Cape Fear River catfishing with Carolina ALL OUT

Carolina ALL OUT joins cat angler Justin Riewhestahl

In Season 2, Episode 12 of Carolina ALL OUT TV, host Chris Douglas joins Harnett County catfisherman Justin Riewhestahl to fish for blue cats and flatheads on the Cape Fear River, and they catch their share.

The trip starts out with a trip to a local pond to catch some bait, in the form of panfish.

Douglas said that makes the trip doubly enjoyable, because everyone loves catching bream on light rods using nightcrawlers under corks.

“The fun thing about this is you get to go fishing twice. First for panfish, and then for catfish,” he said.

Keeping those baitfish alive is important, so Riewhestahl has an aerator on the cooler he uses for these panfish, and uses water from the same pond he catches the fish. He likes to load up with about 25 small bluegills and shellcrackers before heading to the river. He also uses eels as bait.

Once on the river, Riewhestahl anchors down and gets his gear ready. He uses 8/0 Hooker’s Terminal Tackle hooks, no-roll sinkers, baitcasting reels and medium-heavy rods.

He fan casts multiple baits and sets the rods in rod holders. Now it’s a matter of waiting, then reeling in cats when they hit.

Check out this episode, “Cape Fear River Catfish,” at youtube.com/@CarolinaALLOUT. ■