It was about midday when Zakk Royce of Blues Brothers Guide Service got onto Lake Gaston, a 20,000-acre Virginia/North reservoir. Needing white perch and crappies — fresh bait for blue catfish — for some upcoming client trips, Royce chased and caught baitfish until late on that recent afternoon.
“It was about 5 p.m. and I thought I’d make a short drift with some cut bait on ‘Santee Rigs’ along a channel ledge in 10 to 20 feet of water before I headed home,” Royce told Wired2fish. “I only was fishing with four rods instead of six, which turned out to be a blessing.”
The Bites Begin…
During his controlled drift with deep baits, he hit a school of big fish that turned into a whirlwind of bent rods, screaming reel drags, and fish flopping on his boat deck.
It was piscatorial chaos for the 35-year-old Royce, who’s been a full-time guide on Lake Gaston for seven years.
“The first rod bowed down and I grabbed it,” said the Gasburg, Virginia, resident. “I was playing that fish and another rod bowed, then a third rod buckled over — both still in the rod holders. I was fighting the one big cat and reeled up the fourth line I had out because I didn’t want to hook four fish at once.”
Royce said he fought a 40-pound fish toward his boat, while the other two hooked cats stayed connected to other rods in his holders. He netted that 40-pounder and put it in his boat.
… And Just Get Bigger
“I grabbed another rod and fought a 71-pounder to the boat,” he explained. “I had to unhook the 40-pounder still in the net in my boat so I could use the net to get the 71-pounder.”
Royce netted the second fish, boated it, then battled the third fish — all 77 pounds of it. He got it to his boat, netted it, and brought it aboard.
“I was whipped, but weighed each fish and released them,” he said. “Then I just sat there and rested for 15 minutes.”
He knew he’d hit a motherload of big blue cats, which he says is common this time of year on Gaston, usually lasting through May.
The Cats Keep Coming
Royce almost quit for the day, but decided to fish some more.
Since he was short on bait, he put out chunks of perch that the cats he’d already caught hadn’t beaten up too badly.
“There was just enough bait to set up a couple rods, and I used one fresh perch to cut in half for the other two rods,” Royce explained. “I had three baits out and was sending the fourth bait out. It just touched bottom, and it just kept on going and going. I knew a catfish had taken the bait. I locked my Penn reel down from free spool — and when it went tight, I had a huge fish hooked.”
Royce knew it was a giant blue cat. And he should know: In December 2015, Royce set the North Carolina blue catfish record twice in 18 hours with a 91-pounder, followed by a 105-pounder.
The Day’s Last Giant
“I fought the fish for about 20 minutes with my 7.5-foot medium-light action rod,” said Royce. “Then I got it close, netted it, and bought it aboard.”
He weighed the cat at 104 pounds, then put it in his boat 100-gallon live well to revive it.
“I needed some time to regroup and rest, I was exhausted,” he said.
Then the veteran angler released the 104-pound catfish back into Lake Gaston, just as he does with all the cats he catches over about 15 pounds.
Royce says May is historically a choice time for big blue cats on Lake Gaston. He says lake shad are massed for spawning, and big cat schools are tight on their heels. It’s also pre-spawn time for blue cats and they feed up for the coming spawn. Those two things work together in making May a prime month for Gaston’s big cats.
“This is definitely the best week I’ve ever had for giant blue cats on Gaston in the 25 years I’ve fished it,” Royce continues. “Just [May 1], I caught and released a 96-pounder.”
