I've heard stories (mostly from my grandfather) about using old phones to shock catfish. Unfortunately he is no longer around to explain exactly how to use one. So I'm wondering if anyone has some actual experience.

I got an old 5 bar magneto for fathers day and couldn't wait to use it. First thing I did was test it out with my volt meter. Was able to easily get 120+ volts. Next thing I did was to try and get one of the kids to test it. That didn't work as they knew something was up : ) So it was straight to the pond from there. Got out in the boat and tried different depths and locations but nothing happened. Tried cranking slow and fast but still nothing. I could tell the water was loading it down because it was hard to crank.

-Maybe my channel cats are 'phone smart' to
-Maybe it has something to do with the water conductivity?
-Maybe not all magnetos are the same?
-Maybe this is just another fish story and too bad my grandfather is not around for a laugh.

I am curious about this as well, I hope we hear something back on this, maybe then I can see where all my CC are hiding.

I tried calling some fish once, but I kept getting the wrong number...

Funny, a few years back some guy around here got arrested for selling magnetos as a packaged kit. He had the wife and kids all involved, so the local Police Beat read like a rendition of Henry VIII. "Selling an illegal fish shocking device (5 counts)" "Taking fish via an illegal fish shocking device (2 counts), etc. etc.

Cheezy,

Can you tell how many amps you are getting? If you can get around 5-6 amps that should work.

Chris,

I haven't checked it while the wires are in the water so I'm not for sure what it would put out....but I bet it is no where near 5 amps.

I just now tested with a 1000 ohms resistive load and only got 92ma at 83 volts and I was cranking pretty fast. A 100 ohm produced 186ma at 19 volts.

I'll have to see what it does when the wires are in the water about 6 feet apart.

Chris,

I finally had a chance to actually measure how many amps it is putting into the water. With the wires about 10 feet apart I measured 40.6 volts @ 170 milla-amps.

During my test, I actually got some channel cat between the wires by feeding them. I couldn't even get 1/16th a crank turn before they made a big splash and took off. It does seem to have an effect on them but it doesn't stun them.

I'm starting to wonder if there is any truth to some of the info I got from people with first hand experience. I was told that this method only works on flatheads.....and will not work on channel cat. If this is true then, I will have to try something else.

I'm also wondering if channel cat can be surveyed using a shocker boat. Surely one of those will stun any type of fish.

When we are shocking for catfish we are usually running 500 to 1000 volts. Last summer we collected flatheads, blues, and channels. All of them were caught using the same settings.

Maybe you should take off the handle and attach a cordless drill.

Let us know if that works!

This is beginning to sound like a "hold my beer and watch this" moment.

This young man is destined for greatness. Move over Thomas Edison.

I don't think Young Blood drinks though.

My friend wanted to attach a drill to her phone but someone said that he tried it and burned the thing up. So, if you want to try a drill you need to have a volt meter and see what speed it needs to turn.

Well I'm no where near 500 to 1000 volts. I don't think a person could even rewind the armature and get that much. I have tried a drill but it didn't really help much other than keeping my arm from getting tired. I thought the magnets may have lost some charge so I stuck a large NEO magnet on the side and it gave me a few more milla-amps but not the major change I was looking for. Was loads of fun getting the NEO magnet off : )

I've got two 5 bar magnetos now and get pretty much the same output from both. There must be some trick to it or I've got the wrong type of magnetos.

Them old crank telephones need to have rock bottom for em to work. And once you start crankin, don't stop. If you stop, that spot is done and you'll have to move on to the next one. Brush piles in creeks and rivers are the best places to throw your leads in. Somebody else in downstream of ya in a " catch boat" with a long gaff hook or dip net makes things alot easier also.

Also a cordless drill is easier on the arm, but it doesn't have to be cranked super fast. Just a good steady pace is better. An old windshield wiper motor bolted to a board along with the phone on the same board and rigged up to it works pretty good. Them old phones can also be heard along ways off when your on the river so always keep an eye out for game warden. Them Skoal can shockers work pretty good too and also they don't make any sound. Ya oughtta look into gettin one of them. Some people frown on fishin like that, but I was always told that, "If you ain't cheatin,.....you ain't wantin to win bad enough!".

I've fished with old cranks a number of times, being one myself, but crank phones? There's no call for that!