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Catching Catfish 101

MattMan81

MattMan81

Well-Known Member
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The Mitten
So my son really wants to catch some catfish. Have caught a few bull head over the years in Michigan. Never fished a lot of rivers. I know a lot of the rivers and big lakes have them. What is the basic tactic and set up I need to try and make this happen? I have a boat, but we mostly pan fish and chase walleye in the Upper peninsula once a year.
 
I would use a fish finder rig with either a chunk of said panfish or perch (check your local regs, sometimes game fish can't be used for bait, usually panfish aren't game fish but double-check) on 5/0-7/0 circle hook, or (honestly what I catch most of my catfish on) a piece of raw chicken. They love it. If you have any flathead in your area take a 4 inch panfish and hook it through the back near the top fin on the same type of rig or under a bobber(sometimes you need to add a weight to make them swim down).

Fish hook themselves with circle hooks so you just let the pole bend over, start reeling, and keep tension, no need to yank to set the hook on a bite, that usually pulls the hook out actually.
 
Any particular areas? Fast moving water? Slow moving water? Deep? Shallow? Muddy? What am I looking for that would tell me some are hanging around?
 
MattMan81 said:
Any particular areas? Fast moving water? Slow moving water? Deep? Shallow? Muddy? What am I looking for that would tell me some are hanging around?
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I've had better luck finding a deeper pools, but generally near moving water. Fish mainly rivers/estuaries so there's some river flow but also some tidal movement. They are scavengers and ambush predators so I'll usually chuck a few poles out with chicken in some deeper spots and then panfish with my ultralight pole near structure. Anything I catch under 4 inches gets thrown back, 4-6 becomes bait (again, as long as it's legal, I generally don't catch bass and crappie are rare but wouldn't live line with one like I would with a bluegill) any bigger I debate eating them myself lol. These numbers are all on-water guesses so likely bigger than reality. I really like playing what I call the "food chain game" where I'll dig up some worms to catch a panfish and then use that to catch a big cat. Haven't successfully caught anything on a big cat yet lol so it tops out there

If you don't get any nibbles after a 20 min soak, pull em up and try somewhere else.
 
MattMan81 said:
Any particular areas? Fast moving water? Slow moving water? Deep? Shallow? Muddy? What am I looking for that would tell me some are hanging around?
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They want a little current in my experience. Depth I've found varies based on temp just like other fish. If the surface temp is too hot or cold (70ish here) they go deep. Summer nights they'll stay deep in the day and come up shallow at night.

Can't beat cut bait for most catfishing. Flatheads prefer live, but will take fresh cut most days. If you have shad in your river, get good at finding them and the cats will be close. Otherwise any structure on the bottom or dropouts or undercut banks can be good.

If you've got kids and it's legal, judging, limb lining, and trotlining is a pile of fun. And all are good ways to scope out a piece of river before you commit to a rod and reel.
 
An old episode of Wilderness Journal I remembered seeing focusing on catfish that takes place relatively close to you.


A couple more (these are the ones I actually recalled) . . .


 
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I've fished big rivers in PA for flatheads and lakes a few times in Ohio. Our favorite spot was a big, deep eddy on the upper Allegheny River. 99% night fishing from a boat, and we mostly use big suckers (up to 12") for bait. I know a few creeks where I can seine them. We have used soft-shell crayfish (we call them crabs), with decent luck but suckers are better. I know some hard core flathead guys that swear bluegills are the best bait but I've never tried it.

We've caught some nice ones but never got any big ones. We've had some 20 fish nights. Our biggest was 36", 25#...nice fish but nowhere near what a top-end flathead can be. PA lagged behind some other states for the record size. For a long time, it was 44# but the record was broken. Not sure what the current PA record is.

Ohio has some big ones. For years, the record was 73# caught in Clendenning Lake. 50 pounders are not uncommon in the Muskingum lakes. The boathouse in Piedmont lake has one mounted on the wall...55#. It's really impressive but some states have records around the 100 pound mark (maybe Texas??) I can't imagine what a 100# cat looks like in the water.
I love to fish for them but I am by no means an expert. Pretty much like whitetail hunting, I have my "comfort zone" on how I do it but the really successful guys are in a different league.
So, from what I read, flatheads spend the daytime in deep holes associated with structure. The do like hard bottoms. At dusk they start moving and feeding. 1st in the deeper water and then eventually move into to the shallows later at night. Maybe that why we've never done great on them late in the night...we always tended to continue fishing the deep holes. Maybe the cats moved into shallow after midnight and we were still fishing deep.

