24 Sept 14 - 28 , 2018 VOL . 37 • ISS . 20
Back to the spawn , why is it important ? Well , it concentrates the fish . I tend to find them in shallower water than you may expect too . I ’ ve routinely caught them at night time in 3-8 ’ of water . I deliberately avoid deep water . Of course , shallow is relative . In many of the lakes I fish , deep water would be 40 ’. In Lake Shasta or Oroville , a “ shallow flat ” may be 20-40 ’ in an old flooded meadow in an area that is surrounded by steep shorelines . Catfish are suckers for anywhere that water enters a lake . You don ’ t have to have your bait in the current , but it seems that catfish are naturally attracted to inlets .
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WHAT ’ S HOT Continued from page 1
It makes sense . The current is a conveyor belt bringing all kinds of tasty morsels to hungry mouths . Catfish are definitely opportunistic eaters . I once caught a 13 pounder that had a whole blackbird in its belly . I imagine something happened to the bird causing it to drown , and then the catfish did what nature intended it to do . This year has seen me fishing a lot out of a boat , and that ’ s kind of new to my catfishing game . I ’ ve been fishing a lake that is extremely weedy , and it ’ s almost impossible to clear the submerged weeds even with a Herculean cast from the bank . So , I ’ ve got my navy involved .
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FRESHWATER
There ’ s a bit of a learning curve associated with catching them out of a boat . First of all , getting a boat to sit perfectly motionless is almost impossible . I ’ ve been simultaneously anchoring off both the bow and the stern , and this seems to keep the boat relatively still . It still will sway a bit side to side .
I don ’ t want my bait being dragged across the bottom by a swaying boat , so I have been leaving a lot of slack in my line . This has resulted in the fish picking up the bait , running about 10-15 ’, and then feeling a pair of 6 / 0 circle hooks coming firmly to rest in their mouth . The bite is extremely violent . It ’ s a real zero
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to sixty affair . The line starts moving , and then the rod suddenly buckles over . It ’ s exhilarating . Big catfish are not marlin , but they will put up a determined fight . They usually wallow around and roll on the line , but every once in a while you will hook one that acts a lot like a Chinook salmon . They are capable of making strong runs that pull 20-30 ’ of line off the reel , and they will really bulldog beneath the boat . Tackle should be on the heavy to very heavy side . Why mess around with light gear ?
These fish don ’ t use their eyes to hunt .
It ’ s entirely based on smell . They couldn ’ t care less if you use 10 pound leader or 50 pound . Thus , I have upped my terminal tackle from 30 pound leader to 50 pound test , and I like the results . Less breakoffs leads to more time fishing and thus more fish landed . Baits and tackle remain the same . You will always catch more catfish by matching the hatch than using any other bait . Sometimes that ’ s not an option , but anywhere you can use the predominant non-game fish such as shad , carp flesh , Sacramento pike-minnows or suckers for bait , those baits will outperform all others . In some lakes in the Sierra district , the only baitfish that can be used are dead saltwater fish . I ’ d rather use a sucker filet , but it ’ s illegal . In this case , mackerel will have to do .
In Western Nevada , carp is ubiquitous , and catfish love to eat them . Most carp die of old age in our lakes , and old Mr . Cat comes and cleans them up as they decompose . Grocery store baits like chicken liver and gizzards are a distant third . As far as tackle is concerned , 4000 size spinning reels loaded with 50 pound braid and 50 pound leaders are the way to go . A pair of 6 / 0 Octopus Circle Hooks spaced about 5 ” apart and tied to the line via matching egg loop knots seals the deal . Snell
3708
knots would probably work well , but I am also a salmon fisherman , and the egg loop knot has never let me down . I like my cats to feel no resistance , so I like my sinker to be attached by a plastic “ slido .” If anybody saw this rig in the back of my truck , they would think I was heading out to the local bay to catch leopard sharksnot down to the local lake to catch catfish . Lastly , catfish are nocturnal . I ’ ve caught a few big ones right as the sun is coming up or very shortly thereafter . Think of it as a “ midnight snack ” right as they head for bed . In the summer , the big ones go fully nocturnal . That ’ s when you ’ ll catch them .