April is a month of activities. The Robins begin to
show and the songbirds begin to sing signaling the coming of spring and
the end of winter. For the hunter it means strutting gobblers. For the
angler it means warming waters and the beginning of a great season of
great fun and fresh fillets.
Most anglers I know begin to prepare
their crappie poles and sharpen their jig heads for some deep brush
jigging or spider rigging some tuffies along some creek channels
leading to known spawning grounds or sunken stake beds. This is a great
time for some cruising crappies but it can be just as good for channel
cats as old man winter loses ground.
This time of year can be
deceiving as the air temperature rises the catfish angler can't wait to
get on the water. The problem is that the water takes a while to warm
even with bright sunny days and warmer weather. The important thing
with early spring cat fishing is water temp. Finding the warmer water
on any lake will be the focus and just a few degrees can make all the
difference.
Look for temp changes in shallow coves. The larger
the area of shallow water the quicker it will warm providing great
catfish action. Water 1 to 4 feet is a great place to look as the
springtime sun is drawn to the dark bottom of the lake causing the
water to warm quicker in these areas. I know it is tempting to fish
deep when the water temps are so low but catfish do feed in these
shallow areas as the water begins to warm. The warmer water definitely
stimulates the cold blooded cats causing them to prowl but an even
stronger motivator is the food found in these shallow coves in the
spring.
In the winter there is a natural die off of fish that
occurs and if your lake has shad, which most successful catfish lakes
do, then the amount of food floating below the surface of the lake can
be extraordinary. This die off provides catfish with a much needed food
source to begin the spawn that is nearing with the warming of water.
Instinct will prevail and the catfish know that these wind swept coves
have trapped lots of dead fish from the winterkill and they do take
advantage of this natural occurrence.
Wind to an angler can be a
nuisance or a great ally. In the case of early spring cat fishing wind
is your ally. Not only does wind help mix the water and help to warm
these shallow coves but it also tends to push these dead fish into
these coves. The important thing is to find the combination of large
shallow cove and a wind that blows directly into this cove. If the wind
is not blowing directly into the cove then try to at least locate a
side wind and fish the bank being lapped with the wind blown water.
The
choice of bait seems obvious. Cut shad is the way to go for this time
of year and does work but I tend to mix it up a little. Most of the
fish will focus on dead shad so you definitely want a rig with cut shad
but I usually rig a pole or two with something different just in case
it stimulates a fish that might be attracted to something a little
different. I have to say that sometimes the different bait far
outperforms the shad but always have cut shad in the boat, as it will
work best most of the time. Some other bait I use is fresh chicken
livers and where legal fresh bluegill fillets work great.
First
scale the bluegill then fillet. The scales, I feel, trap the smell of
the meat and needs to be removed. Some will argue that the smellier the
bait the better for channel cats. I can only say that fresh bait has
always worked well for me and seems to attract the larger fish as well.
I may be wrong but I keep the stinky stuff out of my boat and stick to
fresh or fresh frozen. I have caught fish on the rotten stuff but I
seemed to waste a lot of time with fishless strikes and smaller fish.
Since going strictly fresh the bite action has slowed but the hook-up
action on bigger fish has increased as I waste little time worrying
with fishless bites and more time fighting nice size channels to the
boat. Usually thirty minutes in one spot is all I will wait before
searching another cove. Keep moving but do not forget that first cove
later in the day as the fish may move up while you search other parts
of the lake.
Tackle for Channel Cats is simple but a couple of
tricks can really help your success. You want to start with at least a
medium or medium heavy rod. I use a heavy rod and the reason is since
targeting these larger Channel Cats I have landed several over ten
pounds. These big channels can put up a great fight and are many times
in the middle of some snarled brush not to mention the twirling these
fish do as they near the boat which can put plenty of strain on your
gear. If you are like me you will start with your regular gear that you
have used for years for those one to three pound fish but after hooking
into and losing some of those giant channels that prowl the shallows
early in the season you might decide, just as I did, that quality and
sturdy gear is important to catching big Channels. Also there are giant
Flathead monsters that tend to reside in the same type areas as big
Channels and the last thing you want is to tangle with a forty-pound
flatty in a brushpile with wimpy gear.
Another well-known trick
is the slip sinker. These fish are very sensitive to pressure and if
they feel any at all they will drop the bait. I have yet decided
whether a free spool is better than tight lining. All my rigs free
spool just in case I miss a bite he can keep running until I can get to
the rod. If I see the bite I set the hook immediately. I tend not to
tight line because I have seen too many dropped bites when they feel
the tension. The hook, I believe, will slip right out
when the fish spits the bait covered hook out of its mouth. So
experiment and draw your own conclusion. Another lesson I have learned
is not to cover your hook. I used to cover the hook with bait for fear
the fish might feel the hook and spook. I now leave the hook point
uncovered as best I can so that when the fish inhales the bait the
point is exposed and even if the fish decides to spit it out there is a
better chance the point will find its mouth on the way out.
Terminal
tackle for catfishing should consist of a solid hook and a heavy monofilament leader
with swivel at the top. Above the leader should be a single bead and
then a slider for your weight. These sliders are inexpensive and are
slicker than just a slip sinker on your main line which tends to abrade
your line causing premature breaks and the loss that giant catfish. Your main line should be heavy mono
or braided line. I choose mono for my leader to give some stretch at
the hook and also withstand the abrasion effects of heavy brush a
little better than braided line. This is another trick learned the hard
way. Braided line is strong for its diameter and allows me to get much
more on my reels while still using thirty to fifty pound test line. The
braided lines will not hold their strength however with the slightest
abrasion so check it often.
I use an octopus style hook, for my catfishing, in the
7/0 to 9/0 size range. I prefer to set the hook hard on these big cats so I
choose the octopus over the circle as my choice in hooks. There are
several hook makers out there that offer the octopus style hook.
Mustad, owner and Gamakatsu are my favorite and provide excellent
hooks for catfishing.
Early spring cat fishing may not be as popular as some of
the other fish out there but with a little patience, trial and error and
lessons learned, you might find that early spring catfishing is a great activity
for you and your family. You might even find yourself alone in your new
endeavor and have all those shallow coves to yourself and enjoy some
great fishing fun as well as some great fillets for the table.
Good
Luck!
