October 24, 2026 Edition

Pull up a chair and join Luke Clayton and friends for another entertaining edition of Catfish Radio, bringing together the traditions of the outdoors, conversations about wildlife, and fishing knowledge from experienced guests.

This week's four segments take listeners from campfire conversations to deer feeding, striped bass fishing, and crappie fishing on Texas's Cedar Creek Lake.

The October 24 broadcast opens with Campfire Talk, setting the tone for another edition of Catfish Radio. This opening segment offers listeners the familiar campfire atmosphere that connects the show to the outdoor lifestyle and the traditions of hunting, fishing, and spending time in nature.

Lamont Register joins the program for a conversation focused on feeding deer, a subject of interest to hunters, landowners, and wildlife enthusiasts.

Deer feeding is an important topic in discussions about wildlife management, supplemental nutrition, and the seasonal habits of whitetail deer. This segment brings that subject into the spotlight as Texas hunters enjoy the fall season.

Striped bass fishing takes center stage as Bill Carey joins Catfish Radio to offer tips on catching stripers.

For freshwater anglers interested in pursuing these powerful game fish, the segment focuses on practical striper fishing knowledge from an experienced voice in the outdoors.

The program wraps up with Cedar Creek fishing guide Chris Webb discussing crappie fishing.

Cedar Creek Lake is a popular Texas destination for freshwater anglers, and crappie are among its most sought-after fish. This segment highlights crappie fishing through the perspective of a guide familiar with the lake.

Whether your interests include hunting, feeding whitetail deer, catching hard-fighting striped bass, or pursuing crappie on Texas lakes, the October 24 edition of Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton & Friends brings together a variety of outdoor topics and knowledgeable guests.

Join Luke Clayton and friends for another great week celebrating hunting, fishing, wildlife, and the outdoor way of life!

Segment 1: Rutting Bucks and Hunting Tactics

* The segment focuses on white-tailed deer hunting strategies for the upcoming Texas rut.

* Luke Clayton and Larry Weysun recommend rattling antlers to attract aggressive, high-testosterone bucks that are looking for a fight.

* Weysun explains that hunters can effectively use human urine in buck scrapes, as deer cannot distinguish it from animal urine once it breaks down into uric acid and ammonia.

* Clayton also highlights the netting-style Pig Hog Trap as an effective method for wild hog management.

Segment 2: Mag Feeders and Dry Feed Solutions

* James Reed introduces his company, Mag Feeders, which produces gravity-flow feeders designed to keep feed completely dry.

* The feeders utilize a specialized canopy lip and a rain bead that directs water away from feed like rice bran and range cubes.

* Reed describes three versatile models—the 180, the 150, and the Gator 300—which feature adjustable gaps and can be mounted on trees or fence posts.

Segment 3: Taxidermy Field Prep and Rare Catches

* Joel Parker of All American Taxidermy discusses the rare, historically significant mule-footed hog that Clayton harvested at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, which Parker successfully mounted.

* Parker provides critical field preparation advice for hunters wanting shoulder mounts, emphasizing the need to cool the hide down as quickly as possible.

* He advises hunters to cut halfway down the deer's body—where the brown and white hair meet on the front legs—and skin forward to the base of the skull to ensure the taxidermist has plenty of cape to work with.

Segment 4: Choctaw Hunting Lodge Campfire Cooking

* Nacolh Vickery (uniquely spelled N-A-C-O-L-H) discusses her role as the manager and cook at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge.

* She details her popular smothered steak recipe, which involves dusting the meat in flour, searing it to create a crust, and baking it in beef broth for three hours.

* Vickery explains her meal-prep strategies for feeding large groups of hunters, highlighting prepared-in-advance dishes like marinated chicken thighs, dirty rice, and jalapeño cream corn.

* Listeners are encouraged to follow her daily lodge life and recipes on her Facebook page.

• Guest Larry Weishuhn recalls that his first deer rifle was a Remington Model 33 single-shot .22 caliber, noting that rimfire rifles were legal for deer hunting when he first started out.

• Over his extensive hunting career, Weishuhn estimates he has used approximately 92 or 93 different calibers and cartridges for harvesting game.

• Weishuhn shares a story of his late friend James Petty, who struggled with accuracy using a Model 88 Winchester in .243 but became a highly effective hunter after switching to a 742 Woodmaster in .30-06.

• When selecting ammunition, Weishuhn stresses the importance of controlled expansion bullets that destroy vital tissue, warning against using frangible varmint bullets that blow up on the surface.

• A 100-yard field test shooting various Hornady loads through 6.5 and .308 calibers demonstrated that modern barrels are remarkably forgiving, keeping diverse rounds within tight one to one-and-a-half-inch groups.

• Catfish Radio and Podcast Producer Dustin Vaughn Warncke joins the broadcast to discuss jugline fishing, an accessible method utilizing floating materials like glass milk jugs, Clorox bottles, or white foam pool noodles.

