# Catfish have gone south...LOL



## Willfire67 (Oct 8, 2011)

On my property I bought in June is a 1/3 acre, 12' deep pond. The catfishing was GREAT in the summer. I noticed that after the water fell below 80 degress, the fishing slowed down. Now, the water is at 44 and the cats have stopped hitting all together! Is this normal or does anybody have any tips for me to try.
I have been fishing with a bobber, fishing at the bottom, nightcrawlers and beef liver (which worked great when it was warm out), absolutley nothing now. Im even "cheating" by throwing in some floating fish food to attact them to the surface to bobber fish. (Its worked in the past)


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Catfish fish bite best on days that the trees have leaves. lol spring is just around the bend.


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## Catproinnovations (Dec 8, 2009)

rustyfish said:


> Catfish fish bite best on days that the trees have leaves. lol spring is just around the bend.


not true some of the best catfishing is late october mid november you can consistently catch them till ice on.


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## Willfire67 (Oct 8, 2011)

i have to agree with Rustyfish. My best catfishing is July thru late Sept. Whats the trick for late October thru November? Cuz I have only caught a total of 3 fish since October 1st.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

pond catfish are definately tricky to catch in colder weather but they will still bite, I got 10 just 3 days ago in water that was 39.8 degrees. Fish were on mud bottom, and in some of the depest water in the lake. I suggest you use small baits, small hooks and keep moving around until you get them, they will definately be on the bottom, We never use floats and the bites can still be very hard. If your beating up on the fish, ( catch and releasing them) they get pretty smart so youll have to keep changing baits and tactics to keep catching them. we get channels all winter long so dont give up!

Salmonid


Salmonid


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## Willfire67 (Oct 8, 2011)

Thanks Mark! Went out today as well, nothing. They didnt even come up to eat the float food I threw in. I will try again tomorrow. What type of baits do you use, especially this time of year?


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Catproinnovations said:


> not true some of the best catfishing is late october mid november



? So if you could pick anytime of the year to catch the most or largest catfish it would be in late Oct and Nov? I'll just wait untill the water is twice as warm and the fish are eating twice as much food. Not saying they cant be caught all year because i know they can, but it is hard work after the water turns cold.

Willfire67, i was just joking. Hope you figure them out cause I know I hate going 4 or 5 months every year with no catfish.


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## Willfire67 (Oct 8, 2011)

LOL, no doubt! Rusty, what are the differant types of bait you use and which have you found to be the best?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I agree that November is probably the best time to get BIG channels, not many of them but the winter months is when i get my biggest on the average sized fish.
If I was fishing for numbers. id say April and May after a hard rain in the upper end of a shallow lake when every fish is headed for warmer water, looking for freshly washed in food and VERY hungry....

We even get channels through the ice every year, I get alot of them on cut shad and often on waxworms and know many folks get them with minnows. 

Day in and day out, fresh shad is by far, the best lake/river catfish baits. In ponds, cut bluegills work very well. 

As far as the cats not comming to feed on pellets is because they have moved to deeper water to start hanging out for the winter, plus, if you have catfish trained on pellets, they are VERY hard to catch through the year on anything else, if you want to catch them, dont pellet feed for 3 days then fish for them. 

I hope this helps
Salmonid


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

I use chubs, shad, chicken liver, and shrimp. Chubs and shad catch the largest fish and liver and shrimp catch the most fish for me. Almost all of my 8# plus channels have been caught on chubs the others have been on cut sunfish. Im a huge chub fan, I think they are the best live bait for most gamefish. During the spring and summer they will eat anything you put out there (many cats are on things from corn to crank baits). When it gets cold you have to give them the good stuff.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

rustyfish said:


> I use chubs, shad, chicken liver, and shrimp. Chubs and shad catch the largest fish and liver and shrimp catch the most fish for me. Almost all of my 8# plus channels have been caught on chubs the others have been on cut sunfish. Im a huge chub fan, I think they are the best live bait for most gamefish. During the spring and summer they will eat anything you put out there (many cats are on things from corn to crank baits). When it gets cold you have to give them the good stuff.


i agree, just something about creek chubs that drive fish wild! i just cant seem to learn and use them more often. every now and then i get a few while baitfishing for 'gills and they out perform every time, live or dead! they dont have to be live either to draw flatheads, i catch them more on cut chubs than live, particularly the head peice. seen a friend catch 13 flatheads in 30 minutes (biggest was only 15lb) once on the same chub head, after the last fish only thing left was the lips lol. something about them chub heads for sure!

back to the topic, i have found "pond cats" to be the toughest to catch during the colder months. have to be out there on warmer days and fish the very deepest of the pond with a slip float and very small pieces of bait. if your pond has a water inlet, or area where water runs into it during a heavy rain or fast snow melt give that area a try when water is flowing in.


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## Catproinnovations (Dec 8, 2009)

rustyfish said:


> ? So if you could pick anytime of the year to catch the most or largest catfish it would be in late Oct and Nov? I'll just wait untill the water is twice as warm and the fish are eating twice as much food. Not saying they cant be caught all year because i know they can, but it is hard work after the water turns cold.


Location is your biggest factor after it gets cold october hands down is the best month of the year with numbers finding the fish getting them to bite all of the above and most of all SIZE. Once you fish a little longer and learn the ropes youll figure it out. Just go deeper on the lakes try some drifting anchoring whatever seems to work better that day. use cut bait live shad cut shad sucker cut sucker if they are being finicky downsize bait and hooks. sometimes to the size of your thumbnail. concentrate on drop offs and deep water structure. 
__________________



Read more: http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?p=1330079#post1330079#ixzz1gtdNV1tC


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

Also, someone might of snuck in there and caught em all.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Thats true once they start draining lakes and the water gets cold you know where the fish are. So Ill give you location that is a good point, but in a pond location is not a factor. 

I just stick with the idea that at 80 degrees the are eating avg 3% body weight a day, at 50 degrees it is less than 0.5% avg a day. And at 80 they are moving around more which increases the chance they will find your bait. 

As for catching bigger fish. Maybe if you add those two thoughts, then in cold water where the fish are consentrated and the goal is to not move much and eat enough food to stay healthy while useing as little energy as posible. Then the dominant big fish may be caught more often?

I think alot of it is what you put into it. If you think the fishing is good in november then you are going to give it more effort in november. I dont think it is good in november so I dont go out all that much. 

See I trying to myself in your shoes, lol


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## Dr.Outdoors (Jul 21, 2011)

I dont want to give all my secrets away, but the guy who is going catfishing while all others are inside drinking hot cocoa knows his fish. It really depends on what type and the size of the catfish you are trying to catch. Here is a guide for you to use. Small Channel= Bluegill head, Large Channel= Bluegill head. Flathead= Live Bluegill. All should be fished on the bottom.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

we still have been getting some channels that are still biting pretty aggressively by drifting cut shad along the bottom in deeper water, got 10 channels on Saturday drifting mid lake over at Brookville lake ( Indiana) water was 42-43 degrees so the bite is still fairly good. Many of our fish have muddy bellys and its obvious they are setting on mud areas and if you get the baits to them, they will eat agressively. While they may not be as aggressive when it comes to chasing baits, when you put it in front of them, they will eat, we get river channels all year on the Ohio Rivers but you can forget any flatties right now short of a warm water discharge area like maybe Aberdeen or around some of the powerplants. Just want to make sure your talking about channels vs flatheads

Salmonid


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

wow, i would have thought the bite turned off after the water got cold. so you are still catching them eh? well, i guess i will try for em when the snow melts.


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