Flathead fishing is a rush. The minute or so while one is running before setting the hook (or not setting the J hook) is so exciting. The thoughts that it could be a 50-75 pound fish is so exciting.

Side story...
My wife had a run one evening and she set the hook and had the fish one momentarily, then it got off. She reeled in to re-bait but when it got back to the boat, not only was the 6" sucker still on the hook, there was now a 2nd, half-digested sucker on the hook. We surmised that the cat swallowed her bait but when she set the hook she set it into the other sucker that the cat was digesting and she actually pulled it out of the cat's belly.
 
i like using shad for bait, its an oily fish and all catfish love them.
you need a castnet to catch them, some are big enough you have to cut them up for a castable size.
i caught this one on a shad head that was maybe a pound or so. not sure of the weight on this one, pretty sure it was well over 40#
OVGyo90.jpg
 
When I go catfishing. I’ll use shrimp Medium size with #5 circle hooks. Another bait I’ll use is shiners ( minnows) or goldfish ( legal here) or brim as a cut bait ( legal here). I mostly catch channel cats unless I go to the Ouachita river then I’m using whole live brim as bait for big flatheads.
 
All good advice above. If you have a lake, impoundment that‘s not too big you should give pool noodles a try. It’s just another version of “jugging”. Cut sections of pool noodles about 1.5 ft long put about 6 or 7 ft of nylon line on with a hook, bait with live bream or other live bait fish. Throw them out right at dark and come back at the crack of dawn a start hunting for them. Nothing like finding a noodle “cruising” down the lake. Sometimes you pick up one that seems to have nothing on it only to have a 30-50 pounder explode on you! Obviously, check your local regs to ensure that it’s legal, but if it is, it’s a blast.
 
2Sloe said:
All good advice above. If you have a lake, impoundment that‘s not too big you should give pool noodles a try. It’s just another version of “jugging”. Cut sections of pool noodles about 1.5 ft long put about 6 or 7 ft of nylon line on with a hook, bait with live bream or other live bait fish. Throw them out right at dark and come back at the crack of dawn a start hunting for them. Nothing like finding a noodle “cruising” down the lake. Sometimes you pick up one that seems to have nothing on it only to have a 30-50 pounder explode on you! Obviously, check your local regs to ensure that it’s legal, but if it is, it’s a blast.
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I run noodles made from PVC pipe and pool noodles. They’re weighted so they’ll stand up when hit. To make sure I can see then at night DOT reflective tape on the top. Makes it fun chasing them. Just make sure you have a full tank or close to it. Lol.
 
When I was a kid we caught a lot of them on regular fishing poles with treble hooks baited with chicken livers, chicken gizzards or a foul smelling paste known as "Catfish Charlie". We fished mostly at night. Fond childhood memories.
 
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MattMan81 said:
What weight line do you guys run?
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Depends on the cat. You can catch most channels cats on bass tackle. My designated big cat rods have 65lb braid and usually a 40lb mono leader. Overkill for the fish, but when you're yeeting 4oz of weight and a live bluegill you need it.
 
the one in my pic was caught on 10# or 12 # on a cheap wallyworld rod and a abu garcia baitcaster.
the heaviest line i use on a rod is 20# , a good drag and knowing when to or not to pull hard is key. if they are running hard letem run. now if i was going out on the missouri or mississppi river after big blues i would bump line weight up. but 20-30# is plenty for me.
 
Our record blue is #116, flathead is #80 and channel is #38. If you want to just catch a bunch of eatin size fish get some dip bait and a bass rod and fish the rivers. If you want to catch big cats, you need big gear, live or fresh cut bait. Green sunfish or blue gills are awesome live bait or cut bait. Shad and skip jack are really good cut bait as well.
 
Dove guts are the absolute best bait I have ever used. Leave them in a plastic bag sitting in the sun for a while. Pure magic.
 
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