Basics of Catching Catfish
Since I am a big catfish fan and it is that time of year I figured I would help out some of those who seem to struggle a bit with catching this fish. I know there are quite a few articles and threads on this subject but I would like to give my own input and share my experience on the subject. I'd first like to say that any thoughts in your heads about this being a difficult fish to fish for should be removed from your head now. Catfish are rather simple creatures to figure out, so any notions that they are hard to catch should be removed now.
Well lets begin shall we. Catfish are creatures that feel everything, they are scavengers, and at times will eat live fish, especially when there over 10-20lbs. But a misconception that I would like to have removed from an ameteurs mind is that they are constantly on the bottom. Catfish don't constantly lurk around the depths of a lake like the lochness monster. Actually they spend a reasonable amount of time close to the surface. Catfish also like to hide out in coves or in some cases (such as at Lake Irvine and SARL) in coves and under trees or holes or things of that nature.
That is not to say that there never at the bottom, which in many instances they are.
Now I will not get into exactly what size hooks and exactly what bait and line to use, but I will happily give a general Idea so I do not confuse people. Lets start with probably the number one thing needed to catch fish. Bait! Catfish love a wide variety of bait because they are not picky in the slightest. My favorite bait for catfish is nightcrawlers, I simply blow them up to keep them off of the bottom of the lake with a worm blower,(they can be purchases at any bait and tackle shop or at walmart). Though I enjoy using nightcrawlers many different things will work, such as anchovies, mackerel,mealworms,chicken liver, and dough baits. Really anything bloody, or smelly, or colorful, or even all three can catch cats. I myself encourage you to experiment with baits.
Now for the hooks. I use hooks of all sizes I don't have a real preference of maker or anything like that but I do use hooks that help hold bait. Those hooks would be any hook with barbs. Remember it is important to know the size of the lakes fish, If the lake your fishing is known for big catfish then you will want to use big hooks. Like for example a 4/0 hook. See I said this would be basic that part didn't read as long did it, now time to move on.
Now for line, I typically use 4-8lb test for smaller lakes, such as city park lakes where a catfish over 5lbs may be rare. For bigger lakes such as Pyramid or Irvine I would use 15lb test and bigger. A big reason why many people lose fish is because of the line size or lack of quality. Speaking of quality I myself generally use Berkely Big Game in mono, and Spiderwire for braid. Remember to change your line out every 3-5 trips to get maximum use out of your line. A safer number to change line is every 3 trips Because you must account for the abrasions and any other stress your line may go through.
Now time for the rigs, a rig I use alot for catfish is carolina rig, But another good method is to flyline, now a method I use for fishing the Aqueduct or any other fast current water is using two leader. One leader is attached to a barrel swivel then 2-3 inches down the line i use a pyramid sinker. For the other leader, i take a barrel swivel and about 6-8inches down the line I tie on whatever hook I plan to use. Then I attach both leaders to the same snap swivel.
Now last thing is to tell you what catfish will do when they actually have your bait, and what you should do to catch them. Sometimes catfish will take your bait and will be real abrupt about letting you know they have it. What I mean by this is that sometimes your pole will go in to complete bendo mode and will have you thinking you hooked into moby dick. Other times catfish will take it and just sit there with it until you take action. When catfish do decide to sit with it my adice to you is first and for most, make sure your constantly paying attention to your rod. But when you happen to not see the subtle movement in your rod there is nothing wrong with reeling it in a bit every few minutes to make sure. Now here is where some people may disagree with me in the case that the fish is sitting stationary with your bait but you know he has it, I tend to pull back and set the hook. The way to set the hook when they run with it is to generally let some slack in the line then tighten it up so the fish basically hooks itself. But you cannot do this when the fish is sitting still so I myself have found no problem with pulling back to set the hook. I would like to tell you to not be to eager to set the hook, don't run to your rod and set the hook after you see a tug or two, but you dont need to wait all day either. I generally wait for about 4-6 tugs before I go to action. Also as a last peice of advice I do advise that you bring a net to lessen the number of fish that get away.
Well here it is this wasn't a complete in depth lecture but it should be enough to get you started and catching. Good luck and tight lines.
Last edited by fish-o-haulic; 07-16-2011 at 10:46 PM.
If your too busy to go fishin; YOUR TOO BUSY!!!!!!
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