The Cost of Progress

A favorite fishing spot of mine was on a small stream not far from my house. There was a natural pool of deeper water backed-up below a bridge/culvert. It was a fun little place where you could cast some worms out and within minutes be catching everything from bass, bluegills, bullheads, carp, crappie, creek chubs, to green sunfish. It was also home to turtles, herons, and a host of other wild critters. 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, a road construction project involved significant “landscaping” of the existing streambed. I was fishing there and one of the construction guys told me they were going to totally alter the creek. What was once a deep pool became a rocky riffle. And the fish that used to reside there disappeared. The cost of progress. I created a little before and after picture just to show the vast difference.

 

 

 

 

 

During construction, I had found a secondary spot that was great for catching bluegill and sunfish.

Seems like a lot of fish had moved upstream to that spot, which also became decimated due to more “re-engineering” in the course of the construction project. The thing is during summertime, the main creek is less than a foot deep in most places. There are very few deep pools around and even fewer that hold a target-able population of fish. So, while there are still plenty of fish in the stream, it was a shame to lose two great spots where you could easily catch a dozen or more sunfish within a half hour.

I love a good road trip, so when I'm planning fishing excursions I'm frequently tempted to go to places that are one, two, three hours away. The Mississippi river, the Rock river, Kankakee river, etc. You forget how convenient it is to have a nice stream close to home you can just grab a rod and head over to. That's a main reason that I do most of my catfish trips to the river that's 30 minutes away. You learn a lot by fishing the same streams at different water levels...seeing how fish related to the current and hang out in different places depending on the flow. There a lot of lessons to be learned over time fishing local rivers and streams.  

Funny how some spots seem the same year after year while other spots can undergo radical change within a relatively short time-span. That's one thing with streams, they are always changing. It's just this time the changes were sudden and man made. Guess the moral of this story is to enjoy those honey holes while you can and always be on the lookout for new spots. You never know what’s the future may hold. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making the day successful

Making the day successful

If you’re busy like me, you don’t have endless hours to spend fishing. Between work and family time, I have to get out when I can. So when it’s time to catfish, make the most out of your time on the water. Through fishing smarter and using better time management, you can maximize your catch throughout the day and have more fun fishing trips.    

First of all, a vital element in fishing smarter is flexibility. You need to “listen to the fish”, as Tim Scott likes to say. You should adapt your fishing tactics to the activity level of the fish, and the specific fishing situation that day. Catfish aren’t always in a feeding mode, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t catch-able. When the bite gets tough, and it will, tailor your approach to that day’s conditions. Paying close attention to the details will also help you improve your trips. Another vital factor in all this is time management. Spend less time on unproductive spots, put more baits in front of more fish, and you’re getting bit!   

Opening moves  

Before I get out for a day or night of fishing, I like to have some form of game plan. I often visit the same stretch of river, so I’ll have a few primary spots in mind and a few back-up ones too. On many trips, I try to fish a new spot or two, but this depends on how the day is going. Having a strategy is good, but don’t get dogmatically locked-in to it. River conditions may dictate heading to a different launch point, or boat traffic may limit which spots you can visit. An important part of strategy is being willing to make adjustments “on the fly.” An idea to try early in the season, is hitting the river for a scouting trip. Looking for new spots to try in the summer, watching the depth-finder for submerged cover and drop-offs, finding new deadfalls, “de-winterizing” the motor, these scouting trips are a great way to get revved up for the upcoming fishing season. Plus, it can help you spend more time with baits in the water when it counts.

While we’re on the subject of changing conditions, an important element of catfishing is that fish go

through distinct periods of different activity levels throughout the day. As Tim Scott explains, "Fishing pre-spawn we might get 15 bites in one spot, and when they're active you might catch every one of them. When they're not active, for example if the water level drops a bit, you may start missing them. Fish may start short biting and you're baits are come with little scrapes or the guts eaten out.” This is a great time to downsize your bait and hook to convince those less active fish to fully commit to the bait, making for an improved hook-up rate. A factor that can affect catfish behavior is a slight change in water level during your day. Fishing larger rivers, if the output from a dam is slightly reduced the catfish often become less aggressive. Conversely, a small increase may cause cats to become more active. Stable, steady water levels are preferred as catfish often settle into predictable locations. Fish located in shallower water are often actively seeking out food. Fish that are tight to cover can often be tentative or inactive. Bait placement in this situation becomes key, since fish may not want to leave their hangouts to chase baits.  

