The toughest one of them all ...

[David Lee]

Yup .... Channel Catfish !!
If you haven't tangled with this critter yet , you're in for a suprise - Catties are rough , tough fighters that will take your fly and leave you shaking .
My first on a fly was out of the Bear river .... I thought I had the MOTHER of all Smallmouth on , after 6 or 7 minutes I landed a BEAUTIFUL 4 lb. Channel ! A #6 black beadhead Leech did the trick .
My second Cat came out of Natoma while in the tube . This one ate up almost 15 minutes of my life (thought it was a legend Rainbow ) and taped out around 7-8 lbs. I couldn't do much other than hang on and hope ......
They are very active feeders and don't seem to have any problem chasing down your bug (or lures , I've caught a bunch on Rapalas and jigs )..... A hard strike , and it's off to the races .
Anybody have any encounters with these devils ???? D.J.L.

[Hairstacker]

Encounters? None for me, unfortunately. One time when I was on the way out of the Delta last fall, I saw a guy walking up the levee with a stringer of about 6 or 7 of them, some pretty good size. Wondered if they were channel cats and have wondered whether they could somehow be targeted effectively with flies....

[Darian]

David,.... done a lot of catfishin' and caught a bunch. Mainly on Bait.

The one that sticks out in my memory is when I was about 12 years old, I was staying in Porterville with my Dad who was working on a construction project there. It was near a stream that was fairly shallow/very clear. I could see a bunch of catfish in a pool that was surrounded by a sandy bottom area. I couldn't get these fish to bite so I decided to go for a dip. There was a tree that leaned out over the water, so I climbed it..... (thinking that I would jump off it into the stream) Saw some of the catfish had swum into the area directly below the tree. Climbed back down to the ground, picked up a good size rock and climbed back up the tree. When a fish swam under the limb I was on, I dropped the rock from the tree and decapitated it, perfectly. Couldn't have cleaned it better if I was using a knife....

[Hairstacker]

Apparently catfish get less respect than bluegill....

[Jgoding]

Lol Darian,

Not sure if that is a "legal" method of take tho....LOL, but it should be.

I got into cat fishin' about 6 years ago I believe. Do most of it at the Sutter bypass past Knight's Landing. First trip there found out the mitten crabs can find bait pretty fast.....caught one of the suckers too.... so I use a sinker with bait attached about 2 -3 feet up....my bro catches all the big ones, broke several fish off using 20lbs test....few fish 30" or more and they do fight like mothers....Last two I caught were on a jig when I was flippin for bass during the spawn last year....
As far as a fly rod goes..... they key in on mostly scent..... so unless you can sight fish them..... but a crawdad pattern might work well, fish it on the bottom and use a very very slow retrieve in the evening might do the trick....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We catch these and black bass with artificals and wooly buggers behind the grandkids house in Florida.

Is this a channel cat?

( I'm the ugly one holding the fish)

[Darian]

Jeff,.... Maybe the trick is to include an extra step in the process of tying the flies. For example, After completing the fly, remove it from the vice and place it in a dirty sock with some stink bait. Then put it under your house for a week. Remove it when ready for use. That oughta bring 'em in Remember, use the low retrieve and wash your hands often

[David Lee]

Bill , if it has tiny black spots , most likely a Channel .

Darian , sure you're not 12 anymore ???? :P :P :P


Channel Cats are VERY active hunters - they don't just lay on the bottom , waiting for chicken livers to roll along . Trust me , they are a SCREAM to catch !! D.J.L.

[Jgoding]

Lol Darian,


I'll try it out and let u know how it goes. Bill, that looks like a channel cat to me...