BOB MAINDELLE: Cove veteran lands pending lake record blue ... - The Killeen Daily Herald

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Copperas Cove resident Eric Stoodley is a husband, father, veteran and knowledgeable catfish angler.

Stoodley recently added some high-end marine electronics to his boat, but while fishing a small tournament at Lake Brownwood, realized some adjustments would be necessary to that equipment if he was going to reap the full benefit of his sonar system.

After returning home after the tournament and fine-tuning his electronics based on lessons learned at Lake Brownwood, the U.S. Army and National Guard veteran took his boat to Lake Austin on the Colorado River to once again put the new gear to the test in a real-world scenario.

"Late morning of 6 February 2023, I decided to take a solo trip to Lake Austin to test out my new electronics," Stoodley recalled. "Armed with Mega 360, Live TargetLock and a new Hummingbird Helix 12 networked to my Ultrex (trolling motor), I hit the water.

"I pulled up to the boat ramp and launched my G3 2400 Sportsman near 11 a.m. The first hour was spent using side scan trying to locate schools of shad. After I marked them, I would move to that location and began to use the Live Target while throwing the cast net.

"Due to the difference in the air temperature and water temperature, along with the barometric pressure, the schools of shad were scattered making it challenging in the wind to get bait. But eventually I was able to obtain a few perch and gizzard shad."

Stoodley then turned his attention to finding, marking, and returning to individual fish he felt were sizeable catfish.

"After the bait run, I decided to side scan a half-mile course and mark any big fish I saw — what I believed to be 30-plus pounds. In the half-mile trip I was able to mark 15 good-sized fish while scanning 100 feet to the left and right of the boat. Then I used the outboard and the remote on the Ultrex to record my route. Once I started my route, I began casting out rods."

Success came quickly.

"After 10 minutes of the Ultrex following the selected route, the first rod went down. I quickly brought in a six-pound channel (catfish)," Stoodley said.

Stoodley's day was about to get even better.

"Fifteen to 20 minutes later, the left planer board, which was in 20 feet of water, (was) pulled hard under water and then quickly went to the right. At this moment I knew I had a good fish hooked up.  

"After a 15-minute fight, I tried to get the fish in my net but the fish didn't want to go," he said.

To understand what happened next, one needs to understand how Stoodley was rigged up to catch these out-sized predators. Concerning his gear, Stoodley said he is, "... currently using a Piscifun Chaos XS 5000 (reels) mated to ProAngler Tackle Doug "Tex" Elliott Signature Series medium heavy rods."

Down near bottom where the catfish dwell, Stoodley had affixed hand-sized pieces of cut shad hooked on a JEB's custom catfish dragging lure, which is similar to a Santee Cooper rig with rattles.

It was at this point that Stoodley said things took a turn for the worse.

"Instead (of the fish going into the net), the hook eye and lure got wrapped in the net and I had to make the choice to grab the fish and roll it in the boat."

Fortunately, that choice panned out.

"The fishing trip to 'test' the electronics was cut short as I ran to the boat ramp to measure and weigh the beauty and ensure the proper care and release (of) this massive 47-inch, 54.52-pound blue catfish."

Stoodley credited a friendly park volunteer with assisting him in snapping the required photos which made possible his submission of an application in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's record fish program.

Since it was Stoodley's desire to release the fish, the fish was entered as a catch-and-release category record fish. In this category, a photograph of the angler with the fish and a clear photograph of the length of the fish (on a ruler, tape measure, yardstick, bump-board, or the like) must be submitted with a completed application.

If certified, this fish would go on record as the longest blue catfish captured from Lake Austin.

I asked Stoodley why the pursuit of large catfish was a passion of his.

"In my eyes, catfishing is very underrated," he said. "They are one of the largest predators in our waters. Just like bass, they hold to seasonal patterns and make movements throughout the day in and out of areas to ambush their prey.

"Many people bass fish and feel that shot of adrenaline when they hook into a bass tipping near double-digits. That feeling is amplified when it feels like you hooked the bottom of the lake and it starts pulling drag." 

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