Of all things that remind me of summer, Catfishing might just be the epitome of summer fishing. I’m not a fan of hot summer days but I do enjoy finding a nice shady bank with a deeper hole to throw some bait into and wait for ol’ Mr. whiskers to come find it. Pound for pound they put up a terrific fight and make pretty tasty table fair. Here in MN we have both flatheads and channel cats, and most of my experience is chasing channel cats.
I grew up in southern MN and moved away for awhile but upon moving back I found myself intrigued by catfish. I started making trips down the Mississippi river fishing at Redwing, Kellogg and Wabasha. Since then I’ve fished the Minnesota River and the Red River of the North as well as the horseshoe chain in central Mn. Catfish can be found in many rivers throughout the country they are a voracious predator with a great sense of smell and have a wide variety of forage, if it swims or falls in the water a catfish will probably eat it. Many rivers are shallow and muddy so be careful boating in unfamiliar waters but look for deeper holes with snaggy brush, small tributaries and below dams for channel cats.
Brainerd Channel Cat
Bait – for quite awhile I tried unsuccessfully to catch channel catfish and one day I asked the gal in the baitshop what she uses and she sold me some homemade stinkbait, and man did it stink. Usually a with a rubber worm or plastic tube is punched into the stink bait and will last on your hook for awhile but will be to be checked and replaced regularly. As I caught more and more I started using circle hooks, they made releasing the fish easier to deal with. A gob of nightcrawlers or a leopard frog make great liv bait and cutbait such as chunks of sucker or goldeye work well too as does shrimp from the grocery store. You can also make your own bait using hot dogs and kool-aid or chicken livers. A good fish rag is always important while catfishing cuz things can get a little messy.
Tackle and gear. Catfish setups usually fairly simple. I like a nice stout rod with a baitcaster that has a clicker function. After you cast the bait out, open your bail but turn on the clicker for some resistance in the current. They also make spinning reels with baitfeeders as well. I usually run a heavy braid going down to a no roll sinker and then a swivel then a short mono leader with a circle hook with some meat or treble hook with some stink bait. A good anchor is pretty important as is a shore spike or rope to tie off on a nearby branch. Toss your bait out and let it sit, if there’s fish around they usually find it in short order, cast in multiple locations and if you don’t get any bites find another hole.
Bait and tackle
Cooking– Although I really like to catch catfish I can’t say I’ve mastered the art of cooking it, especially frying it so I usually release them. I think the oil has to be plenty hot and many people use a corn meal based batter and sometimes soak the fillets in buttermilk. When I do keep channel cats I like to smoke them.
Otis Gibbs “Big Whiskers” song