Time management

Catfish guide Tim Scott offers some guidance on making the best use of fishing time; “First, I’ll

expect the expected. Then, I’ll look for the unexpected.” Especially when targeting flatheads, he prefers to target cover areas first. Only after the cover areas aren’t producing will Tim fish areas such as ledges, basins, and deep water “roller coaster” spots (also referred to as humps or “saddles”). These areas can be good for prespawn fish, but once you get to summer period larger channel cats and flatheads are going to relate to some type of cover.

Another suggestion is to fish your best spots first, and then look to new areas or alternative plans. Matt Jones believes it’s important to get on those first fish, and get your hands dirty. The more action you get early, the better your confidence and timing will be throughout the day. You’ll also fish your spots better and more thoroughly. Tim Scott agrees, and suggests getting fish on those first few anchors tells him everything. Fish location, attitude, and activity level. On the flip side, those days where it takes several anchors to get on the fish, you’re still trying to figure out the location and mood of the fish.

Anglers are frequently confronted with the deciding when to move; should I stay, or should I go? Running and gunning, getting bit early and often is great when fish are active. No doubt about it. But, there are situations where you may want to spend more time on spots. Some structures like multiple bridge pilings in deep water just take longer to thoroughly fish. If you’re rushed, and you didn’t cover all of the area you may have missed out on some great action. If you’re fishing a spot that’s proven time after time to hold the biggest fish in the area, there a risk-reward proposition involved. Investing a lot of time in one area when the fish are in a negative mood, could lead to the dreaded skunk. But, that’s a risk you should be willing to take occasionally when you’re targeting big fish, or learning how to fish a new spot.

Time savers

An obvious suggestion, but a good one none the less, is to be sure your tackle and boat are organized before you hit the water. Especially if you’re fishing at night. Another good practice for many anglers is to pre-tie hooks and swivels if you’re fishing Carolina rigs. This way, when you break off your rig, you can quickly re-tie and get your baits back in the water. But, don’t be afraid leave that bait out there. You may get hung-up on some debris, but often a fish will find you’re bait and “presto” – you’re no longer snagged.  

You want everything in a convenient spot so you don’t waste time searching for gear in the dark. If I want to get a real early start, I hook-up my trailer and have everything ready the night before an early morning trip.

 Flathead Focus:eliminating unproductive water

Another way to make your trips more successful is by eliminating the less productive areas, and focusing your attention where more fish are. Sounds easy enough, but where to begin? One suggestion is to avoid long featureless river sections. This is especially true when targeting summer flatheads. As an ambush predator, flatheads relate heavily to cover and areas near cover. Procats staff member Matt Jones also feels cover is also important to flatheads because of their territorial nature. He advocates targeting cover areas regardless of the time of day, and suggests “Don’t be afraid to get in the cover; cast as close as you can.”

In fact, Radio tagging studies conducted by Iowa DNR lend support to theories about flathead territoriality. As Greg Gelwicks from Iowa DNR explains, “During mid-summer, the fish really associated with big drift piles.” Another trend he observed was that summertime flatheads tend to have a specific home range or territory - they generally settle in to a specific river section and stay throughout the summer. Anyone who has spent time fishing for flats may have observed these characteristics, but it’s cool to see how science reinforces what we’re seeing on the water fishing.

In general, if there’s a river stretch that has more structural elements like rip-rap, neck downs, drop offs, and such it should support a larger population of all gamefish. The same goes for cover; the more good cover you can find, the more gamefish will utilize it. But, is all cover the same? Definitely not. I’ve found “the older the better” to be a good rule for me when it comes to evaluating wood cover. Wood which extends across current, and into deeper water can be very good. Matt Jones feels submerged cover and cover well anchored to the bottom seems to provide better flathead hangouts, possibly because these are better areas to set-up and ambush prey.  

One last thought on flatheads and cover… if you’re fishing good cover near deep water, and you’re

not getting bit, it doesn’t mean there’s no fish there. The fish could be inactive, or not interested in feeding enough to move to a bait. Often, if you keep moving your bait around your cover until it hits the right spot, you can trigger a strike based on that territorial nature we discussed earlier. Whether it’s anger or a defense mechanism, if a live bait gets too close it’s lunch.

