# Catching larger Channels Cats



## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Channel Catfish: Part I-Baits

Contrary to popular belief, Channel Catfish are not scavengers. Channel cats are opportunity feeders. What do I mean? They tend to eat what ever is available. Channel cats can be caught on a variety of baits including hot dogs, dough balls, prepared stink baits, chicken liver, beef spleen and even bar soap. However, as a Channel grows up, appetites change, or maybe just their taste buds. Mature Channel Cats feed almost entirely on fish. This can be either alive or dead. The cut baits of choice for larger channels include shad, creek chubs, skipjack, and bluegill. The oilier the bait, like shad, the better scent is given off. Cut bluegill is less oily requiring you to change bait more often.
Baits can be cut in 1-2 chunks or filleted. Shad and Bluegills heads also make and excellent choice for larger channels. 
Dont be afraid to use a large piece of bait if you want a large catfish.


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## Columbusslim31 (Sep 1, 2007)

Thanks for the info. Keep it comin'.


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## hunted (Dec 10, 2006)

thanks neo


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

also in my experience dont be afraid to look at smaller rivers, in my experience some of my largest channels have come out of the stillwater than the GMR


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

pendog66 said:


> also in my experience dont be afraid to look at smaller rivers, in my experience some of my largest channels have come out of the stillwater than the GMR


Absolutely. Ohio smaller rivers and streams are often a unnoticed resource for catch fish, even more often when someone is after catfish.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

How often do you see a bass fishermen jamming to their favorite tunes from a boom box? 

Why then, do so many catfish anglers fail to execute their presentation with the same degree of stealth? Bass are more in tune with their surroundings, so they are more likely to be spooked-right? Catfish are on the bottom and cant hear what were doing as well-right?

Actually, its wrong. A catfish's sense of hearing is far more sensitive than the average basss. Their "ears," or hearing organs, are highly developed and very sensitive. They can hear sound, or vibrations, that we don't even pay attention to.

Fishermen must understand a catfish's sense of hearing. To catch more and bigger fish Channel Cats, you must be quiet. Simple things that should be avoided are loud shouting, skipping rocks, clanking around in the boat, pacing up and down the shoreline and listening to a booming radio.

Though many people have caught catfish making noise like mentioned above, they might have caught a lot more fish if they had not been making so much noise.


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

neocats1 said:


> How often do you see a bass fishermen jamming to their favorite tunes from a boom box?
> 
> Why then, do so many catfish anglers fail to execute their presentation with the same degree of stealth? Bass are more in tune with their surroundings, so they are more likely to be spooked-right? Catfish are on the bottom and cant hear what were doing as well-right?
> 
> ...




absolutley and you can ask steve, between this and light this is what i get into most arguements at the river over. And i watched a bill dance episode and he said the bluecat in particular is so boyant can hear or feel a boat engine from almost a mile away


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

A lot of guys I have talked to will even turn off their depth-fish finders after they have found thier spot. Some believe the ping might disturb catfish.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

pendog66 said:


> absolutley and you can ask steve, between this and light this is what i get into most arguements at the river over.


Light brings up another topic I am also picky about. Light is not natural after dark and believe me, fish know when you turn on a light. I use a lantern so I can see how to bait or re-tie a rig. Sometimes I just use a small flashlight. Keep the light from shinning on the water any more than necessary. Aluminum foil around a lantern will help. The less light you have the better. If you can get away from light, pay attention to where the source is and try not to walk between the light and the water. Shadows are very noticeable underwater at night and can easily spook fish. Just remember, if the light or campfire you are using shines on the water, it changes the conditions around you and may cause bigger fish to shy away from the light. If you have a spotlight, please don't shine it in the water while you are trying to catch fish. Fish will react the same way to it as you would if someone shined it in your eyes.
Green lights and blacklights are better than white lights. I use a low-power,LED green light on my landing net. It's just bright enough to see then end of the net.

So--Keep things as dark as you possibly can.


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## HeadwatersEd (Mar 14, 2006)

Hello Neocat,

Got a question about location for ya. I live near Ladue resevoir where there is not an extremely abundant population of channels, but there are some monsters in there. Where would you begin looking for them early in the year? I've tried near the dam, causeway where it flows under, and near a few humps with no success.
Am I better off starting on near or offshore structure? Humps or points? Day or night? Livebait or cut? Rocks or silt?

