Catfish Bait: A73 Key Fishing Information Catfish Structure & Edge Effects! And Blue Catfish Visit Our Website For Details!
February 23, 2010 by admin
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To move past the basics of fishing for channel catfish, and blue catfish you need to understand good catfish structure, and realize what edge effects are and what they do. You can be an expert at creating catfish baits but if you can’t find the channel catfish with any consistency you are just going to be hit and miss on whether you have a good catch of channel catfish. Understanding channel catfish, and blue catfish location is a key component of moving past the basics of fishing for catfish.
The definition of what is know as the “edge effect” is as follows: “The increased concentration of animals that sometimes appear when to habitats meet” Lets take this definition and relate it to fishing for channel catfish and blue catfish. Edges are very important to catfish fishing because both channel catfish, blue catfish will concentrate at certain edge lines within known catfish structure areas. If you can learn to read edge line you can save yourself a lot of time when you are on the water. Lets take for example you locate you are out fishing on a large reservoir and you locate a large school of gizzard shad but when you cast into the school you get nothing. Then you decide to move farther back from the school and just fish the edges. Wham! You get a hit and catch a 15lb blue catfish! Guess what you just used the edge effect!
The face of fishing structure for channel catfish , and blue catfish and flathead catfish has changed considerably in recent years. The this day and age you need more then just identifying where catfish structure is located. You need to understand where within that structure will the catfish be holding, and feeding. You still have to identify physical bottom changes, bottom debris locations and humps and depth changes but you also need to understand seasonal migrations and where and when channel catfish and blue catfish will be holding there. If you can get a good grasp of this concept you will be well on your way to being a very successful catfish angler.
I want to thank you for reading my article about Catfish Fishing. Have a great day!
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Catfish Bait : A71 Amazing Information Search For The Trophy Channel Catfish! And Info On Shad Visit Our Website For Details!
February 20, 2010 by admin
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Old School Catfish Fishing Family Secrets
Trophy channel catfish over the size of 10lbs are considered rare and quite a catch. Amazingly some the most impressive monsters have come from the red river of the north in the Manitoba Canada basin. If your thinking logically you would think the largest giants of the channel catfish species would come from the southern region of the channel cat’s habitat, but that is not so. Habitat location doesn’t seem to make a difference when we talk about these trophy catfish specimens. It absolutely amazing that a 58lb channel catfish holds the world record. The monster of a channel catfish was caught in 1964 by W.B. Whaley. His catch was well documented and never has been discredited. Now this fish did come from a reservoir called Lake Marion in South Carolina, but no large monsters even close to this size have been caught since.
If you are wondering why this fish grew so big we can speculate that three factors drove it’s growth, but this only pure speculation. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s there was serious flooding of river delta system in this area. This generated a very unusual growth and population of forage fish such as shad and skip jack herring that migrated into Lake Marion. This fish had an over abundance of food to eat for many years.. Also there was no competition from flat head catfish or blue catfish at that time. Since then both have been introduced to the area, and no monster channel catfish of even close to this size have been caught since. That is factor number two, competition for the food source from other game fish.
Normally channel catfish have a internal growth mechanism built into their metabolism that determines how large they will grow. Prime natural habitat for channel catfish would be in small to medium rivers that have a overabundance of bait fish and where they had very little competition from other predators such as blue catfish and flathead catfish, and other large game fish. Normally in theory ,if these habitat conditions are present no mater where the location is within the channel catfish’s habitat range there’s a good chance that very large channel catfish will be caught.
For example I live by a very large shallow lake in ohio that has had an over abundance of gizzard shad for years. The lake is exceptional for channel catfish and catches over 4lbs are a very common occurrence. Although they are uncommon there are catches of trophy size channel catfish over 10lbs every year. I personally have caught five 10lb plus catfish using various catfish baits and catfish live bait rigs. from this lake. My biggest be 12lbs + caught just this year in august. This lake is 10 miles long and 2 miles wide and there is an amazing amount of cover. It is fed by two creeks. There are no blue catfish in this lake and a very small population of flathead catfish. So there is little competition for the shad. They did however introduce walleye into the lake about 8 years ago so the verdict is out on what it will do to the growth of very large channel catfish. But I know in my gut there is a channel cat out there in the 20 to 30lb range. One of these days I will catch one of these monsters using my special catfish baits.
Well that concludes my article about Skip Jack Herring. Have a great day!
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Bait Fish: A70 How To Catching Catfish In Shallow Lakes And Reservoirs ! And Info On Catfish Bait Selection Visit Our Website For Details!
February 14, 2010 by admin
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Shallow lakes and reservoirs often have featureless basins and shallow shorelines. You can catch channel catfish by drift fishing the large basins using cut baits such as gizzard shad, creek chubs, and shiners as you catfish bait selection. A good bait fishing catfish rig for drift fishing would be a three way swivel rig. Use a sinker large enough to stay on the bottom and a 5/0 to 7/0 hook.
To fish shallow reservoirs and lakes at night head to the shallow shorelines because bait fish will concentrate at night there. If you are fishing in a boat locate edge lines where soft pan bottom turns into sand or rock. Drop anchor here and cast your catfish bait towards the shore line. You can also attract channel catfish to your area by dropping a underwater fishing light and chumming the area. You can catch channel catfish while your bait fishing with a simple slip bobber rig, or by fishing tight line.
