OUR STORY
CATFISH GETTERS® BANKLINE FISHING POLES (Diddy Pole)
By Dale Michels
Tired of wading through weeds and mosquitoes to cut willow poles for the beavers to chew off? Well grab a handful of our lightweight and durable fiberglass bank line fishing/diddy poles and head to the River or Lake. These lightweight bank line poles come complete with fiberglass pole, 250-lb. test nylon braided line, 2/0 nickel plated swivel, sinker and your choice of either 7/0 offset circle hooks or 7/0 offset stainless steel "J" hooks.
Dale Michels started using a spring steel pole back in the 50's in Rose Creek near the small town of Reynolds, Nebraska. This creek emptied into the Little Blue River near Fairbury, Nebraska. Both streams were ideal for setting bank line poles. This is where his father taught him how to catch catfish by setting lines. Later in life Dale moved to Superior, Nebraska where he lived for over 40 years. Here is where he came up with the original fiberglass bank line poles we know as Catfish Getters Diddy Poles ("whisker sticks"). Dale loved to set his bank line poles on the Republican River and Lovewell Lake in Kansas. He caught both Catfish and Walleye on the bank line poles in the lake.
We start setting bankline poles here in Nebraska around the middle of April, with usually the best fishing around the middle to the end of May. Usually the catfish are spawning then and they seem to be moving and feeding more. Catching 200 pounds of fresh catfish in a weekend is no problem with the Catfish Getters® Diddy Poles. We like to set them just before dark with live bait such as bluegill, goldfish, craw fish, or bullheads hooking them through the eyes or top fin so they will stay alive. Try and set them in stiller water close to a brush pile or curve in the river if possible where the water is flowing slower. We set close to the bank, just out far enough that the bait can't get back to the bank and get tangled up. Set the bait just deep enough to cover the sinker with 6 inches of water. Big catfish feed mainly at night and close to bank. We catch mostly channel catfish early in the summer and then we start catching some of the bigger flat heads (yellow catfish) a little later in the summer. We've caught 50 to 60lb. yellow cats on the Catfish Getters® Diddy Poles with no problems. The largest ever caught that we know of from a customer of ours was just over 80lb!! Wow what a thrilling experience!! We have tremendous success when we have had a large enough rain to help bring the river up a couple of feet or more. When the river is coming up the catfish are really moving and you'll have better luck than when it is going down. We re-bait the hooks up every 2-3 hours even during the day when the fish are biting.
A QUOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER DALE MICHELS - We miss you dearly!!
"Having a picnic on the river can be lots of fun for the whole family. After fishing with the rod and reel for awhile, we set our Catfish Getters® before dark and then go look at them a couple hours later. Most of the time you'll be surprised what you'll have caught!! Bait them up again and run them every two hours or go home and come back in the morning for some more excitement. We have had fishermen use these Catfish Getters® in lakes, ponds or any body of water that has catfish in them. They set them along the banks or even duck tape them to willows along lakes from their boats. I use our screw in bracket and fasten the bankline poles to the logs and trees in the lakes. Just get them set with live bait and you'll be amazed of the catfish you'll catch!! We'll I got to go and set my Catfish Getters®. See you later. Good Fishing and God bless!!" - Dale Michels.
