By Keith “Catfish” Sutton

With catfish baits that will double your catch! 

Many anglers believe summer is the only good season for catfishing. In reality, the best fishing often is during other seasons.

Catfish fight hard, are great to eat and often weigh 20 to 100 pounds – and even more! It’s hard not to like a fish like that. They’re abundant in many U.S. waters, and can be caught year-round. It’s no wonder more people want to catch catfish. If you’re among them, these five tips can shorten your learning curve and jump start your cat-catching.

1. Use tactics specific to the species of catfish you hope to catch.

All catfish are alike, so fishing tactics that work for one species work for all. Right? Many anglers fish as if this were true, but it is not. Blues, Flatheads and Channel cats each exhibit unique behaviors. Consequently, we should use tactics and baits specific to each species.

Blue cats behave like striped bass. Adults feed on shad, herring and other highly mobile, schooling baitfish. Therefore, this species is very migratory and frequently found in open water. So to catch blues, locate baitfish and fish nearby. Those same baitfish work best, either caught and fished alive or cut into chunks or fillets.

Flatheads are cover lovers, ambushing prey from brush piles, log drifts, cavities and other hiding places. They scavenge little, preferring live fish for dinner. So, fish live fish baits. Most are solitary. It’s a rare fishing hole that holds more than one, so when you catch one, move to another spot.

Channel cats are the most abundant of the three species in ponds, small lakes and small rivers, so targeting these environs is a good way to catch them. They also inhabit big reservoirs and rivers but are less likely than blues to follow baitfish schools and less likely than flatheads to hide in dense cover. You’ll usually find them near less dense cover like snags, stumps and rocks. And because they are efficient scavengers and predators, they can be caught on almost any bait, including baitfish, worms, crawfish, frogs, stinkbaits, shrimp and even hot dogs and soap!

Knowing these things, we can immediately improve our fishing success just by using the correct catfish bait in the locale most likely to harbor the type of catfish we expect to catch.

2. Be keenly aware of the catfish’s sensory abilities.

Catching a trophy flathead like this often requires fishing in dense cover, a much different tactic than might be used to catch a blue or channel catfish.

Catfish have incredible senses. Their skin is actually covered in taste buds that easily detect minute quantities of proteins. Special olfactory and auditory organs give them astounding senses of smell and hearing as well. Their eyesight is much better than their small eyes would suggest, and they use their lateral lines to detect low-frequency vibrations.

Their acute senses benefit anglers. These multifaceted detection systems help them to find an angler’s bait easily, day or night, in all types of water. However, the fact that catfish are so keenly aware of smells, sounds and other sensory cues can make it hard to hook a fish that perceives something out of place.

For example, if a catfish tastes or smells certain compounds in the water or on your bait, feeding activities cease. So we should avoid handling gasoline, sunscreen, tobacco, insect repellent and other substances before or during fishing.

The catfish’s acute auditory system creates difficulties as well. Making unnecessary noise in your boat alerts them and makes them warier, so be quiet. Anglers also must contend with their lateral line sense, which, surprising as it may seem, can detect footsteps on shore. When bank fishing, walk quietly or sit still.

Catfish avoid overhead shadows, too, a reaction to evade bird predators like eagles. They easily see shadows in clear or lightly stained water, so when fishing such places, avoid casting shadows on the water you’re fishing.

Many catfish fans don’t understand these sensory abilities and wonder why catfish won’t bite. Often, it’s because the fish detect something they don’t like and leave. Keep this in mind and you should catch cats.

3. Fish year-round.

Despite what many anglers think, catfishing is not just a summertime sport. You can fish during all seasons and expect to do well.

Flathead fishing often peaks during high-water periods in spring, or in fall when fish are packing on pounds for the lean winter months ahead. Blue cats and channel cats gather in big schools in winter, usually in deep holes in lakes, ponds and rivers. Find the holes and fishing action can be almost nonstop.

4. Rock around the clock.

Despite popular misconceptions, catfish don’t just work the night shift. They can be caught when the sun is high and on the darkest nights, but remember these pointers.

• Fishing clear waters on cloudy days works, but if the sky is clear and sunny, fishing after dark usually proves more productive.
• In muddy or stained waters, fish when you like, day or night. But remember, catfish feeding activity often peaks at dawn, so it pays to be on the water at sunrise.
• Flatheads are more nocturnal than channels or blues. For them, night fishing usually works best.

5. Remember sharp, exposed hooks work better.

Burying the hook point in bait is a common mistake. The barb of the hook should always remain exposed for easier hooksets.

Novice catfish anglers often have trouble hooking catfish, but this problem has simple solutions.

• First, be sure your hooks are needle-sharp. Run each point over a fingernail. Sharp hooks dig in. Those that skate across the nail without catching should be honed or replaced.
• Second, instead of burying your hook in bait, leave the barb exposed. Catfish won’t notice. More hookups result.
• Finally, try circle hooks. A hard hookset isn’t needed with these specially configured hooks. Instead, when a fish takes your bait, you just start reeling and you’ll hook the fish in the corner of the mouth almost every time.

Those five tips will start you off catching cats. Now find some catfish water and start hauling in this great sport fish.

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About Keith Sutton

Keith “Catfish” Sutton

Keith “Catfish” Sutton is the author of Pro Tactics Catfish, a 168-page, full-color book jam-packed with information to help you catch more blues, channel cats and flatheads. To order an autographed copy, send a check or money order for $24.45 to C & C Outdoor Productions, 15601 Mountain Dr., Alexander, AR 72002. For credit card and PayPal orders, and for information on Sutton’s other books, visit www.catfishsutton.com.

See a great catfish filet knife here. 

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