I would like to start catfishing

[rw02kr43]

I'll be moving soon to a house near a good size river. It's one of the bigger rivers in Indiana anyway. Anyway, I'll be living real close and would like to fish for catfish there sometimes. I know it's mostly done at night. What kind of pole, bait and anything else should I use?

thanks
Jason
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[Tarpon4me]

The whole nightfishing thing is kind of a wifes tale. Most of our tournaments here are during the day. The only reason we ever have a night tournament is to get relief from the heat of the day. Where you fish, however, is different during the day and night.

In the summer, catfish tend to stay deeper during the day, and move into the shallow and feed/migrate during the night. Fishing from the bank, you might actually have better luck at night. Since you're not in a boat, you can't move around and find the fish obviously. So, being stationary, you'd want to be fishing during peak movement times. (at night)

We target big cats here in SC, so we use big live baits and heavy gear. You can rest assure that, regardless of how big the river is, there will be no shortage of big cats in there. More than likely, just a shortage of people that know how to target them. []

BAIT: I mentioned live bait, and that's key. Also, fresh cut bait is sometimes the trick. When I say fresh, I mean you cut him up while he's still kicking. You'll hear of people using stink baits and things of that nature, well, they are targeting smaller channel cats and bullheads. Blue and flathead catfish are what you're looking for, and they get BIG. They prefer the aformentioned fresh and live baits. You're going to need a flow troll bucket to hang in the water, to keep the bait kicking. I prefer crappie for bait, or large bream of most any species. If your local tackle stores sell them, live eel and cut eel also make excellent bait. There are days when that's all the cats will eat. Also, i've done well on live crawfish. If they are availible in your area, live shad, herring, perch, and anything else local to the area also work excellent.

EQUIPMENT: Since cats get big, you need fairly big equipment. We use 65 pound gear when we fish tournaments, but if you're fishing a clear bank, you can get away with 20 pound gear. A decent spinning reel or baitcaster will work fine. A very popular rod and reel combo is an ugly stix rod and an Abu Garcia 6500 spooled with your favorite line. Personally, i'd use 50 lb power pro braid on that combo. At a minimum, i'd spool it with 30 power pro.

RIG: A simple rig and the most common is a beefed up carolina rig. You can google it and see instruction on how to make one if you're not sure. For the leader, you can use a strip of 50 lb mono, or if you can afford it, 50 pound fluorocarbon. The swivel should be a 65 lb or better weight class, and the hook should be matched to the bait. For a hand sized bream, an 8/0 hook is about right. Kahl hooks are just fine.

Additional considerations: If you're night fishing, get yourself some small zip ties and some of those small glo sticks. You can zip tie a glow stick to your rod so you can see when you get a light bite. Strong bites, there won't be any question. Make sure you have a good rod holder to put it in. A strong catfish bite will drag your rod in the water, and you'll be out what ever cash you spent to buy it. They make some pretty nifty bank rod holders that you push in the ground. Don't skimp here, get a good one. Something else you'll be glad you have, is a big net. You can lip a big cat, but there's a trick to it. And if you do it wrong, they will wear out your thumbs. Also, this time of year, a thermocell is worth it's weight in gold. Mosquito's and nats can't stand them. I don't leave home with out mine this time of year.

EATTING: A big blue or flathead over 20 pounds isnt' the best eatting in the world. If they are under that weight, i'd rank them up there with crappie and bass. Really delicious if the meat was taken proper care of, and if deep fried in a good batter. The best thing to do is keep them alive until you're ready to head home and clean it. What ever you do, DO NOT run the stringer through his gills, if that's how you intend on keeping him alive. Take a knife and make a small hole in his bottom jaw. Run the stringer through his bottom jaw only, and back through the loop. He'll live as long as you keep him in the water. You can also keep them alive in a cooler, just keep adding fresh water. They won't stay alive for ever like this, but they will last a while.

CLEANING: the best way to clean a catfish is simply to fillet them. Some people skin them and all that, I take a sharp fillet knife, cut down the fish, starting at the head, and leave a little of the skin attached at the tail. I flip the fillet over, and take the skin off. It's quick and easy, but requires some practice if you're new to filleting fish.

Thanks about all I can think of at 0800 in the morning. If you have any other specific questions, don't be affraid to ask. [cool]
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[Jeremiah_Owens]

Fresh-cut bait for the win. But if you want something that really put some scent in the water
try chicken gizzards, little over a dollar for a pack and ive used them competing with crabs
redfishing, they stay on the hook way better than livers.

The carolina rig is good with current, but if your going to be fishing snags, and around downed trees
id use the drop-shot rig.Both are effective.

But mostly try fishing around snags,massive logg jams, ive had very good luck with these kind of structures.


Other than that, its just waiting. Having your bait in the right spot at the right time And wait some more.
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[idahoron]

Jason could pay a lot of money to buy magazines and books and not get any better info than you just gave him. You done a fine job Brian D. Ron
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[Tarpon4me]

[blush] awe shucks... thanks Ron
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