Any Tips for Catfish This Time of Year?

[2001ZincSR]

I went out to Buckeye Lake with my buddy last night and had some mild success. We started around 11pm and fished til 2am. I hooked two nice 20+" cats that shook the hook as I was pulling them from the water (bringing a net next time) and my buddy landed a 12" cat. All this happend right around 11:30 then the fishing was dead up until we left at 2.
Are catfish not feeding as late with the cooler temps rolling in? I think it got down to the lower 50's last night.
We were using chicken liver fishing from shore in about 6' of water and it seemed to do well for a short window around 11:30.
Tonight we're going to go back out a little earlier and see if we can do any better. Does anyone have some tips to help land a couple more cats?

[riverdude]

I will be interested in the replies here.
My brother, his buddy and I went out two nights ago with chicken liver and did not even get a hit. Fished from 9:00 p.m. until 2:30 in the morning. :banghead3:
Last night I went out with one other person, tried minows, worms, crawfish, shrimp, cheese, and power bait and struck out again. Think I may "stick with the girl I brought to the dance"........steel head fishing, walley, perch fishing. :(

[riverdude]

I need to add one more pc of information.
The place I am fishing is a private lake, just over 12 acres. 1/3 of the lake is covered with lilly pads and is very shallow, anywhere from 4 feet to 1 foot. We can't get to this area due to the lilly pad growth. 2/3 of the lake is open and deeper ( this is where we have been fishing ), anywhere from 5 feet to 15 feet.
Could the catfish be in the shallow area's under the pads in in muskrat holes?
Thanks.

[uglykat26]

cut bait , cut bait, and more cut bait, the cooler temps are gonna get them in a feeding mood i missed 4 fish last night that would have went over 15 pounds and caught a nice 6 pound flat head, cut shad has been working well for me all year, are you guys fishing the bottom or under a bobber, with the lakes turning over they could be following the thermocline i would try usuing a slip bobber about 3 feet off the bottom, the cats may be going up into the lilly pads at night to feed on the smaller fish that are hiding in there , try usuing a slip bobber at the edge of the pads and see how that works

[2001ZincSR]

Im using a bobber, I was thinking about trying some shad out tonight. I will also try suspending the bait off the bottom.

Are catfish easily spooked? I was just wondering because I had a couple long fights with the fish I had on and didnt get a single bite afterwards. Just wondering if it could have spooked them as I am fishing is a 40 yd channel thats about 6' deep.

[riverdude]

Thanks UglyKat.
I did both, with and without a bobber. Tried the edge of the lilly pads lastnight with a crawfish and then a night crawler.

Let ya know how it goes in a day or two, going to take tonight off. :D

[uglykat26]

cats can be easily spooked if its small spaces , dimming your lanterns will help to catfish dont like bright lights at night

[cjd3]

Will my little red electric bobber bother them?

[riverdude]

Will my little red electric bobber bother them?

Oh.........good question CJD3. What ya think Uglykat?? :confused:

[riverdude]

Will my little red electric bobber bother them?

Never heard back on if the red electirc bobber would effect / scare dem catfish. :(

[Toad]

I would use a baitrunner or bait clicker reel if you have one. First choice for bait would be cut shad, 2 choice would be in-shell raw shrimp, then liver. I would fish on bottom with a slip sinker. Fishing with a float the way you were you could luck into a wiper. I also would fish in pitch black and only use light as needed.

[cincydeerman]

for channel cat its hard to beat shad right now. if you can find them about three inches long those are ideal. i just use the whole thing when they are that size. big minnows crushed also work well. get some garlic bang. its the stuff in a spray can that is used to spray artificial baits. spray down some hot dogs with it. i fish certain ponds with the garlic dogs and the action is non stop when nothing else will work

[Pcliff]

Good call Toad. I always use a big baitcaster with bait clicker set and the spool free. I also use the slip sinker rig. the baitcaster with the spool open has
little resistance. alot of times the fish will hit and run making for an easy hookup

[mdad]

next time you go, try some Mc Donald s fries.

you will be surprised

[uglykat26]

Will my little red electric bobber bother them?,


no it wont scare them i get more bites with one actually,sorry didnt reply sooner i have been sick, but the bright lites of a lantern will keep more cats away from your spots , they are like deer they know where they live inside and out and when ya got a light that is tthere now that wasnt there the night before it gives off a warning signal, i experimented with this all summer, half the summer i used my lantern like i normally would then the other half i put foil around one half the globe and turned the light side towards me, i uped my catch rate by 50 percentwhen i did it the second way wit hthe light towards me, as for the bobber it wont scare em its not bright enough to