• Warncke talks about building custom "flagging jugs" out of PVC pipe sealed with a piece of rebar inside; when a fish takes the bait, the weight shifts and the jug stands up to signal a catch.

• These flagging setups are anchored with one-pound barbell weights and rigged with three hooks, whereas standard unweighted pool noodles simply drift across the surface and must be chased down by boat.

• For jugline hooks, the hosts recommend circle hooks or Kahle hooks, noting that circle hooks are specifically designed to corkscrew automatically into the corner of the fish's mouth.

• Warncke emphasizes the importance of checking Texas Parks and Wildlife regulations to ensure all floating jugs are legally marked with the required identification and dates before deployment.

• Lake Tawakoni guide Tony Pennebaker notes that the trophy blue catfish bite typically initiates in October as the water temperatures begin to drop.

• As the season progresses, Pennebaker shifts to pulling planer boards and trolling to locate larger fish moving across the lake.

• He recommends up-sizing both the bait and the tackle for winter blues, utilizing large cut gizzard shad and stepping up to 7/0 or 10/0 hooks.

• For eating smaller, 12-inch channel catfish, Pennebaker prefers an old-school method: scoring the meat down to the bone three or four times per side and frying the fish whole, allowing the cooked segments to be easily pulled off with a fork.

• The hosts discuss the effectiveness of rattling for bucks in North and Northeast Texas during the pre-rut and rutting period in late October and early November.

• When rattling, hunters should start the sequence quietly to mimic young bucks sparring, and gradually escalate the intensity if no deer respond immediately.

• The rattling technique was heavily popularized in the late 1950s and 1960s by Texas Hill Country outdoor writers like Bob Ramsey and Dan Klepper.

• Rattling is highly dependent on local herd dynamics; it works best with a balanced buck-to-doe ratio and is largely ineffective in areas with sparse buck populations.

• Because mature bucks will almost invariably circle downwind to scent-check the area before approaching the sound, hunters must position themselves carefully and utilize scent-neutralizing sprays like the Wraith products from Burnham Brothers.

Featured Sponsors & Affiliates

• Hunting & Optics: Sponsors include Pyramid Air, CVA muzzleloaders and Cascade centerfire rifles, ATN thermal scopes, Stealth Vision scopes from Crockett, Texas, Ultramatic Feeders, and Hornady ammunition.

• Outdoors & Lifestyle: The broadcast highlights Smokin Tex electric smokers, Butcher Packer Supply, Platinum Cadillac and Chevrolet in Terrell, and Dash for Cash Pawn Shop in Seagoville.

• Destinations & Organizations: Mentions include the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, Dallas Safari Club, Cross Water Outfitters, and the Saskatchewan Department of Tourism.

Bear Hunting at Choctaw Hunting Lodge

* The show broadcasts from the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, a property owned by the Choctaw Nation in Southeast Oklahoma and managed by Dusty and Nicole Vickery.

* The Choctaw Nation's land encompasses 44,000 to 45,000 acres, which is evenly split between commercial hunting and leased land for hunting groups operating under strict management programs.

* Weishuhn is currently bow hunting with a 10-point crossbow and tracking a large bear that visited the bait site after dark.

* Local bears grow exceptionally large—with one harvested near the Indian Turnpike weighing 615 pounds—because the year-round food supply in states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana allows them to bypass hibernation completely.

Fall Striper Fishing on Lake Texoma

* Bill Carey of Striper Express joins the show to discuss the early October seasonal transition on Lake Texoma.

* As the weather cools and days shorten, striper feeding behavior shifts away from the aggressive summer "kamikaze" surface fighting.

* The stripers begin schooling and pushing bait to the surface, prompting seagulls to hover and dip into the water.

* Carey advises anglers to use binoculars immediately upon leaving the harbor to locate these feeding birds, noting they are more effective than expensive fish finders for tracking the schools.

Outdoor Cooking & BBQ Techniques

*Catfish Radio and Podcast Producer Dustin Vaughn Warncke details his preferred outdoor cooking methods, favoring charcoal and hardwood on his Oklahoma Joe's offset smoker over many modern propane options for gas grills.

* Warncke also utilizes tabletop round grills for quick hunting camp meals like bacon-wrapped dove breasts, as well as a lightweight, Gaucho-style fire pit with swinging grates.

* Clayton shares his own minimalist setups, such as using a small portable smoker from Buc-ee's or simply propping a 14-by-20-inch grate over a hardwood campfire using rocks or logs.

* Warncke outlines the "Texas Crutch" method for brisket, which involves smoking the meat over offset heat for four to five hours to maximize smoke absorption. To prevent the meat from drying out during the "ramp, stall, and finish" stages, Warncke recommends wrapping the brisket in pink butcher paper to lock in moisture while still allowing heat and smoke to penetrate.

