Posting for DJ. Thank You for the write up.
Catfishing 101
I break my catfishing into 2 catagories. Flatheads and Channels. They will be the two species you will most likely encounter on the Susquehanna River. You will also run into several species of Bullhead Catfish, but I try not to target them for they are smaller in size. Flatheads have been known to weigh in over 100lbs in other bodies of water, but for around here in south central PA on the Susquehanna, reports of 40lb, over 50 inches in length fish are the largest i've heard of. My personal best Flathead is 38 inches, couldn't tell you how much it weighed, I didn't have a scale. The Channel cats will top out around the 25lb mark and longest around 30-35inches. My largest Channel is in the 30-33 inch ballpark, again no weight. All of my catfishing takes place on the Susquehanna River, which can be fished in every month of the year, but the best months are May through October with the largest fish coming in the fall.
For bait, I like to using cutbait and live bait. The live bait that I use is usually in the form of creek chubs, bluegils, fallfish, white sucker, or any other similar panfish/large minnow. The bait ranges from 4-8 inches. We're talking large baits in catfishing, the bigger fish like'm big. Cut bait is the exact same fish used in live bait, except dead and cut into chunks. The choice between using live or cut usually comes down to how much time I have to catch bait or fish in general. For big Flatheads, the live bait seems to have more success, for they are truely a predatory fish, hunting their prey. The Channels can be caught on both types, along with prefabricated baits, worms, and chicken livers. This species is more of a oportunist when it comes to food, they will eat whatever comes to them the easiest and if it "smells" good. I've caught Flatheads on cut bait, and i've caught Channels on live bait, so just like almost everything else in life, theres always an exception to the rule. I've caught my largest Flathead to date on a nightcrawler, using less superior tackle, and on a very small hook. In that case, my largest catfish broke all the general "rules." Don't buy those "catfish nugget" pre-fabricated baits, they're a waste of money if you want to catch big cats and big cats on a regular basis. Catfish use their lateral line on the sides of their bodies to feel for vibrations, along with their "catlike wiskers" or barbells around their mouth to feel out injured baitfish. Catfish will "taste" their food through thier skin, as they do not have scales. When cruising flats for food, and not ambushing prey, they will taste a food such as chicken livers from many yards away. Catfish swim back and forth in large switchback patterns, and as they get closer to the bait, the switchbacks get shorter and shorter until they find what they've been "smelling." With all the sensory organs working to get the Catfish food, its eyes are relatively small as they don't rely on them as much as other fish species do. This is why heavier lines, large hooks, and colors aren't really that important in catfishing, becaue they can't see that well anyways. The rule "stinkier the bait the better," isn't really true. I can't say i've caught a lot of fish on rotten or tinchured bait. Fresh live bait, fresh cut fish, or fresh bloody livers always works the best in my experience.
Tackle can get expensive, and when starting out to target catfish, you don't need all the gadgets and gizmos out there, or the rod that costs a few hundred. I personally have way too much fishing equipment. My rod of choice is a medium heavy action fiberglass rod, about 7'10" to 8' rod length, and a spinning reel that can handle large amounts of line (some of these boys run a long ways), and stainless eyes so braid won't cut into the eyes (braid will cut into the ceramic types). A good solid reel seat is another thing that is nice to have, something that is stiff and does not flex a lot. I have quite a few rods that fit these requirments, my favorite is my newest rod, made by Surge, the Trophy Cat Series. My heavy rod that I use for larger baits, is my CatMaxx rod that you can find at BassPro. This rod is 7'10" long, and is equiped with a Abu Garcia 6500 baitcasting reel. This rod can handle large baits, heavy current, and heavy sinkers. I've recently switched all my rods over to a 50lb braid, and some people go heavier on the poundage. I also started using a slip sinker rig as my main rig of choice for attaching hooks and sinkers. The slip sinker consists of, in this order on the line, a sinker slider, sinker bumper(beads, small rubber chunk of hose, ect), #3 barrel swivel, a 30 lb mono 12-16 inch leader, attached to a 5/0 to 8/0 sickle hook. Hooks and sinker types will differ between people, and just like we argue over the best caliber for fur, its the same for the best hook, hook size, ect. I like sickles because I like to set the hook. Others like circle hooks were you wind down on the reel rather than "setting the hook." I match the size of hook to the size of my bait, if its a 4 inch creek chube i'll just a 5/0 hook, its a 6 plus inch bait, i'll just 7/0 or highier. Each brand of hook varies by size as well, so I would find a hook you like, and stick to it. My favorite to date is the Big River by Gamakatsu if you can afford them (3 hooks for 8 bucks) or my main go to when snags are a problm the Matzuo sickles. My old rig is the 3 way swivel, with a leader to the hook, and a very light leader down to a sinker(think 8lb test). I used this rig a lot, but it takes longer to retie when you break off, and if you're not breaking off, you're in the wrong location. For sinkers, I match the weight of my sinker to the weight of bait. Smaller 4 inch bait will only get 1-2oz of lead, while an 8 inch chub will take 3-4 oz of lead. If the current is faster, such as the spring, sometimes 6-8oz of lead can be needed. Some people in real fast locations have been known to use 12-16oz of lead, i've never fished in such places. I started pouring my own lead sinkers due to price, you can pour your own sinkers for way less than half than you can buy'm. My favorite is the round, flat, disk like river sinker. The heavier the sinker, the more it will cost at the store, so you might want to pour your own.
Location in the river is something you'll have to learn. My best places on the river are behind sudden changes in depth, and that can be a drop from 5 foot to a sudden drop to 2 foot deep back up to 5 again. That "bowl" will hold fish. Fish will stack up behind large rocks that create a current break. Current breaks are probably the easiest feature to find. Where the "slow" water meets the "fast" water is where you want to cast your rig. I like to keep my rig just on the inside of the slow side. Fish will sit inside of the slower water and attach baitfish as they swim or float by in the faster water. Points out from an island will produce later in the season, as log jams and trash piles will work great through out the season. I like to think if it looks "fishy" by what you see on the surface, i'm sure they'll be there under the surface. Bottom structure is almost all rock rumble bottoms, with little or not mud. When you start getting into the muddy bottoms, you'll start to catch more bullheads, that is their prefered habitat. I find that the channels will be more of the cruising for food type, and the Flatheads are the waiting for the ambush back inside a logjam or in a deep hole type. I find I catch more channels when i'm anchored on the flats and more Flatheads when my rig finds itself behind root balls under the water, behind huge rocks, or in a log jam.
If anyone has any other questions they can always PM me on the site at my sn: Critterslayer51. I have to get out soon, I've had very limited time to fish this season due to work and other events that required my time. Let me say this, catfishing doesn't take a lot of skill, or high dollar equipment, and after that first monster you reel in, you'll be hooked! They are true predators of the water, and we seem to have a very high abundance of them here in the Susquehanna River, the 3 rivers near Pittsburgh (Where the 100lb Flats live), and the Schuylkill River. Happy Cat-ching! ................DJ