Cover edges in shallow water are also excellent areas to catch channel catfish because the channel cats are attracted to abundant numbers of bait fish such as shad , minnows moving in and out of the cover. They are also attracted to shallow flat areas adjacent to cover that are sandy and have a good population of mussels. These areas are extremely good under winding conditions. Use bait fish such as gizzard shad cut into pieces for your catfish bait. Or if you find a adjacent flat that has a population of mussels use the mussels as bait. You can also use soiled mussels by extracting the mussel meat and let it soak in sour milk for about two day prior to your fishing trip. Just a note, channel catfish love mussels so do not overlook them as a catfish bait.
If you are going to target roaming channel catfish on large featureless flats, try to fish with a three way swivel rig fishing rig, while drift fishing because your catfish bait will be suspended slightly off the bottom. Use live bait such as creek chubs or shiners, or cut bait such as gizzard shad as your catfish bait selection. Make sure your sinker selection is large enough that it constantly bumps bottom as you are drifting. To locate a good drift fishing starting point on these flats look for a slight look for points that have a slight depth change.
I want to thank you for reading my article about Bait Fish. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!
Check out Mark’s website to get some amazing fishing information and fishing articles loaded with fishing tips about Three Way Swivel Rig
Old School Catfish Fishing Family Secrets
Bait Fishing: A68 Tips & Techniques Catching Catfish On Lakes! And Info On Mesotrophic Lakes Details Here!
February 9, 2010 by admin
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Typically catfish thrive in food rich and fertile waters such as in eutrophic lakes that are not in their final stages of eutrophication. You can use the following lake aging process as a guideline to find productive channel catfish, blue catfish,and flathead catfish waters to go bait fishing in.
Oligotrophic Lakes: (stable young, infertile coldwater)
During the early stages of eutrophication there are no catfish present.During the midstage of eutrophication there are no catfish present. During the late stage of eutrophication there are no catfish present.
Mesotrophic Lakes: (mid-stage water changing from cold to warmer)
During the early stages of eutrophication there are no catfish present.During the midstage of eutrophication there could be some stocked channel catfish present.During the late stage of eutrophication channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish start to thrive.
Eutrophic Lakes: (Late stage lakes have changed to warm water )
During the early stages of eutrophication ideal for channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish to thrive. During the midstage of eutrophication channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish are still thriving. During the late stage of eutrophication channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish could still thrive under certain conditions.
From the chart above you can eliminate a lot of of fishing waters if you are targeting just channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish. Catfish will thrive in mesotrophic lakes in their final stages of their aging process and eutrophic lakes in all stages of aging. The main reason catfish thrive in mesotrophic, and eutrophic lakes is because of the much warmer water temperatures. All catfish need water temperatures of 75 degrees to spawn and the water in oligotrophic lakes all aging stages, and mesotrophic lakes in the early stages of the aging process have water temperatures way below what is needed for catfish to thrive and reproduce.
Also there is a abundance of bait fish and vegetation in mesotrophic, and eutrophic lakes both needed to fuel the metabolism of channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish. You can use this information to your advantage when you are going to go bait fishing for catfish. Once you have identified what type of lakes are going to be productive for catfish you can concentrate on there locations and what catfish bait types to use at during the different seasons of the year.
I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about Mesotrophic Lakes. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!
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Bait Fishing: A63 Special Report To Fish For Catfish In Rivers! And Info On Slip Bobber Click Here!
February 5, 2010 by admin
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You might be surprised there may be 30lb blue catfish or channel catfish or even a flathead monster in a river very close to you. There are parts of small rivers and large rivers that change on the way riffles, holes, and runs always align them selves within the river systems. The key is being able to recognize a riffle because a hole follows down stream, and a run always follows a hole down stream. This pattern is never out of order in any river system. This seems simple but all three of these river elements change in size, in shape all along the river. Also what was identified this year as a good hole may or may not be there next year.
Once you start to recognize this distinct pattern on small or large rivers you can start to identify good holes that may hold populations of blue catfish and channel catfish and your bait fishing efforts will start to be rewarded with good catches of catfish.
Riffles will extend down river and will be shallow and have a hard bottom. The rushing water over these shallow riffles and the rushing water flow will then cut the softer sand and soil creating a hole. Holes are also called a river pools and blue catfish and channel catfish will hold here. Just a note all holes are not created equal. Some holes will only be 2 or 3 feet and may not hold any catfish. Blue catfish and channel catfish will normally hold in the largest and deepest holes. Runs are river flats that begin at the tail out of holes down stream. Many times silt and any debris starts a run by sinking to the bottom of holes. Runs make up the majority of the terrain in the rivers. Eventually runs meet a riffle and another hole will be created down stream of the riffle and potentially more catfish bait fishing opportunities.
Catfish are seasonal and will move to different sections of a river as the seasons change. But how far they move depends on the species of catfish. For example channel catfish may move into small tributaries far removed from the main river, but flathead catfish may only move one tributary away. Blue catfish will seldom move away from the main river and you will only find a very few in tributaries away from the main river. They just very seldom ever move from the deep water of the main river.
One very effective river catfish fishing rig is a slip bobber rig.Slip bobber rigs are great for drifting over catfish holes downstream to find holding catfish. To make a slip bobber rig slide a bobber stop up your line. Next slide a slip bobber on the line. Next slide a small egg sinker up the line, then tie on a two way swivel. Then tie on a 8” leader with a 3/0 to 5/0 hook. Your cutbait type will depend on the type of forage fish are native to the river. For example if creek chubs are plentiful then you definitely would want to be bait fishing with them either as a cut bait or live bait, either would work as your catfish bait selection.
I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about Cut Bait. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!
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