the world famous Lockport's locks.
I mean, you have Gaffers over there,
and, of course, there's all kinds of famous areas.
Skinners from the world famous hot dogs which I like to have
every once in a while.
But, Jeff, I'll tell you, you've been fishing for,
you know, we see you cruising around.
And you got the body of a bass angler.
I mean, you're prancing around the front here.
You're casting.
You're working all day.
I'll tell you, today and hopefully we can show you
guys, you need to have a good low center of gravity
for these big cats because up to 30, 35 pounds.
And when they hit, it's a freight train I'll tell you.
You want to be low to the ground.
You want to be low to the ground.
And I don't want to say it but your X-Raps probably aren't
going to work here today.
(Laughter)
>> But we're using shrimp, and if you want to show them
a little bit later what's going to happen,
how we're using this shrimp, tying it up.
>> Gussy: Yeah, we'll talk about the rig a little bit
later, and, you know, rods and reels and that sort of thing.
But in the meantime, let's keep soaking these baits and
try to get a big fish, big cat.
We're going to have some fun today.
Don't want to miss it.
We're going to take a break.
We'll be back with some big catfish action
right after this.
>> Gussy: The muddy water might make it hard for us to
see the fish, but it doesn't stop them from
finding our bait.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
>> So mercuries makes some pretty big motors.
They make, you know, all the way up to 300.
They make a 225 for Jeff when he's chasing bass around.
With the Pro, he's got the Pro-XS.
It's an Offday, right?
It goes pretty good.
They make a 250 for some of us bigger guys for a little bit
more of a cruising speed right up to the 300.
What we've got here is a 250 Mercury Bravo.
It's the super charge.
And I'll tell you, I like it.
It's a smooth ride.
It's very quiet.
I mean, lot of motors when you start them are pretty loud.
But this one here, you know.
You got 250 horsepower there.
You can barely -- some guys don't even know
it's running some sometimes.
They forget about it.
So, you know.
>> Gussy: You've got power steering on the handle.
>> Yeah.
So basically it locks here.
Unless you touch it right here,
it's got a sensor.
Now if you look here and you try to,
but as soon as you do that, then it's all --
>> Gussy: And that's what makes running a big motor
like that with a tiller safe because it can't, you can't
let go of it and it's not going to kick out on you.
>> Yeah.
Lot of guys, I used to have a 90.
One of my first tillers was a 90.
And you had to hang on.
It wasn't hydraulic.
This is way easier than a 90.
Way easier than a 60 with these hydraulics.
I mean, it's just like a steering wheel.
Doesn't go.
Doesn't lock.
And the advantage of a tiller is for guys,
you know, lot of guys like a lot of room in the boat,
you know, for moving back and forth.
I mean, if you look around here,
we're a little bit cluttered up.
We've got some camera gear.
We've got the rods.
We've got shrimp.
And we're pretty loaded up.
You can put four big guys in here and go out
for a day of fishing.
But one thing about having a console like what Jeff drives
is when you've got to make those 70-mile runs in that big
water, you need something to keep the wind and the rain off.
So it's the best of both worlds.
You can have the tiller, you get the room.
You get the console, you've got a comfort.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: Nice, nice job.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: So the good thing about fishing for catfish is
if you don't catch any fish, you still got supper.
No, I'm just kidding.
We're using shrimp for bait.
These are actually just straight out of a super market,
frozen shrimp.
And the basically the setup for catching these things
is just a little lead, big circle hook.
That's like a six or seven knot hook.
Heavy sinker.
And this sinkers really good because it's not very snag.
It slides through the rocks good.
So we're just hooking these shrimp just sort of
right through the center of the body.
Just like this.
That's, that's your rig.
Pretty simple.
And then the important part is you want to have,
you'll dealing with big fish here.
You want to have some muscle on your rod and reel.
So I'm using a Shimano Crucial Flipping Stick.
This is a 7/11 model and big Corrado reel.
I can -- I've got 80 pound power pro on there,
so heavy line, big heavy reel, and a solid rod,
and you can get these big fish in.
Muscle them a bit.
And you're not overmatched with the fish so...
There you have it.
That's the setup for catching catfish.
