A Wichita, KS, Man  saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate.

It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface.

He tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife, cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

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The roadside section of the upper Kern has been good for fly anglers fishing small dries early and late in the day during hatches and egg-laying flights. Best action is in the upper couple of miles of the roadside stretch or on above the Johnsondale Bridge in the wild trout section. Water temps are cooler in this stretch, where the flows are under 300 cfs and dropping. The lower river flows are also down and falling, at 700 cfs early this week. Richbar, Hobo areas best for smallmouth bass anglers fishing spinners, crawlers, and plastics. Also a few cats on the lower river on clams.

I have been so impressed by the continued crappie bite at Lake Isabella that I have made a dozen trips up there over the last month. Limits most of the time and there are two to three of us on each trip.  Many 1 pound plus crappie. Jigs were the most productive, over minnows and other lures.  Catfish on night crawlers and Jumbo redworms.  Catfish have been very active, many smaller ones, but for every few small ones a nice 3-6 lber would show up.  I did some fishing at Buena Vista recently and caught probably 100 catfish.

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The aqueduct bite was slow. We were south off of Taft highway just past a gate.The gate was open half way and the weeds were a mess. Out of 15 Anglers two fish were caught A 12" Catfish and a 12" Striper. Both of them were off the bottom with chicken liver. We moved down the road quite a bit past Tupman to try out a bridge.  There was quite of bit of activty on top water but whatever was in there didn't want the Anchovies or Shad that we floated by. Working a buzz bait didn't catch any ones attention either.