All about catfish

since this is a fish and a subject i hear very little about on this forum, i thot id start a thread about them. I find catfish to be one of my favorite fish. Because each species is different and can be elusive at times. And if your in a body of water over a certain size its not guranteed that youll catch a limit of catfish in a day. Though i dont hunt blues or flatheads i do like to go after channel cats. And find it somewhat interesting how they can come in different colors from white and black to black all over to yellow and black. Of course other species of this fish also very. But i find this fish very mysterious at times. So share knowledge id love to hear all about what people know about the creature.

What is there not to love about catfish. The can get big, are great fighters, and are good eating. This time of year the big ones are starting to spawn. They are not as cooperative as bass and bluegill during the spawn, but they can be caught. Most catfish are cave spawners, so look for areas that will accommodate that such as rocky bluffs, undercut banks, or places where there are deadfalls. Some lakes add things like barrels or milk cans for that purpose. This time of the year you can usually tell the males from the females. Males' heads tend to be bigger anyway, but when they are spawning the lobes on their head swell. I assume that is a hormonal thing like the trout's hooked jaw. If they are shallow for very long, they tend to get very dark, almost black. You can see that coloration and the swollen lobes on this big channel cat.



Here is another one I caught a week later in the same spot. I think it is probably the female. Both were released. In the background you can see a bank that is filled with caves that are visible when the water is lower.



Here is another channel cat caught at the same lake during the spring as well. I suspect that is is also a female. It was also released.



I keep it simple when I am fishing for cats. Cut mackerel dipped in Hog Wild is my go to bait.

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Originally Posted by fish-o-haulic

since this is a fish and a subject i hear very little about on this forum, i thot id start a thread about them. I find catfish to be one of my favorite fish. Because each species is different and can be elusive at times. And if your in a body of water over a certain size its not guranteed that youll catch a limit of catfish in a day. Though i dont hunt blues or flatheads i do like to go after channel cats. And find it somewhat interesting how they can come in different colors from white and black to black all over to yellow and black. Of course other species of this fish also very. But i find this fish very mysterious at times. So share knowledge id love to hear all about what people know about the creature.

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Do you watch River Monsters? This guy catches different species of catfish.

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/r...n-catfish.html

i personally like to play with bait.and mix things like chicken liver set out in the sun mixed with fish guts and rotten milk or something. ive even mixed old milk out in the sun mixed it with guts catfish dough bait(my store bought go to bait i love them doughballs) and other smelly stuff, and then take a syringe and inject it into nightcrawlers and tried injecting it into chicken liver (which is one of the ingrediants to my concocktion) but it didnt work as well as it did with the crawler. the stuff smels worse than fresh dead fish.

ya i watch just about every fishing show there is. did u see the one when this predatory like flatheads dorsal fin cut his hand.

lik to just chill n hang out. usually just do it cuz its local and thers nothin else to do for me. lik the bait for some reason idk but its different. shld b more fun this year cuz float tubin corona