Maybe you should just publish a book and cover it all. 

Thanks


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

I have never fished Ladue, even though I am only an hour or so away. At first glance at the map, I have a few suggestions. First, channels are coming into shallower water now to feed on winter kill bait, but are still being caught in deeper water also. I would focus on the area between the 422 and 44 bridges. The east bank looks more promising as it has more of a dropp-off. The ledges and drop-offs are highways that fish use to get from one place to the next. Look for submerged structure. Fish will hide in ambush around tree tops and sunken logs. Start close to shore and work out. Sunny days seem better this time of year because it warms the water some. With the nights still cold, shallow water temps drop a little, but then warm up quickly when the sun comes out. Fresh cut shad should be the perfect bait if you can find them. Frozen if you must, but mix it up with some chicken liver, bluegill etc. They might just be in the mood for shrimp.

If you head out there anytime soon and have an empty seat, I would like to join you. If I'm not mistaken, the State Recird Channel came from Ladue.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

*Basic Rig*

The basic rig I use for channel cats is the sliding sinker or slip sinker rig. There are many variations of this rig but the basic idea is a 12 to 18 inch leader with your favorite hook. The plastic bead keeps the line from being damaged by the sinker. Adding a locking snap swivel allows you to quickly change hook sizes without having to re-tie. If you use the sinker slide you can change weights quickly also. The sliding sinker allows a fish to take the bait without feeling the weight of the sinker.


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## hunted (Dec 10, 2006)

yes neo,the record came from ladue.and thanks for all the helpful info you've been posting.i use the same rig except for i use a gama circle hook and an egg sinker or two.

i use a small headlamp when i fish at night.i have caught a lot of fish with a lantern or a fire burning,but not as big of fish.we used flashlights to land flatheads,maybe twice,and then figured it wasn't a good idea after seeing the way they react to it,and how hard they try to get away.now,when we land a fish at night,we don't even use a light anymore.

i am learning that fishing a public lake is a whole lot different than a public lake,aahhhhhh lessons learned.......


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Part V- Hooks

Catfish anglers use several different hooks and each person has a favorite. Personally, I use circle hooks almost exclusively. If you are a person who likes to rare back hard and set the hook, then don&#8217;t use circle hooks. Circle hooks are designed to allow the fish to hook itself. The Kahle hook is another common hook used in catfishing. The common J-hook is by far the most widely used. I would recommend everyone practice using circle hooks.

This is what your average circle hook looks like. Notice the barb on the shank that helps prevent your bait from sliding up the hook.








The J-hook








The Kahle Hook








The 5/0 Daiichi and 8/0 Daiichi hooks I most often use for channel catfish.


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## bassattacker (Mar 14, 2007)

neocats1, very informational, i would have to say that chicken livers is the best anytime bait for channels, u can always depend on livers to atleast produce one channel, but blue gill head and shad will produce the bigger ones, i always like to put out a liver pole and a shad/gill head pole and ill switch it up until i find out what there wanting that particular night, trial and error but ull find it sooner or later. curled creek chubs are an excellent channel bait too.


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## hunted (Dec 10, 2006)

i used to miss quite a few when i started fishing with circles,but over time,i settled down on the hook setting.i haven't gut hooked anything on my cats rods for around the three years ive been using them.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Rods and Reels:

My advice is to be prepared. Medium-heavy power rods are the ticket, but ones with a fast action tip are better for detecting the light bite of channels. I see no reason to miss the fish of a lifetime because you choose to use light tackle.

There are two types of catfish rods, casting and spinning. The ones most commonly used are casting rods. Mainly because the majority of baitcasting reels can provide more cranking power than most spinning reels. That doesnt mean the spinning reels are not a good option. You just need to get one built to handle big fish. I use all spinning outfits.
I am fortunate to have a company that makes a signature edition E-glass catfish rod for me that is perfect for both channel catfishing and flathead fishing. I use the spinning models with larger 65 series Okuma spinning reels. Trust me, I get some strange looks fishing with a spinning reel that is large enough to hold 150 yards of 30# mono line, but when they see me handle 10,12,and 15# channel cats and 30-40# flatheads with ease, they stop doubting. Some models of spinning reels even have a bait clicker function now.

