Creekbank Catfish for Laid-Back Fun
Day 2: Fishermen Lose Their Dream to Reality of Fishing for Catfish Fulltime
Editor’s Note: A lot of fun times, delicious eating and good friends can be enjoyed when fishing for catfish with trotlines, set hooks, a campfire and a night spent on a river.
 I was still thinking about Joe’s idea of going into the commercial catfishing business, while we were baiting and putting in the next 25-hook trotline. Since Joe and I both run our own businesses, we decided we could tie the hooks onto the droplines during the slack time of our regular work and our lunch hours. As we baited-up the trotlines and motored back to camp, we knew we had come up with a foolproof method of moving from weekend creekbankers to full-time commercial catfish anglers while still maintaining our chosen professions.  As we were slicing potatoes, Joe looked over at me with the seriousness of a judge contemplating whether an accused murderer should be given the electric chair or life imprisonment. “You know, John, we could get to doing so well in this catfishing that we’d have to give up our regular jobs. Then, we could just fish full-time.” “That’s right,” I said, as I began to consider the wisdom of Joe’s words.
 Now I like to catfish an awful lot, but I don’t really know if running trotlines, winter and summer, cleaning catfish and taking them to market would really suit me as a full-time vocation. But, Joe was so excited about the possibility I couldn’t let-on that full-time commercial catfishing wasn’t really what I’d rather be doing than writing stories and taking pictures. But, as fate would have it, luck was on my side. After the potatoes were peeled, and the salad was tossed, Joe and I went back to run the lines and came back with only three cats. When the fish were cooked and the dishes washed, Joe looked at me and frowned, “You know, if we’re going into this full-time commercial catfishing, we’re going to have to catch a whole lot more catfish than we’ve caught so far tonight. I tell you what let’s do. If we don’t catch 20 catfish by daylight, we’ll just keep on fishing on the weekends when we’ve got the time. But if we get 20, we’ll seriously consider staying off work at least one-more day to see if we can make any money by fishing.” However, we only took six more catfish that night, which were a few shy of the required number for becoming a catfish entrepreneur.  But, dreaming and scheming are part of what creekbanking is all about, and creekbanking is an ideal time to let your imagination run wild and play “what if” games.
Editor’s Note: Due to very-specific regulations of trotlines, set-poles, jugs, etc., anyone who wishes to participate in recreational fishing by these methods is strongly advised to first familiarize themselves with the state fishing regulations dealing with these specific techniques.
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