# Channel Cats Driving Me NUTS



## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

usually this time of year on the Tuscarawas River (ohio) the Channel cats are biting like crazy and they average a darn nice size too. Well this Fall so far i cannot catch a darn channel cat.................actually i cant get a stinking bite...........its driving me crazy !!! its been around 4 weeks since i caught a channel cat !!! at first i thought it was because we had a unusually dry summer and the water levels have been low all summer but now i just dont know what i am doing wrong. Im fishing all of the usual spots...........deep outside river bends around wood and rock and ive even fished shallow rocky area above ripple trying to FIND a few fish and i am having NO luck at all !!! im using all of the normal baits............live creek chubs.....live bluegills........cut shad.........cut chubs and gills............shrimp and chicken livers and i am NOT getting bit !!! Maybe im fishing too deep and the fish are still shallow who knows ??? i am totally lost..............i usually have no trouble catching fish from the Tusc, ive gotten to the point where i have to talk myself into going fishing....LOL. 

Any suggestions on what baits and what locations i should be targeting ???? 

Oh yeah we are getting a nice heavy rain right now and the river has risen a foot in the past 12 hours do you think this will activate the fish some or will it shut them down even worse ??? 

ANY help would be appreciated THANKS !!!


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

maybe if you fish down at Trenton Dam in 2FOW with a bunch of crap that you can only cast into a 2ft radius you will catch fish!   

Seriously though, I dont know what the heck the problem is, I havent caught a channel cat in almost 4wks either, and the last one I caught wasnt the size that we usually catch this time of year...

What do you other cat guys think?


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

we havent targeted channels in a while but are catching them pretty regularly while flattie fishing. they seem to be in a summer pattern still, hitting later at night (after 11pm) and really shallow. spots we have been getting them lately have been mostly in the "tail-outs" of a hole where it is very rocky and a bit swifter, and also shallow along sharp drop-off's. i always put the girlfriends poles in those spots with cut bait because they always produce dink flatties and channels, both of which she likes to catch the most. we cleaned and took home 3 channels sunday night and their bellies were full of crayfish. if you are getting as much rain as we are then the action should be picking up for you. if you have them in your area try getting "stoneroller" suckers. this time of the year they are running (up or down river i dont know...?) and both flatties and channels go nuts over them, cut or live.


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## marinescco (Aug 21, 2007)

I have been fishing the scioto and have been using raw chicken breast. I was out the other day between 10:30 and 1 pm and I caught 5 channels. None of them smaller than 17in, biggest being 9lbs and 26 in. Try some chicken breast and see what happens. Good luck!!


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Dont get him started on the Anise Breast again!


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

HEY ...............it worked didnt it ???


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

I cant deny that it caught some fish but I wouldnt say that it outfished any other baits really...


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

It worked for Joe !!!


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

catfish_hunter said:


> I cant deny that it caught some fish but I wouldnt say that it outfished any other baits really...


i tried the chicken breast tactic this summer vs shad. suprisingly it far outfished the shad. due to my stubbornness i still use shad


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Like I said, It does catch fish, but so do alot of other things...Ive tried it and caught fish on it, but Im not gonna take off a chub, or a piece of shad to put on a piece of chicken...Guess I could be called stubburn too lol


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## marinescco (Aug 21, 2007)

I have fished the same spot and used shad, chicken liver, night crawler, and chicken breast. So far the chicken breast has pulled out the most and biggest channels. So I'm a believer.


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