 

Spot specific approach 

If you’re spending a lot of time in one area, keep moving those baits a foot or so every ten or fifteen minutes, especially if you’re targeting fish away from cover. Your bait can just sit a long time a few feet from an inactive fish, but if you keep poking and prodding the depths with your baits and hit the strike zone, you’ll often trigger an aggressive strike because of the territorial nature of the fish.  

The myth of peak fishing hours

In the past, catfishing articles often referred to peak fishing times. Fish early morning, and at night.  

We’ve all heard this a million times. And, sure, we’ve all experienced good luck fishing nighttime or early morning. These are good times to be on the water. Less boat traffic and pesky PWCs generating wakes to bump you out of position. But are there truly predictable hours of peak activity? I say just get out and fish when you can. Or, to borrow Catmatt’s tagline, “Go Catfish!” If it’s mid-day when you can go, GO! In my opinion, time of day is an overrated factor when it comes to fishing success. Whether you’re targeting blue, channel, or flathead cats, current, depth, cover, bait placement, and bait quality are all more important that the time of day. In fact, many flathead anglers, including myself, do just about as well day or night. The bottom line here is by limiting the times you hit the water you could be missing out on a good daytime bite, especially in the spring and fall.

Avoiding the crowds

Another factor facing many of us is boat traffic. Like other suburban anglers, many of my main fishing spots have a lot of boat traffic, especially on the weekends. Because of this, my two favorite times to strike out are just before daylight break, and around dusk. I’ll launch in the dark if I need to. But what makes these times work for me is the fact that there’s almost nobody else out on the river. Without speedboats and personal watercraft stirring things up, it’s just easier to fish and hold anchor.

Time to go!!!

At the end of the day, most of us feel that any time out on the river is time well spent. Maybe the biggest thing that I do the maximize activity is to predominantly fish during the most active months of the year, especially for flatheads. Generally, I'll start catfishing as early as April (depending on water temperatures) and concentrate my activities during the months of May through September. Traditionally, you can expect the most action during those months. Enough talk, who's ready to go catfish?!?

Another article I wrote for Procats eMag, don't know if it was ever published because it was a bit of a work in progress. Think it was around 2007 I was working on this one. 

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Got Bait???

Bait Basics for Catfishing

You're geared up and ready to head into battle with some catfish. Rods, reels, line, hooks, sinkers...you've got it ALL covered. Right??? Almost. But, you won't get many fish without some kind of bait. I like to spend more time fishing than collecting bait, so I try to keep things simple and efficient when it comes to bait. 

Basically, I figure there are two categories of baits...dead or alive. Dead baits are fairly easy to use, so I wont spend a lot of time on those. Dead bait could be frozen suckers or other fish, shrimp, dip baits, paste baits. Dip baits can be very effective for channel catfish, just stick a dip worm or tube in there and you're set. I prefer a single hook instead of the usual trebles, easier to remove. Or clip one of the tines with wire cutters if you want a double-hook rig.

Dead baits work great for channel catfish at times and are generally the easiest to handle. If you're using frozen baits, make sure you keep them good and cold. I also recommend keeping them in a separate cooler from your food and drinks. Common sense, right?

Most often, I prefer to fish with live baits. Live baits include worms (especially nightcrawlers) and a whole assortment of live fish. Worms are a good bait, but also appeal to non-catfish species like bullheads, carp, white bass, etc. Still, put a fat nightcrawler in front of a hungry channel cat and they will seldom turn it down. Worms are very too handy because you can catch some of these other species to use as live or cut bait. Be sure to observe the local rules and regulations with respect to what is and is not permissible in terms of using fish caught via hook and line as bait.

Many live baits like worms, minnows, suckers and shiners can be obtained from a local bait shop. When I was a kid, we caught a lot of channel catfish on large fathead minnows from the bait shop. When other baits were harder to come by we even baited trotlines and bankpoles with them. You can also use purchased baits as dead baits by smashing them, cutting them in half, or even freezing leftovers at the end of a trip. I have found that fresh baits seem to attract more fish and will stay on the hook better than frozen ones. Oily fish species like shad, shiners, or suckers tend to be great options for cut bait.  