>> There we go.
>> Gussy: Nice, buddy.
>> You want to -- I don't want to bring him in.
You bring him in.
>> Gussy: No, I'm not reeling in your fish.
You kidding me?
>> Might even be a bass.
>> Gussy: Can't do that.
>> That's a cat fish.
>> Gussy: Not the first one anyways.
Catty?
>> It's a cat, my friend.
Like I said, you need a low center of gravity.
And I'll tell you, you got to be low to the ground,
and check that out, that's going to --
>> Gussy: I'm getting a hit too.
We might have a double.
>> Double header.
>> Gussy: Maybe.
How long do you let them go for a minute.
>> Yeah, if he's pulling on you right now, I would --
>> Gussy: No, he's not really.
I just felt a couple little, little drive-bys or whatever.
>> There's some weight to these fish too.
I mean, let's see what we've got here.
>> Gussy: Okay.
I'm coming with the Fraybill.
>> All right, you need a big net.
I mean, these nets are amazing.
Like for these big cats.
Like honestly Jeff, I'm a big guy.
I mean, I wrestle.
I've worked in a bar.
I've been security, and honestly you look at my arms.
Look at the pressure of my arms right now.
These are big fish.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> This is a workout.
>> Gussy: I just can't get over how easy,
there's no special equipment here other than heavier than
walleye rods that we're using.
But no real specialized equipment and how easy it is
to come out here and do this.
>> Exactly.
>> Gussy: You need an anchor and a boat.
>> And a buddy.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> Because like look at --
>> Gussy: You need someone to net your fish for you.
>> Yeah.
I mean, we're using a Corrado here.
I mean, it's getting a workout.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> And we haven't even seen him yet.
This is a big fish.
Someone ringing your bell now too?
>> Gussy: No, I was just sort of hung up a little bit there.
>> All right.
We're using barbless hooks, of course.
Like, the circle hooks are fantastic.
>> Gussy: Look at that.
I got part of my shrimp chewed off by something.
>> Like, I'm tired, Jeff.
(Laughter)
>> Gussy: Toughen it up, buddy.
>> I know.
It's the only calories I'm burning today.
>> Gussy: You're not getting a lot of sympathy from me
because your arm hurts.
Geez.
>> All right.
Let's see what I've got.
>> Gussy: What kind of friends do I have?
>> Are you going to lift this one?
I always see you lean over and get on them from the front.
>> Gussy: Just like a bass.
>> There you have it.
>> Gussy: My first catfish experience.
Okay, what are we going to --
>> Well, normally I have --
>> Gussy: You mentioned a carpet?
>> Yeah, I have a carpet.
We're not set up yet.
Basically what you want to do is you have to be careful
about these things.
>> Gussy: Do they, can they sting you or anything?
>> Yeah.
You see, as they get older, these don't they kind of the
skin covers up.
But when they're smaller, they can really get you.
Barbless falls right out.
>> Gussy: Manitoba is all barbless,
folks, so we are fish barbless.
>> So what do you figure, Jeff?
That's --
>> Gussy: How big a fish is that?
>> Well, you've caught a lot of big fish.
I'd say that's what?
15, 16 pounds?
And now we can get them double that.
Now this is where I'm wearing the pants, folks, because --
(Laughter)
>> Gussy: That's awesome.
>> Like a girl I dated in high school that one time.
Reminds me of.
>> Gussy: They've got some chompers?
Oh, yeah.
>> I've got to call her.
See they don't, they're not.
It's like sand paper eh.
It doesn't hurt.
But you're not going to lip it like a bass.
But if you take your finger you can see.
>> Gussy: Are these the same kind of catfish that they
noodle for down in the south?
>> I think those are those blue catfish.
>> Gussy: Okay.
>> But anyways, if you want to let it go, Jeff.
>> Gussy: Okay.
That's pretty sweet, man.
>> All right.
>> Gussy: Cool.
Put this guy back and hopefully I can get a turn.
There he goes.
Happy camper.
>> All right.
>> Gussy: Awesome, dude.
>> Good job, buddy.
Now I'm tired.
(Laughter)
>> I need a nap.
