How to Catch Big Catfish (Flatheads and Blues) So summer is here and you are tired of only catching little catfish and you want to hook into one that will make you say “OH BABY”, well this post is for you. Every where I go around this world, people keep asking me “Sean, how do you catch such big cats?” and I of course tell them after they give me a box of Hershey’s bar and a six pack of Coke. Seriously though, I love sharing my knowledge of fishing with people and I thought it was time to write another post about it. Over the past two years I have been fishing my but off targetting large catfish and I am going to give you some tips to help you catch one for yourself. Now, if you have no desire to catch big cats, then this post is not for you. However, if you want to land a pole bending, line snapping, whisker wearing monster, then read on my friend. Blue Catfish: 1# Bait to use Around here in West Virginia the only place you are going to find big blue catfish is going to be in the Ohio River, and stocked private fishing lakes or ponds. The best bait that I have found for catching blue catfish is (cut bait). Yes, I said cut bait! Cut bait is any fish (like blue gills, other small cats, creek chubs, and other) that you cut into chunks. Now, do not get me wrong, a hungry blue will never pass up a live bluegill, or even a hot dog, but I would say that 80% of the blue cats that I have caught have been on cutbaits so when I go after blues that is what I use. Flathead Catfish: 1# Bait to use This is the king of the catfish in West Virginia. You will find monsters in the rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds, and big mudholes :) The best bait that I have found for catching flatheads is (live bait). Now, live bait means bluegills, suckers, creek chubs and so on. Once again, just like the blues, a flathead if it is young or hungry will not pass up cut bait, nightcrawlers, and other stuff, but 99% of the large flatheads that I have caught in my life have been on live bait. When I go after the big flats it is all I use. Catfish Rigs: There are tons of catfish rigs out there and many are great, some are good, and some I think are just way to much. I myself like to keep things simple. I use only two rigs for catfish, on the bottom a use the slip rig, and on the top I use a slip bobber rig. You can see diagrams of each in my album section called How to catch Catfish. The bottom slip rig is my bread and butter when I catfish. I use it for small cats and I use it for large cats. I use it in ponds, lakes, creeks, rivers, hell even my bath tub. On it you can use any bait you like depending on what type of cat you are after. Example: Lets say you are hungry and you want to catch a nice mess of 2 to 5 pound channel cats for dinner. If that is the is the case then use a ½ to 1 ounce egg sinker and a small circle hook size 1 through 3. Now, let’s say I am going after huge flatheads using six inch bluegills. With this much life bait on the line, your gear has to be big or it will not stay on the bottom. So, I will use 4 to 6 ounce egg sinkers and circle hooks size 4 and bigger. Like I said, know the size cat you are after and adjust your tackle accordingly. On the photo of the slip rig they have the hook tired directly to the line. I prefer to use swivels for two reasons. The first is to be able to change hooks as I need them, and the second is because with the line being right against the hook, once you get a cat on, it rough mouth will make little tears in it and over time it will break unless you keep changing it. Oh and since I am talking about swivels, makes sure they are big as well when you go after the monsters. LISTEN TO ME, BIG GEAR FOR BIG CATS! Now, once you have your hook baited up and in the water, then set your pole down in a pole holder, make sure you drag is set right and wait for the fish. This is called tight line fishing. Circle hooks were made for tight line fishing. If you are not using circle hooks then you can fish loose line, free spool, or any of the other methods, but I use circle hooks which are designed to catch the corner of the cats mouth and with this method of fishing I have caught 90% of the fish that took the bait. Now let’s talk about the other rig, the Slip bobber rig. This is the rig you use to catch cats that are suspend above the lakes and ponds thermoclime. The what? During the summer, the water in lakes and ponds divide up into layers or zones. There are three of them and the one you will not want to fish in (in the summer) is the bottom zone (also called the Hypolimnion). In this zone the water is very cold and has low to no oxygen in it. You will not find fish here during the summer time. No oxygen, and no food for the fish to eat. So, let’s say you have a pond that is 20 feet deep, and it is summer time and you are casting right out into the deep part with a bottom rig and not getting anything (sound familiar) well, now you know why. Don’t believe me, then try this. Find the deepest part of your pond, throw a live blue gill down there on a bottom rig, and pull it up about 30 minutes later and it will be dead and pale from no oxygen. So during the summer, in lakes and deep ponds, the big fish are not in the deep parts for lack of oxygen, they are shallow or suspended. This is a great time to use the slip bobber rig. If will look at the photo of the Lake Stratification, you will see that the first layer is about 6 feet deep. What that means is that most of your bait fish the big fish feed on will be in this zone. So, that means when the big fish are hungry they will come to this zone to eat. With this knowledge then, it only makes since that you should set your slip bobber rig to hold your bait about 6ft in the water. Once