| Although all species of catfish have their own preferences in a habitat, there are some common denominators to enable us to find them. And like all fish those spots depend on other factors as well, like food availability, weather conditions, time of day, and season. In spring, they become more active as the temps. reach 50 degrees. They'll feed on insects, small fish, crayfish, and the like. They can feed at anytime of the day, so you'll have to experiment. In summer, either get up early or stay up late. They hunt their food from about 1:00 AM til 8:00 AM or so. Then they return to their lairs. Calm, overcast days, and rainy spring or summer days can produce well. Night fishing is usually best on the hottest days. In fall they are feeding to prepare for winter, so that's when the real trophies can be caught. In winter they go deep and form tight schools under cover, like logjams, fallen trees, and things like that. Channel cats remain active during the winter.
Catfish relate to structure like black bass. In streams look for holes in overhanging, outside bends, or fish below rapids or riffles. The mouth of a small stream entering a larger one is another place to check. In rivers look for current breaks and eddies. Mid stream rocks or boulders, rock jetties, pilings, fallen trees, dams, and wing dams. Check for any drop-offs, especially if they're below a sandbar. In ponds and reservoirs, fish the deepest water, usually near a dam and check any rip rap areas. Look for spots where there's a steep drop-off from a flat bottom and fish the deep side. In natural lakes look for deep, vegetated, offshore holes.Catfish generally like deep water during the day and at night, shallow flats and edges are favored hunting grounds. During the day, fish deep. At night, try the edges of deep pools first. If you don't catch fish, move to shallower and shallower water.
Blue Catfish; Big blues in the 20 - 50 pound range are fairly common in good habitat, and can be caught year round, even in the winter. They are one of the strongest freshwater fish. They prefer clean, fast moving water below dams or rapids, and are usually found over sand or gravel bottoms. They feed mainly at night. Young blues eat insects and small fish, while big ones like crayfish, mussels, and other fish. More good baits include cut-fish, shad, goldfish, and prepared or rotting baits. Most are caught bottom fishing.
Channel Cats; They live in a variety of habitats. They are most common in large rivers and streams, prefer some current, and deepwater with sand, gravel, or rubble bottoms. They're also found in lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. They're bottom-dwellers, feed mainly at night, and are mostly caught on the bottom at night. Dead minnows, shad, live crawlers, shrimp, chicken guts, goldfish, and homemade or commercial stinkbaits. They prefer dead or commercial stinkbaits but at certain times will eat live minnows and take lures like small spinners and jigs tipped with a pork trailer or minnow. They've even been caught using ivory soap, dog food, hot dogs, and marshmallows. Channel cats stay in deep holes all day. Cast you're bait into the current and let it drift past catfish pools. They feed in currents and eat food carried in the drift. At night try a 4" - 5" minnow on a #1 - #2 hook, put a bobber 4 - 5 feet up and cast into the current and let drift by. When the bobber is out of sight, gently retrieve the bait and recast. When the bobber disappears, set the hook.
Flathead Catfish; They are extremely strong fighters. They lead a solitary life lounging in deep water under cover like logjams and fallen trees making them hard to catch during the day. At night it's easier, because their actively feeding, mostly in shallow water and even on the surface. They like live bait and rarely take dead or decaying baits. The best baits are shad, bluegills, suckers, panfish, crayfish, etc. A flathead will first maul the bait and gently tug the line. In a current flow, hook your bait through both lips, in slack, deep pools, hook the bait under the back fin. Be careful when handling them. They have 6" pectoral spines that can do some real damage to you.
Above all make sure you have a good grip on your pole. More than one fisherman has lost their setup because they were surprised by these powerful fish.
Related Articles:
|
