For this reason, fishing shorelines pounded by heavy winds often produces extraordinary catches of catfish. Catfish that feed on baitfish follow, too. Minnows, shad and other baitfish that feed on plankton follow their food to shoreline reaches. The wind blows floating plankton (microscopic plants and animals) against the shore. Heavy wind produces a chain reaction on fertile lakes. If cats are present, they'll usually bite seconds after your bait touches bottom. If a bite hasn't come by the time your line catches on the driftwood, move and try again. After casting, hold your rod tip high and strip line from your reel, guiding your rig under the rotating maze of logs. You want the eddy current to pull your rig beneath the raft's outer edge. Secure your boat off to one side, and present a live or cut bait on an egg-sinker rig - a 1/2- to 1-ounce egg sinker above a barrel swivel to which your leader and hook are tied. Large channel cats, especially, like this habitat. Riprap appeals to catfish because it attracts forage animals and provides cover, depth and shade. 6) RiprapĮngineers often place riprap (large rocks along shorelines to prevent erosion) near dams, bridges and causeways. At night, do the opposite to catch cats moving shallow to feed. Big catfish also like outside turns of channel bends, channel junctions and deep channel edges near dams.ĭuring the day, anchor in the shallowest water near the dropoff and fish deeper water. Look for them near features on the ledge distinguishing it from surrounding areas - brushpiles, points, adjacent humps, cuts in the bank, etc. Trophy cats usually stay near deep water falling into the channel. Small branches act as secondary roads, leading migratory fish toward shallow-water habitat.
Main channels act like major highways, leading migrating catfish from one part of the water body to another. All such structures are trophy cat magnets you can find with sonar.
Some rivers and lakes have prominent bottom channels others have subtle drops and ledges. Cast your rig upstream and allow it to drift past these honeyholes. Examine each area, and fish those offering the most attractions.Ĭatfish usually ambush prey from behind current breaks - humps, holes or trees - near the confluence of the tributary with the main lake or river. Heavy rains that wash forage into the main water body also draw cats to mouths of feeder creeks and rivers. If the mouth is relatively deep, or if the tributary channel joins a primary creek or river channel on the bottom, the area may have good trophy potential year 'round.ĭuring cool months, tributaries with a warm in-flow attract the most catfish. Tributary mouths are staging areas for pre-spawn and post-spawn catfish.
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