Don’t give up on catfish just because it’s winter. Blues, flatheads and channels will all bite, if you change tactics to account for the cold weather.
It’s a misconception that catfish of any species simply “go away” during the winter. In fact, veteran catfish anglers will tell you that winter is one of the best times to catch a trophy sized blue or channel catfish. In addition, the idea that flathead or yellow catfish won’t bite in cold weather is a pure fallacy. February is a great time to catch catfish of any species, but the tactics and techniques used when the water is cold will vary somewhat from tactics used in warmer months.
Following are some tried-and-true tips for the catfish angler who doesn’t want to wait for spring to get on the water. Winter catters who apply a couple of these tips could end up with a bruiser at the end of the line or a cooler full of tasty eaters ready for the skillet.
Jason Aycock, who fishes the Mississippi River, said it’s rare for him to anchor up for catfish, but he’s most likely to do so during winter. A veteran tournament angler, Aycock said patience is the key; trophy catfish will bite, even in colder water, but anglers need to be patient and give them more time.
“When I fish at anchor in the summer, I put the anchor on a clock,” said Aycock. “The fish get 20 minutes to show themselves or I’m on to the next spot. In the winter, however, I may give a spot 45 minutes or more. Their metabolism is slower, and it often takes more time for them to make up their mind to bite and to find your bait.”
David Magness, a veteran angler from Hernando, said winter is a time to catch big catfish in deep water holes and consistent numbers of eating-sized cats in undercut or backwater areas. Cooler water makes catfish movements and locations more predictable, and but it also means allowing fish more time to locate your baits and possibly downsizing portions from the huge summer buffets many anglers are accustomed to using.
Normally, Magness puts his baited rods in holders, but he’ll fish these areas with a hold-and-bounce tactic called bumping that allows the bait to cover more ground.
“Instead of just anchoring and putting rods out, actually hold the rod, let it to the bottom, then lift your rod tip, let the current carry it down 2 or 3 feet, then let it hit the bottom again,” said Magness. “Sometimes, you might have so much line out, you think you’re going to spool your reel before you get a hit. However, when you’re catching trophy sized catfish in the current with 100 feet of line out, that’s a lot of fun.”
Pro catter Joey Pounders of Steens advises anglers not to bypass flathead catfish during the winter. He said it’s a fallacy that flatheads don’t bite in cold water. He has caught flatheads in single-digit temperatures. The key is knowing where to look.
“My best pattern for flathead fishing in the winter is going to be standing timber in the 25- to 30-foot depths,” he said. “Most of that depth and structure will be in old river runs off the main channels of the rivers and waterways I fish on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. The main runs get dredged but aren’t as deep; 15 feet is about the maximum for the main channels.”
He said flatheads will bunch up during the winter, but they will still feed. He has caught 5 or 6 large flatheads, even as many as 10, out of an area that is no bigger than 30×30 feet. The secret is to keep trying spots until you find the fish.
Brian Barton of Muscle Shoals, Ala., a guide on Lake Pickwick, looks for catfish to feed higher in the water column on bright, sunny winter days. He learned this trick from many years as a commercial catfisherman when the first three to five baits on a trotline would hold fish, while the hooks that sagged into deeper water were bare.
“This is especially true in clear water,” he said. “I believe the sunfish move up, especially around rock bluffs or dam facings or steep riprap banks — anything that will absorb sunlight and heat the water. Of course, when the bait comes up, so do the catfish.”
Barton said he has seen this pattern work for blues, flatheads and channel catfish.
“Everyone says that only the sunfish react to sunlight, but I believe all fish do for one reason or another.”
Mark Blauvelt of West Point, a B’n’M catfish pro staffer, said one catfish he consistently catches, even during the coldest months, is channel catfish. Blauvelt suggests moving away from major reservoirs and rivers and concentrating efforts on smaller bodies of water when targeting winter channel cats.
“Channel catfish remain active throughout the winter,” he said. “The fish will move into wintertime patterns, which means they’ll seek out the deepest holes, but they’ll still feed heavily.”