>> Gussy: So now is that like an average-sized fish?
Or is that a big one?
>> I thought it was a little bit bigger.
>> Gussy: That's a little bigger than average right there?
>> No, that's an average.
I thought it was a little bit bigger because of the current.
>> Gussy: Oh, okay.
Okay, okay.
>> But we're looking for one twice the size today.
We want a 30 pounder.
(♪♪♪)
>> That's what we want.
>> Gussy: Sweet.
Like it.
I like it.
>> Gussy: This Red River is a lot of fun
and we're taking advantage of it.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
>> What you want to do when you're looking for big
catfish on the Red River is find a spot where the current
breaks and you find deeper water on the edge,
and you got shallow water where it goes into the deeper
water and the current swirls around and they're almost back
heavy if you're going for trout.
What you want to do is go up current a little bit,
set your anchor, drop your shrimp or frog or whatever
you're using, whether it be goldeye or cut,
or cut sucker bait.
Drop it in there and let it slowly go in with the current.
Hold your bait, let it hit the bottom,
and then hang on.
And when I say hang on, hang on because it's going
to be absolutely electric.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: What have we got?
Ah, I'm the bass guy.
>> Is that a bass?
>> Gussy: Yeah.
Felt good when I set the hook.
>> Do you want to lift this one or what?
>> Gussy: No, I can.
>> I thought that was heavier than that too.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
Kind of a, looks like a salt water critter, you know.
>> Lots of back bone to them, eh.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> You can lip these though.
Like really.
>> Gussy: Oh, yeah.
>> Really.
You can.
>> Gussy: I'll lip the next one.
>> Fish on.
>> Gussy: That's cool, man.
I haven't felt that in fresh water before.
Maybe salt.
Wow.
Awesome.
>> There you go, buddy.
>> Gussy: Yeah, there was no mistaking that.
I'm waiting for these little taps here or whatever.
>> And he just smoked it, eh.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> Well, I'm going to grab the net, but honestly, Jeff,
I don't think you're ready for the net yet.
>> Gussy: He's actually getting, getting kind of close, but --
>> I didn't take my line out of the water yet,
but I'm far out there, so.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> He's close, but he's not.
>> Gussy: Whoa.
>> There you go.
(Laughter)
>> My line shouldn't you bother you there.
>> Gussy: No, these are tough critters, man.
We'll get him around the back, the other side here.
I don't know if we're going to be telling him
where to go, but --
Lots of room.
>> Remember what I was showing them.
See let see the it looks like.
You got him.
>> Gussy: Well, this is the, my forearms aren't as
impressive as yours, bud.
>> Check that out.
He's working.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> He's working.
Like I said, I've got the net here,
but we're not ready yet.
>> Gussy: I've got the big Calcutta out now.
I saw how hard Jason got worked over on that last one.
>> Look at this.
Like you said, Jeff, anybody can just come out here.
It's so --
>> Gussy: Wow, I am two handing her right now,
and I'm like, I'm getting my butt kicked.
This is so awesome, dude.
>> How nice would that be if that was KBI.
(Laughter)
>> And that was a largey.
>> Gussy: Yeah, that's what I want.
Largey that you got to get on your knees to reel in.
>> You know what's nice about these boats too, Jeff?
There's so much room in these boats.
I mean, you've got the big flat deck on the predator.
I mean, here with the tiller there's room to play around
the back.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
Absolutely.
This is the 2075.
>> Yeah.
>> Gussy: Pro-V.
Pretty sweet rig.
He's got a 250, we're going to look at this motor after.
But he's got a 250 tiller on this boat.
>> You might have a 250 on the line right now.
That's a big fish.
>> Gussy: Yeah, man.
Wow.
He's pretty close.
I'm getting a burner like whole upper body is getting.
>> We were saying how catching 20 or 50 or even 30 of these
in a day, how tired.
I mean, you're tired when you get home.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
Whoa.
>> That's a canon.
Now we're talking, baby.
Yeah.
All right, buddy.
That's 25.
>> Gussy: What's your rug deal?
>> What's that?
>> Gussy: You were talking about you have a rug?
>> You know what, Jeff, this is a great one.
