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All ABOUT CATFISHING


Wolfox27

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I just got home after chasing channel cats since 230pm this afternoon.

 

I would have started earlier, but I needed to catch bluegills for bait before I hit the big river. Water temps are around 53*F, the channel cat bit really turns on as water temps hit the high 40*s and continue to ramp up as temps warm up, so naturally the bite has been excellent.

 

Flatheads tend to follow in suit, but from my experiance, the biggest ones don't start rolling hard in the shallows until temps get closer to 55*.

 

However, guys on boats have been able to have better early season success do to their advantage of being able to locate deeper active fish.

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Basically, since water temps went over the 45*F mark, I have been targeting channels exclusively. I will be back at it this week until I head to Florida on Friday. Once I get back from Florida during the 1st week of May, flatheads should be in full swing with water temps sustaining in the mid to high 50's.

 

The early season catfish are easily effected by temperature and weather patterns, so one really nasty cold front bringing icy rains and 30* temps can shut off a really good bite, this happened too me last year. The bite got off to an excellent start, then the 2nd week of May brought temps with highs around 35* and cold rains, this pushed the larger cats into deeper holes and inactivity. It can be an all out battle early season and getting out on the water, especially during and after warmer rains, can yield some of the most productive days.

Edited by Pylodictis
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:p

 

I have known it for a while, but I don't mind. Gives me something to do on slow work nights or slow work days.

 

Talking to myself about fishing makes time go so much quicker.  :laugh:  :laugh: :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:  

They say talking to yourself is okay. Its when you ask a question and you answer it.. :eek: . Then you need be strapped in a white jacket in a rubber padded room ..... :laugh:

I live to fish. Not fish to live. 

I fish because things in my head tell me to.

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I pride myself on being a true multispecies angler, as I have taught myself how to catch a good majority of the North American game fish species out there, (yes I consider even carp and suckers to be game fish, as they are some of the gamest fish out there and they make excellent bait too).

 

But, catfish species have been my love and the fish that intrigues me the most since the first time I ever caught one (I believe I was about 3 at the time).

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They say talking to yourself is okay. Its when you ask a question and you answer it.. :eek: . Then you need be strapped in a white jacket in a rubber padded room ..... :laugh:

 

Check out his thread on catfish bait, then we can look for that white jacket on the BST...

 

http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/691755-bait-selection-for-channel-catfish/

Edited by billthe5th
feeling uncreative today
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Ironically, on a more serious note, I did sign on to start a thread of this exact topic. I'm in NJ, and see lots of local ponds and lakes stocked with channel cats. I have never caught them consistently though.

 

I think the basic ideas of rigs and baits is pretty straightforward, and probably more about personal preference from what I can understand.

 

My bigger questions are:

 

TIME:

-I have heard some say spring is prime time for channels, but I don't know if this is more in the south or if it applies to up here too? The few I've caught were all June-September.

-Day or night? Has anyone caught them consistently in this area during the day/evening, or would be it time better spent fishing in the dark? Most of my best FW fishing has always been around dusk, but does that apply at all with these guys?

 

LOCATION:

- If I'm catching bullheads, is that area more likely to have channel cats too? or is it apples and oranges?

-In a lake with 1-3' deep weedbeds dropping off into a 6-12' deep winding channel, where would you put the baits?

 

CHUM?:

-A lot of lakes around here are dammed creeks, with some slight amount of current. from an anchored boat, would chum be useful? I never felt like it made a whole lot of difference with bullheads, I never really saw a bite "pick up" as I got the chum dispersed. 

feeling uncreative today
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I grew up fishing for bullheads.  Fish anytime I could get to the water and used anything I could get on a hook.  It all worked when I was a kid.  Now I fish when I can get away from work and stay out of the heat now that the fishing is in the south (SC mostly).  Have yet to find a bullhead in SC but catfish are plentiful and giants compared to the bullheads of my youth.  The hot spot is behind a dam that has striper, flatheads, blues and channels.  Due to it being a tail race the current can be dead calm to one step below fire hose.  It keeps it exciting with the changing conditions.  From cast to cast it may range from 1.5# channel up 90# monsters with 20-40# common.  The unknown keeps you on your toes.  This spot was the place where I discovered rattle traps catch catfish as well as stripers.  You just never know what might come next.  

 

Noddles, I am always looking for some one to help with the net. Let me know how to get in touch and we will find some catfish or something else to pull on the line. 

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Ironically, on a more serious note, I did sign on to start a thread of this exact topic. I'm in NJ, and see lots of local ponds and lakes stocked with channel cats. I have never caught them consistently though.

 

I think the basic ideas of rigs and baits is pretty straightforward, and probably more about personal preference from what I can understand.

 

My bigger questions are:

 

TIME:

-I have heard some say spring is prime time for channels, but I don't know if this is more in the south or if it applies to up here too? The few I've caught were all June-September.

-Day or night? Has anyone caught them consistently in this area during the day/evening, or would be it time better spent fishing in the dark? Most of my best FW fishing has always been around dusk, but does that apply at all with these guys?

 

LOCATION:

- If I'm catching bullheads, is that area more likely to have channel cats too? or is it apples and oranges?

-In a lake with 1-3' deep weedbeds dropping off into a 6-12' deep winding channel, where would you put the baits?

 

CHUM?:

-A lot of lakes around here are dammed creeks, with some slight amount of current. from an anchored boat, would chum be useful? I never felt like it made a whole lot of difference with bullheads, I never really saw a bite "pick up" as I got the chum dispersed.

Time:

 

Channels will hit any time of day and anytime of year, the more important piece of information to keep in mind is location.

 

Channels like warmer water with temps of 40* plus being the temps that the first start becoming active (45* seems to be the mark from my experiance that channels start to more actively roam). Channels can be caught through the ice and/or in colder temps, but I don't have that knowledge other then it involves very accurate bait placement. Heavy structured cover or drop offs that provide the protection of deeper water with ready access to food sources that can be found in the shallows.

 

Day at night time can both be great for channels. Daytime fishing involves more accurate bait placement, focus on working structure and cover by making multiple casts, you shouldn't need to keep bait in a location for longer then 5min.

 

Nightime is when you set up in known feeding lanes and involves more waiting, unless you find the right feeding lane. If you likefishing for walleye at night, that will usually be a good place for channels at night.

 

Chum isn't nessesary, but some use it. It is a way of creating an artifical food source. To make this techinique work like it should involves prebaiting an area for aweek or more in advance of fishing that area. The goal is to condition the fish into associating that area with food.

 

It is much simpler and cheap to focus on a rocky shore line loaded with crayfish; nature's way of prebaiting an area.

Edited by Pylodictis
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