Larger live baits like bullheads, creek chubs, shad, shiners, suckers, and sunfish appeal to both channel and flathead catfish. Mostly, I prefer to use these species for bait fish because they're generally easy to obtain and keep in good shape for a night of fishing. When I'm targeting flathead catfish, I prefer to use healthy and active live baits. Flatheads are attracted to the vibration and activity of these baits. Many believe that flathead catfish often attack live baits to defend their territory. The bait is essentially an invader and the easiest way for a flathead to eliminate this interloper is to attack or eat it. Problem solved.

When I'm fishing for baits before I fishing trip I'll use a garden worm, spike worm, or meal worm below a tiny float on a #8 light wire hook. I love to use wild baits caught from tributary creeks or streams; I feel fish used to swimming in current tend to be more lively and active baits. I've used everything from bluegill, crappie, creek chubs, bullhead, and green sunfish. I especially like green sunfish and bullheads, they're so frisky and very hardy. Bullheads are about the toughest, easy to keep alive for quite a long time. Many catfish anglers use bluegills for bait, they are readily available and also are a very effective bait.

When it's taking a while to catch baits on a hot summer day it's good to keep the water aerated and circulating to reduce the amount stress on the baits. Lively baits always seem to attract the most catfish and minimizing stress helps tremendously. More on this topic later.


If you have a cast net and shad are available, you can always make a few throws to some of those. Again, just be sure to follow local rules regarding what species can be captured and what size nets can be used. I'm still trying to learn how to throw my cast net, so I rarely use it. But there are some great videos on YouTube where anglers demonstrate how to throw a cast net for bait. On waters with a healthy shad population, catfish anglers frequently use cast nets to obtain bait. Since shad is a primary forage species when available, it only makes sense they would be a great catfish bait in these instances.

Keeping Live Baits Healthy

Fish are fish, and whether they're shad,
bluegills, or shiners water quality is a top
priority to keep live baits healthy. In order to keep baitfish happy, they require fresh water with adequate levels of dissolved oxygen. Cooler water will generally absorb more oxygen, and some type of aeration will help greatly. If you've ever had baits going belly-up on a hot summer day...they probably weren't getting enough oxygen. 

Other factors impacting oxygen levels include the surface area of your container (more surface=more oxygen), and the levels of contaminants/ammonia in the water. As fish respirate, they remove the oxygen from the water; at the same time adding ammonia to the water through their waste. Once caught most fish quickly empty their waste adding nitrogen and particle matter to the water. if you've caught wild baits from somewhere, it's a good idea to change their water within about 45 minutes. This can be as easy as having a second bucket on hand with cool, conditioned tap-water. I use Jungle products Start Right to remove chlorine and condition. Overcrowding along with rising water temperatures will also cause a rapid decline in the health of your baits. So keep your baits happily swimming around in good quality water. 

For camping out, you can use "strainer buckets" and just soak baits right in the river. In the boat, I use an aerated bucket or cooler. Depending on the number of baits, and length of the trip, I'll use a 5 gallon bucket or 48 quart cooler. For a night of fishing, the 5 gallon bucket works fine for up to about twenty sunfish. The additional capacity of the large cooler works much better when you're going camping and taking two dozen or more baits. Another advantage of the cooler, is that the insulation also keeps the water temperature more consistent. However it does take up more space in the boat.




Other than leaving strainer buckets in the river, I tend to avoid local water during the summertime because the water gets too warm and dirty to use for extended periods. I've found over the years that an aerated container holding conditioned tap water from home or the bait shop seems to work best.

I've been using a 12 volt-powered aerator for a number of years now. This model has a spray attachment that keeps the water circulating and well oxygenated. The pump which forces water through a tube with holes/jets to spray back down on the surface. With this type of setup, you don't have to keep moving a strainer bucket in and out of the boat to keep baits fresh. Plus, have you ever taken off with the bucket still in the water? Another thing I like about my aerator system is that it's large enough for a 5 gallon bucket or a 48 quart cooler.




On a related note, I made a quick video about
catching baits for the YouTube channel. Just basic creek fishing technique that works for sunfish, bullheads, creek chubs, etc.Good luck and good fishing!