We're not going to worry about it right now because we'll,
we'll get her, we'll take a moment.
>> Gussy: Just like this?
>> Yeah.
But you'll notice there's.
>> Gussy: Nothing here is going to hurt me?
>> No, just the bones feel the bones.
>> Gussy: Okay.
>> And this circle comes out just like that.
>> Gussy: That is a heavy fish.
>> There you go, buddy.
Let's do a quick measurement.
>> Gussy: That's why you go to the Red River.
There's nowhere else in North America or in Canada that you
can get fish like that.
>> Well, that's got to go --
>> Gussy: He's got over 36 inches or what have you got?
Oh, it's 33?
>> 33, and you haven't even lifted -- yeah.
That's why we wear the big pants.
Look at that.
>> Gussy: More action coming right up.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
>> Well, I've done a lot of fishing growing up as a kid,
and I will exaggerate a little bit.
It was over 35 pounds and nobody could argue with me here.
I mean, there's nobody to argue with me.
But some of them go even bigger.
There's rumors of some being over 40 pounds.
I haven't seen one yet.
But believe it or not, I caught it
on the pickerel rig offshore.
I think I was about 9 years old.
Fishing offshore, there's so much mud,
but you're a kid.
I took my boots off and I walked right out into to with
my just like in Kentucky or back in Tennessee back
on the old Mississippi.
Walked right into there up to my knees.
And I'll tell you, I wasn't very agile as a kid.
I'm not a hockey player by no means.
But I had to walk right in there and basically
drag the fish out.
And then my buddy had to come and help me because it was
too big for me to bring in.
(♪♪♪)
>> Gussy: Shoulders?
>> Yeah.
>> Gussy: You're a ways out there,
so I'm just going to continue to fish,
bow the boat for a few minutes.
There's no mistake when you're a cat, hey.
Though drummer, they're tough but it's different
from these critters.
>> Like I said, I mean the arms are getting.
>> Gussy: Whoa.
Wow.
>> And the thing too nice we're using all this big gear.
You can work them.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
>> Never mind tad, was it T bow?
What is that exercise thing?
Try catfishing for 14 days straight.
>> Gussy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> I can't even lift him off the ground here.
Look it.
I'm putting everything I've got in there.
Look it.
He's not even moving.
>> Gussy: Do you ever try and catch them on like 8-pound
mono or anything?
>> When I was a kid and couldn't afford to buy anything but.
>> Gussy: Yeah.
And then just an hour battle or?
>> Eight pound test.
>> Gussy: All right.
You're getting close, ah.
>> I'm close.
He's not.
>> Gussy: You're close.
>> It's like fishing musky on Lake of the Woods in your neck
of the woods.
>> Gussy: Yeah the only problem is the musky would
have said uncle by now.
>> Okay.
Let's get a roll here.
>> Gussy: Oh, yeah.
That's a big chunk.
>> Get the butter.
Like I'm working it.
>> Gussy: That's good for you, buddy.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> Gussy: I like it.
>> Let's bring him in.
>> Gussy: It's a big dark one.
Whoa.
>> Nice net job.
>> Gussy: That might be bigger than our other one.
>> Hang on a second here.
>> Gussy: All right.
>> Okay.
We'll get him.
We'll worry about.
>> Gussy: Okay.
>> What do you got there, buddy?
>> Gussy: Yeah, they've got some different colour
phases to them, huh?
This one is definitely a little darker than some of
those other fish we caught earlier.
>> He's been sun tanning.
>> Gussy: Right in the cheek or in the corner
of the mouth again.
>> Nice release like that.
>> Whoo hoo.
>> That looks like an old looking face.
>> Gussy: Yeah, he does look old.
Real small little eyes on him, and I'm sure in this dark
water they don't --
>> Whoa.
>> Gussy: -- see a whole lot.
>> Good release.
>> Gussy: Get her back.
Okay, buddy.
Slime you up.
Been a pleasure.
Thanks so much for showing us is this awesome deal out here
on the Red River, man.
>> Pleasure to have you, Gussy.
>> "Fishing with Gussy" proudly uses
Power Pro Super Slick Line.
All of the power with none of the noise.
(♪♪♪)