Blauvelt loves a medium-action rod with a sensitive tip for channels. It helps him detect bites, while providing enough backbone to land trophy fish that may exceed 15 pounds.
“My preferred bait during the winter is still fresh-cut shad if you can find them,” Blauvelt said. “I will also use frozen shad that I’ve stored for the winter, and I find the bigger baits do better for freezing than the smaller baits.”
David Shipman of Corinth, a tournament angler, looks for catfish to suspend during cooler months. He likes to keep his baits off the bottom to make them more available to suspended catfish and in fact, refers to this tactic as “suspend fishing.”
“Suspend fishing works year-round, but (it) probably produces better during the cooler months, starting in November and running until March,” he said. “Unlike the other bottom tactics, it doesn’t work as well in areas of heavy current but will still produce fish no matter where you try it.
“I usually don’t go over a half-mile an hour and sometimes even slower,” he said. “First, you want to get into an area where you are marking catfish. Sometimes, they might be suspending right off the bottom, and other times they might be half way to the surface. That’s regardless of the water depth. I’ve seen fish suspending at 35 feet over 70 feet of water.”
When the mercury dips this month, don’t sit around waiting for warmer weather. Grab your catfish rods and hit the water now, when you’re most likely to have the water and the fish all to yourself.
Dropping anchor
Boat position is critical to putting out a successful spread of cut baits for catfish. In order to target fish at a variety of depths, it’s important to anchor the boat so that you can cast across a several different depths. Once you locate a spot to fish, use marker buoys to mark the position before anchoring. Some anglers use marker buoys to mark where they want their anchors to be, as well as where they want the boat to be positioned.
To get a rock-solid setup so your boat won’t drift and pull baits into structure, use two anchors with about 500 to 700 feet of rope on each one. You need that much rope out to properly position and secure the boat when fishing in deep water — anywhere from 20 to 80 feet deep depending on the season. The rule is to have five times the anchor line out as the depth you’re fishing.
To properly anchor, use one anchor off the bow and one off the stern. Use a heavy, claw-type anchor to grab hold in the bottom or a Danforth anchor with flukes that rotate and dig into soft bottoms like sand or mud. Each anchor should have a 6- to 10-foot length of chain or a length of sturdy, twisted rope to help secure the anchor and not chafe the rope against bottom structure.
The two-hook trolling rig
For trophy blue and flathead catfish trolling, pro angler Phil of Corinth uses a variation of a rig that employs a stinger hook to insure hookups on a big fish or nab a short striker. It’s a great way to catch trophy flatheads by trolling. Bait for the rig would consist of a large whole skipjack herring, shad or live bream.
“I tie this rig using two 7/0 Daiichi circle hooks,” said King. “I’m going to use a big, whole bait for trolling. I snell both hooks, and that way you get about a 99-percent hookup rate on the circle hook.”
King ties the rig using a three-way swivel. The main line, 80-pound braid, is tied to one end. A slinky weight is connected to the middle eye of the swivel. Slinky weights can be made using 550 paracord and No. 4 buckshot pellets or purchased commercially made. A length of 30-pound mono leader is tied to the remaining eye. The length of the leader will vary depending on how high you want the bait to suspend in the water column. A 3- to 4-inch crappie float is threaded on the leader between the swivel and the first hook.
“The float will raise or lower bait,” said King. “If the catfish are suspended, you can run it up closer to the hook. Move the float up and it will suspend your bait. Move it closer to your swivel, and it’ll drop the bait down closer to the bottom if fish are tight to the bottom.”
King ties the second hook as a stinger about 2 or 3 inches wider than the length of the bait. Snelling the hook, he runs the leader through, wraps it seven times and pulls it back out through the eye with enough line to span the bait, plus extra and enough to snell the end hook.
“I hook a whole river herring — or skipjack as we call it — I shut his mouth with the inline hook and then hook him back toward the lower end from underneath with the other,” said King. “Sometimes catfish will short-strike a big bait, especially after a front. But this rig also works to suspend cut baits, bream and you can also troll crankbaits with it.”