Luke’s Wild Pork Campfire Chili

* Clayton shares his scalable recipe for wild pork chili, emphasizing that wild hog hams should be trimmed of all sinew and silver skin, then coarse-ground or cut into 1/4-inch cubes. The lean pork is coated in cooking oil and placed in a cast-iron Dutch oven inside an electric smoker, such as a Smokin Tex.* The meat is smoked for 30 to 45 minutes, with the damper cut down for maximum smoke, and stirred every 10 minutes for even flavor exposure.

* After moving the pot to a burner, the meat is mixed with Wick Fowler's chili mix or a scratch blend of chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, red pepper, chopped jalapeños, and a yellow onion.

* The chili is then covered with chopped tomatoes and liquid, optionally mixed with red kidney beans, and left to simmer on low heat for another hour.

Featured Sponsors & Affiliates

Hunting & Optics: Sponsors include Pyramid Air, CVA muzzleloaders and Cascade centerfire rifles, ATN thermal scopes and binoculars, Stealth Vision scopes, and Ultramatic Feeders.

Outdoors & Lifestyle: The broadcast features Smokin Tex electric smokers, Butcher Packer Supply, Platinum Cadillac and Chevrolet in Terrell, and Dash for Cash Pawn Shop in Seagoville.

Destinations & Organizations: Mentions include the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, Striper Express, Dallas Safari Club, and the Saskatchewan Department of Tourism.

Join Luke Clayton and friends for another entertaining trip through the outdoors, featuring campfire conversation, fall fishing knowledge, and practical ideas for turning wild pork into memorable meals.

This week’s episode blends the experience of seasoned outdoorsmen with the relaxed storytelling that makes Catfish Radio feel like a visit among friends. Luke opens the show around the campfire before welcoming Jeff Rice for a conversation about cooking wild pork. Fishing guide Chris Webb then shares timely insight into fall crappie fishing, and Luke closes the episode with more of his favorite wild-pork cooking tips.

Whether you enjoy fishing, hunting, outdoor cooking, or simply hearing stories from people who live the outdoor lifestyle, this episode has plenty to take back to the lake, the woods, and the kitchen.

Luke begins the show with his signature Campfire Talk, reflecting on the changing season and the outdoor opportunities that arrive as summer gives way to fall.

It is the kind of easygoing conversation that sets the tone for the entire episode—part outdoor update, part storytelling, and part invitation to slow down and appreciate time spent outside.

Outdoor writer and photographer Jeff Rice joins Luke for a field-to-table conversation centered on wild pork.

Jeff and Luke discuss ways hunters and outdoor cooks can make better use of wild hog meat and turn it into flavorful meals. Their conversation highlights the importance of proper preparation, thoughtful cooking methods, and approaching wild pork as a valuable food resource rather than simply the result of a hunt.

Listeners interested in game cooking will enjoy hearing two experienced outdoorsmen exchange practical ideas, personal experiences, and lessons learned around the kitchen and camp.

Fishing guide Chris Webb joins the program to discuss one of the most productive and enjoyable fishing opportunities of the season: fall crappie fishing.

Chris shares guidance for locating and catching crappie as water temperatures begin to change and fish adjust their seasonal patterns. The conversation offers useful perspective for anglers preparing to spend time on the water during the cooler fall months.

From understanding fish movement to adapting presentations and paying attention to changing conditions, this segment provides timely information that can help anglers approach their next crappie trip with greater confidence.

Luke closes the program by returning to the field-to-table theme and sharing more of his own experience preparing wild pork.

He offers practical cooking advice designed to help listeners get the most flavor and enjoyment from this abundant game meat. Luke’s approach reflects years of hunting, camp cooking, and experimenting with recipes that transform wild pork into satisfying meals for family and friends.

It is a fitting conclusion to an episode that celebrates the complete outdoor experience—from spending time in the field and on the water to enjoying the harvest at the dinner table.

• Luke Clayton’s weekly Campfire Talk

• Jeff Rice and Luke discuss preparing and cooking wild pork

• Field-to-table ideas for making better use of wild hog meat

• Chris Webb shares timely fall crappie fishing insight

• Seasonal fishing patterns and changing fall conditions

• Luke offers additional wild-pork cooking tips

• Outdoor stories, practical advice, and good conversation

Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends celebrates fishing, hunting, outdoor cooking, conservation, and the people who keep the outdoor tradition alive.

Each episode brings listeners informative interviews, useful tips, campfire stories, and conversations with guides, writers, cooks, hunters, anglers, and other experienced outdoor personalities.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and join Luke and his friends for another week in the great outdoors.

Listen, share the episode, and follow Catfish Radio for more outdoor stories, fishing reports, hunting conversations, and field-to-table inspiration.