again, you have to use the right size tackle for the fish you are after. The bigger the fish, the bigger the bait, the bigger the bobber. Rods and Reels: What can I say about rods and reels……YOU NEED ONE EACH TO CATCH CATFISH! Once again, pick your gear for the fish you want. Small cats, use any type of rod and reel you want. For medium cats over 5lbs to 15lbs, use medium to light heavy rods and reels rated to use no less then 10lb test line. For large cats over 15lbs to 25lbs, use light heavy to heavy rods and reels rated to use no less then 20 lb test line. Now, for cats over 30lbs and greater, use only heavy rods and reels that have the guts to catch monsters. On my big cat reels I have 30lb test, 50lb test, and on my monster reel I have 80lb test line. Once again, know the size fish you are after and choose your tackle to match it. I kept this section brief because there is just so many rods and reels out there. If you have specific questions on rods and reels then send me a message. Let’s get fishing: Okay, you got your bait, you got your rod and reels, and your ready to fish, so let’s get to it. Okay, let’s say we have a pond that is 15ft deep, and has channels, flats and blues in it. Some of the cats in this pond are over 30lbs by the way. It is summer time, the pond is stratified (in the three layers), the cats have already nested and are off (by the way, right now I believe that the cats are nesting in many ponds so the fishing will be slower for a few weeks) and we want to catch all three types of fish. So here is what you would do. Oh, and it is 6:00pm. To catch the little channel cats to eat, use your bottom rig or slip bobber rig and fish in water only about 2 to 4 foot deep. Remember, these guys are small and they will be closer to shore to eat tiny bait fish and not be eatin by bigger cats. Use cut bait, nightcrawlers, minnow, hot dogs, and yes all that yucky stink baits like chicken liver and the stuff you buy from the store if you want to. Like I said, fish shallow for them, around rocks, logs, and any kind of structure that you can find. Now, let’s set up for the big cats. At this time of day, in the summer, the big cats will be laying in deeper water (not under the thermoclime zone where the oxygen is low) or suspended in deeper water. So, put your cut bait, or live bluegill there. So, the deep end of the pond is 15ft, so it will have a very small low oxygen zone, so place your bottom rigs in about 10ft of water, and once again, have your bobber rig set for six feet and you can use it anywhere in the pond. Now, there are better places to put your bait in the pond, if you know what the bottom of the pond structure looks like. Most ponds have a creek that runs into it that feeds it, so there is a natural channel in it. This natural channel is a great place for cats to lay so put your bait there. Let’s say that in our pond there is a huge drop off. It goes from 4 ft to 8ft real fast. Right there is also a great place to put your line. And of course down trees, logs, big rocks, suken ships, cars, and anything else you can find in the pond. Okay, now that we have our lines set, then enjoy catching the smaller cats while we wait for the bigger ones to hit. Plus you can also catch other fish during this time. Fishing is like that and it is great. Okay, you have been fishing for a couple of hours and you have a stringer full of yummy channel cats to cook up and now you want a monster. Well, be patient my friends. Large cats take large bait, and patetience (by the way, if you have not already noticed, I can’t spell worth crap). It is now 8:00pm and from here until about midnight is what we call “PRIME TIME”. So, bring all your baits in, check them, put fresh bait on them and place them as so. Put your slip bobbers in water no deeper then 8ft and put your bottom rigs in water no deeper then 4 to six feet deep. Yes, you heard me, place your lines shallow….and here is why. In the day time, the big cats are in the deep water that still has enough oxygen in it. This water can be as deep as 20ft and in our pond lets say it is about 12 feet. Now, when good old Mr Whisker gets hungry, where do you think he has to go to eat? He can’t just pull up to a McDonalds and order a whopper, he has to go to where the bait fish are at, and can you guess where they are at? Yep, that’s right, they are in the shallow water. So, when the sun goes down, the big cats leave the deeper water and head into the shallow to eat. My first 30lb flathead was caught in only about 3 ft of water using a 4 inch bluegill. So, place your bait shallow when the sun goes down. Also, do you remember that drop off we talked about ealier? Well, now the big cats are going to be coming up on the top of that drop off to deep feed so place your baits right there. Areas that are shallow, next to deep drops are great places to fish for big ones. Plus once again, don’t forget about natural channels and stuctures in the pond. Okay, I have given you a lot of information to think about and digest and I hope you do. If you have any questions at all about how to catch big cats, just send me a message and I will do my best to answer it. I am by no means an expert nor have I ever claimed to be. I am just a normal guy who has caught a lot of cats and loves to share his knowledge with other fishermen. Read all you can about fishing for cats. The internet has some great sites on it and there are thousands of books out there. So, read, study, but the most important thing is to just get out there and fish. Good luck my friends and remember, keep your line tight, your pole stiff, and wiggle that worm :)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:02:00 +0000
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