WizarDave's
Catfishing Page
Catfish are often overlooked. This is truly a shame.
They are one of my favorite fish. They are a great fish to start your kids on. They are
excellent eating. They are usually fairly easy to catch. They fight well. You don't need a
huge tackle box with hundreds of dollars of fishing lures. You are much more likely to
catch a 10# catfish than a 10# bass.
Give them a try.
Tackle: Get pretty heavy tackle. 20-30# test line is appropriate. Baitcasters,
larger spinning reels or even closed faced reels work well. If you need an all around rod
and reel try one of the Zebco 33+ combos. These usually come with 12 or 15# test. They can
work for catfish, bass or panfish.
Other things you will need: a selection of hooks and treble hooks, sinkers and
bobbers.
Bait: About anything goes. Channel cat like smelly baits. Flat heads like live
baits. I have best luck with turkey livers tipped with shrimp or crawdads. Small bluegill
work pretty good. I usually cut them in 2. Some people have good luck with stink baits.
Personally, I haven't. I've also fished those very smelly shad sides from the jars but
have never caught anything on them. Of course, it's hard to beat a plain ol' night
crawler.
Bottom or bobber?: Both work. Sometimes fish about 1' under a bobber. Sometimes
it works best to fish on the bottom. I typically take the maximum number of rods allowed
and fish a little bit of everything. Once I start getting hits on something I switch all
poles to that. You never know what is going to work.
I've also had good luck jug fishing, trotlining and limblining.
To jug fish: Save some jugs. Gallon or half gallon milk jugs, or even 1 and 2
liter pop bottles work. Get some heavy duty trotline. Tie on a couple of hooks. I usually
set the bottom hook at about 6 feet and the top one at about 3 feet. Bait them up and toss
them in a pond. You will need a boat to chase them down. A good sized catfish can take a
gallon milk jug all over the pond. Check them every hour or two.
Trotlining: Try lots of different kinds of baits. I usually stretch a line
across a cove. You can fish a trotline without a boat. Securely tie one end. Put a lot of
weight on the other end and toss it out. It takes practice to throw out the line without
throwing off the bait. Be sure to check the line every couple of hours. If you leave it
overnight, check it first thing in the morning.
Limblining is nice if you don't have a boat. Just tie a line onto a limb. No
limbs? Cut a sappling and stick it in the mud. It'll work. Try leaving the bait just in
the water on some. With others, fish them quite a ways out and on the bottom. You never
know which is going to work.
Be careful of the front fins. They are sharp and have some sort of irritant on them.
Vinegar seems to take away the sting.
All you trout fishermen who think trout are the prettiest fish...
A 2 or 3 pound channel cat is every bit as pretty as a rainbow. AND they'll talk to
you!
