# Does fishing top water work on catfish?



## Fishing4the Lamb

Can you catch catfish top water?


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## M.Magis

Sure, anything is possible. Many people have accidently caught channel cats while fishing for bass, especially in farm ponds. However, the only time I think you could target them that way and actually have success is during a summer when the locusts hatch.


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## 7thcorpsFA

Grew up watching my dad bass fish with top water only. I have used it a lot myself for about 50 years. Don't recall ever catching, seeing a cat caught on topwater. Doesn't mean it can't happen, just never happened to me or dad. I have caught them on inline spinners, jigs and cranks, but not topwater. Maybe others have had better luck.


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## Saugeye Tom

One time I was reeling chicken liver across the surface at taylorsville dam and caught a 1 lb smallmouth. Tom


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## James F

I have caught two small cat's on top water poppers fishing for bluegills,both were like twins about 8" long. I think at the time there was a bug hatch taking place.


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## Daveo76

M.Magis said:


> Sure, anything is possible. Many people have accidently caught channel cats while fishing for bass, especially in farm ponds. However, the only time I think you could target them that way and actually have success is during a summer when the locusts hatch.


I've done this a couple of times. Fishing the tailwaters I've caught some on Zoom Flukes being skittered across the top of the water. Those experiences have been Channel Cats.


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## Salmonid

Basical there has to be a reason for the cats to be feeding on the surface so durring a big hatch on a river for example I seen them sucking down bugs and I once caught one on a Pop R after seeing a bigger fish push some minnows into the bank, pretty cool suprise, he was about a 2+ lber. 

Salmonid


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## Lewzer

Cats will slurp dead shad off the surface in the spring after a good winter kill. Never seen them hit a topwater lure however.


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## fishdealer04

Never caught one on a topwater bait but have caught a lot of catfish just a under the surface with floats. Catfish cruise around looking for food. If there was a bug hatch they will definitley be up by the surface trying to get an easy meal.


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## Fishing4the Lamb

That's good to know. I just bought a bag of grasshoppers and I was trying to figure out the best way to present it. 


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## Nimi_fisher5

I used to have cats in my pond and when feeding the bluegill pellets or Beatles or grasshoppers, you'd often see there whiskers come out of the water and take em. Also I was shore fishing one day and 2 guys in a bass boat came up the channel and said they where in a bass tournament. The one kept catching bass on a top water frog and the guy next to him was catching catfish on the same thing. Maybe 3 catfish in a row. Craziest thing I ever saw 


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## dstiner86

I never once caught a cat top water.. But did catch my biggest cat last year trolling for musky

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## Josh24

when you mean top you mean using a bobber then sure just use bobber stop and set that hook acordingly


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## BG Slayer

They mainly feed off the bottom except for shad and small fish couldn't imagine them taking a topwater lure


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## JimmyMac

When I was a young teen and didn't know better, I seen a couple weird things happen at paylakes on top water. I was at lake butler and watched a flathead eat a baby duck, came right up and snatched it... Also the same lake a different time I watched my buddy cast his bait out towards a dark spot in the water in the shallows, while his bait was in the air the dark spot surfaced and turned out to be a flathead. His bait literally hit the fish right on the head... The fish went down and as it do so it got hooked in the gill, my buddy caught it gill hooked, lol. 

Doesn't mean much though, most catfish in paylakes are starving to death from lack of any real food source, so them doing weird things to eat isn't uncommon. My biggest cat from a pay pond came when I ran out of bait and found a porch slug on the side of the baithouse and used it... Go figure.


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## acklac7

During the years of Cicada hatches they'll feed heavily on topwater baits. Back a few years ago guys were catching them left and right on topwater baits during such an event.


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## rustyfish

I could see a channel hitting it but I cant see targeting them much. It would almost make more sense for flathead to attack artificials and they sometimes do but I have just never seen them very active on top of the water.


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## Fishing4the Lamb

Thanks guys, I'll stick with the middle to bottom presentations for the grasshoppers. I know Trout like to hit top water hoppers in the Summer


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