First catfish with catfish Clonk on the Rhine

My first catfish with the Clonk on the Rhine

2008

My father and I decided to explore the Rhine one Sunday and find new fishing spots. On Saturday I went to bed late and had only slept for an hour when the alarm went off...

After about 140 kilometers back and forth by car, we finally found a promising spot on the Rhine. Our bait consisted of just 30 canadian earthworms. But we were only there to explore!

A local angler on the bank categorically refused to sell us a few bream as bait fish: "I'd rather eat them myself!" Well, then, no.

We launched our boat and went upstream as far as we could. The water depth was disappointingly shallow. We drifted downstream for about three hours with the barely perceptible current. The depth never exceeded 2.5 metres, so I practiced tapping with the catfish clonk.

My father fished with a float rig that drifted about 15 meters behind the boat. I fished vertically: I held the vertical rod in one hand while I operated the Clonk with the other.

Suddenly there was a jolt! The brake on the baitrunner reel screeched! Before we knew it, it was too late: the catfish float appeared. What was that? Maybe another fish had grabbed the bundles of worms?

We drifted further...

Finally an underwater edge and a depth of 4 meters! The catfish float on my father's catfish rod suddenly disappeared under water! My father set the hook, but forgot to turn off the baitrunner - a "tangled line" was created.

I grabbed the catfish rod while my father untangled the line. I made another strike - and the catfish was on the catfish hook! And not a small one!

I handed the rod to my father and grabbed the camera. When we had the catfish almost to the boat, it jumped out! It felt like it wasn't a giant, but it was definitely well over a meter long!

We drove the same route again - and then we started! My father had another missed bite! Then it was my turn: three catfish in a short space of time landed in the boat and were released again. If only we had had more worms... But even so, it was a successful day!
I must mention that in 2008, the catfish population on my home stretch of the Upper Rhine was still very young and the population and numbers were low.
At that time, I was the only catfish angler on the Rhine with the catfish Clonk.

I finally caught my first catfish while tapping with a catfish clonk on the Rhine!

Vitali Dalke