Catfish in rivers, lakes and ponds are hungry rascals that prowl across the bottoms looking for their food with their "noses" rather than their eyes. Catfish have smell sensors located throughout their bodies, especially on their catlike whiskers. As they smell their way through their environment, they are often attracted by food sources that have a strong odor. You can use knowledge of catfish behaviors to produce good catfishing results.
Stink Baits
Although catfish will try to eat almost anything, they prefer smelly dough or "stink baits" made from such substances as chicken livers and rotten cheese. Almost every long-time catfish fan has a special stink bait recipe, and you can find many productive concoctions online. Bait and tackle stores sell premade stink baits. To make your own, form a dough ball about the size of a table-tennis ball in your hand. Press a large hook into the middle of the ball and then repair the opening. Press the dough ball tightly so that it will not fall off the hook while casting.
Baitcasting Rods and Reels
You can catch catfish on any kind of rod-and-reel combination, but a baitcasting rig is preferred by most experienced anglers. Choose a rod that is long and supple and is sensitive to the slightest tug. Cast your stink bait into a likely channel and click the baitcasting reel closed, locking the line. Prop your fishing pole up with a notched stick pressed into the lake or stream bank. Keep an eye on the tip of the rod. When the rod tip begins to bend, you may already have a catfish on the line. Get your rod into your hands quickly and jerk the line hard to set the hook.
Cane Poles
Cane polling for catfish goes back to the good old days before microchip fishing reels were invented. It's still a fun and simple way to go after catfish. Fix up your cane pole line with a wad of stink bait. Add a bobber to the line at the halfway mark of your available line. Cast into a target area, using a wide side-arm swing casting technique. Prop your cane pole up and keep an eye on the bobber. When you see the bobber shimmy and slowly go under the surface going away from you, grab and jerk the pole to set the hook. Start pulling the line in by hand or walking the line up the bank until you drag the catfish to shore.
Trotlines
Trotlines are long fishing lines punctuated with several shorter lines and hooks tied to the "trunk" line. They are an excellent way to fish for catfish, where permitted. Not all lake and river conservation departments permit trotlines. Place a chunk of chub or cut bait on each hook in the trotline series. Take your trotline out to the lake or the river and "seed" it over and along a likely catfish area. Tie the head of your trotline to a buoy or to a tree limb along a shoreline. You can leave the line for many hours then come back and check it later to see whether you've had any takers in your absence.
Double Dipping
Catfishing isn't a fast or action-packed angling experience and for this reason, some fishermen often eschew it. However, while you're fishing for bass or walleye, you can also double dip by throwing out a catfish line, just in case cats are in the area. Prop your catfish line up and keep an eye on it, while you continue to fish for bass. When you see the tip of your rod slowly start to go over, put your bass line down for a moment and switch to managing the catfish situation.
Balloon Fishing
Catfish are skittish. You can scare them away by being too close, especially if you are in a boat. One clever way to "bobber" fish for cats from a boat, is to use a toy balloon as the bobber. Inflate a large balloon and tie about four feet of fishing line with a sinker and a baited hook below it. Tie the line from your fishing reel to the balloon. Throw the balloon over into the water and let the wind take it. Don't follow it with your boat. Let the line continue to spool from your reel. Don't arrest the line unless the balloon is going somewhere undesirable. Keep an eye on the balloon. When the balloon starts to move--seemingly without the wind, or against the wind--that is a good sign a catfish has taken the bait. Set the hook and start reeling.
References
- Bass Pro Shops: Catfish Basics
- "Pro Tactics: Catfish: Use the Secrets of the Pros to Catch More and Bigger Catfish"; Keith Sutton; 2008
- "Fishing for Catfish: The Complete Guide for Catching Big Channels, Blues and Flatheads"; by Keith B. Sutton; 1999
- "The Freshwater Angler: Catching Catfish"; Editors of Creative Publishing; 2000
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