The rod length I prefer is 7-7 ½, but often use 9-10 so I cast have a longer casting ability when needed.


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## One Legged Josh (Jan 27, 2008)

Neo,
If you fish "blacked out" how do you see your rod tips for the light biting channel? We have always used a coleman lantern. Let me know. Thanks.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Glow stick or glow tape. The best I have used are the ones you buy from the Dollar Tree store. They are kids bracelets actually. Tape them or tie them with bread ties onto the end of your rod. They usually last most of the night and can be seen from a good distance away. If you are bankfishing, this allows you to spread your rods out farther and cover more area. Circle hooks eliminate the need to be contantly by your rod because you don't have to "set" the hook in order to hook the fish.


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## lucky1 (Jun 6, 2007)

Neo,
How do you determine what depth to fish? I know the common consensus is deep for catfish, but don't they feed in the shallows at night? For instance on a dog day of summer they may be deep during the day and come up at night. Or on a colder day might they move to the shallows searching for warmer, sunlight effected water? Thanks for this whole thread, it has been very informative.

-Adam


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Adam,
You are right. Catfish are commonly considered to be deep fish. That is often very far from the truth. Any time between now and the time winter sets in again, catfish can be found in shallow water. They are moving to shallow areas now to feed on winter kill. During summer days they DO hang out in deeper, darker water, but move onto flat shallow areas at night to feed. Baitfish hang the the shallow warm water. If you find baitfish, that will usually be a good spot to try catfishing.


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## bassattacker (Mar 14, 2007)

neocats1 i use the glow sticks from the Dollar Stores too, very cheap, i think u get like 4-6 sticks for a dollar cant beat that.

heres a lil trick for people that dont have reels with baitfeeders and alarms:

take a plastic bottle empty fill it half up with water, crack a glow stick drop it in, put lid on, now u have a glowing bottle. spinning or spincast type reels just pull out enough line so that u can pull it around the top of the bottle(dont wrap it around the bottle u just want the line on the side away from ur rod), make sure the bail or button is pushed, grab the bottle and pull it about a foot away perpendicular from the rod and wait for the fish to tip over the bottle, works very well for light bites too.


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## Hoghead (Mar 28, 2008)

Neocats1-in your earlier post you refered to a signature E-Glass rod-Okuma or another make? I use Okuma Avengers ABF40 and ABF65- best spinning reels I have ever had-unbelievable prices to boot- bought mine at Fishermans Quarters in Dayton- Have them on Ugly Stiks-(like the one my mother in law was hit with)-just wondering about the rod you referred to-Thanks


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

My E-Glass signature series rod is made by Steve Searle of Skipper Rods in Blacklick, Ohio (near Columbus). I use the spinning model with Avenger ABF-65's also. I also have an Avenger Combo which has a really stiff tip, which is not exactly the best for channel catfish, but has all the power you need for flatheads.


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## Hoghead (Mar 28, 2008)

Neo-appreciate the reply-nice forum/discussion/info-Thanks


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

When fishing for larger channel cats either from a boat or shore, you need good rod holders. A small channel can pull an outfit in the water pretty fast. An 8+ # channel can take it faster than you would imagine. Rod holders come in various sizes and designs. The most simple are home made. 

If anyone saw the farm pond catfish episode of Outdoors Ohio with DArcy Egan, in the beginning it showed me pound a simple piece of PVC pipe into the ground. This is the simplest kind to make. Just cut one end of a 2-3 pipe on an angle. This will work great on soft ground.

If the ground is hard or rocky, use the same pipe and clamp a piece or rebar or other metal rod to it with hose clamps. Then you can drive the metal rod into the ground.

The red spring-like holders sold at Wal-Mart will work with smaller rod handles and are about $2 each.

Other factory made designs are around and some are gimmicks. No one needs a rod holder that lights up and sounds an alarm when you get a bite. A rod holder is mad to hold the rod.
I use one like this. The top part, or holder, can be removed from the base and transferred to a boat mount very easily. They are made out of ½ steel and coated in plastic. The cost is a little more, but they take all the worry out of loosing a rod.


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