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* Staff Writer Steve Hoffman is the newest member of the In-Fisherman editorial staff. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he's fresh from 10 years of travel, complements of the US Air Force. He has a degree in English from Boston College.
Ned Kehde, Lawrence, Kansas, is a frequent In-Fisherman contributor who has written numerous articles about white bass, crappies, and catfish.
DURING my brief tenure at In-Fisherman I've had the opportunity to burrow into the archives and read the issues I missed during a largely misspent youth. But only after reading dozens of magazines did I realize the significance of those first catfish articles.
From those first how-to articles, along with the Channel Catfish Fever handbook and a series of In-Fisherman videos, the Catfish Guide was born. The pages of this annual publication gave us the opportunity to expand our coverage of catfishing. More importantly, it opened new communication channels with seasoned catmen across North America. From their calls and letters, we are learning about successful regional techniques, modifications to standard rigs and tackle, and a seemingly endless number of recipes for pastes and dips. (Our mail room staff requests all future samples be tightly sealed.)
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Balloon Drift Rig |
HTC BoBBer |
We also received correspondence from hardcore catmen on the fringe of convention--either the cutting edge of progress or the verge of madness, depending on your point of view. All are experienced anglers who developed unusual but useful rigs and presentations that catmen everywhere might use to catch more and bigger catfish. We tried to assimilate their ideas into other articles, but for the most part they just didn't fit. So we offer them here, all at once, a collection of unusual approaches to catching cats.
UNUSUAL PRESENTATION
Big blues, flatheads, channel cats, and white cats spend much of their time in deep water. But they also feed near or even at the surface. Not only will big cats rise to the surface to capture prey over their deep water haunts, but they also push prey to the top along the shoreline in extremely shallow water.
Typical Cape Fear River
Catfish Spread
The most effective rod-and-reel presentations for shallow water are adapted from sets used by logline, limbline, and poleliners, who catch the biggest cats, especially flatheads, on lines closest to shore. Trotlines often are most effective set parallel to the bank. The right bait calls cats in, so long as the bait struggles near the surface. Also, catching big cats is a nighttime gig, and at night, cats more likely feed up than down.
Deep holes still key catfish location during the day. Deep water also accounts for some big cats at night. But after dark, particularly during summer, the biggest cats feed near the surface. In spots less than 6 feet deep, set bait no more than halfway down in the water column, where the bait will spend some time thrashing near the surface. Or set the bait a foot below the surface. Big cats are drawn to the sound and vibration of the struggling bait.
The Compleat Near-Surface Angler--Ed Davis describes himself as a middle-aged guy with a bad heart who likes to fish. He's quiet and reserved, and probably won't even mention that he holds the North Carolina state records for flathead and blue catfish. He caught line-class world records, too, including a 47-pound 6-ounce blue cat on six-pound line.
Davis fishes North Carolina's snag-filled Cape Fear River. The banks of this tidal stream are lined with overhanging trees and choked by a thick undergrowth of brush. The banks drop off sharply into four- to eight-feet of water, and the main river channel is littered with deep holes. Anglers who fish the river's best holes score big cats, but Davis targets shallow water where he believes active blues and flatheads spend most of their time feeding. He often presents baits high in the water column over deep holes, but most of his attention is directed at the shoreline.
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Snag Resistant Rig |
Break-Away Rig |
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Davis fishes with multiple rods, so he can cover several areas and experiment with different baits. At least one line is a "brush hook"--his term for a release clip tied to an overhanging branch. The line is attached to the clip so the bait is free to swim (livebait) or drift (cut bait) in the upper third of the water column. To signal strikes in the dark, he attaches a bell to the limb. When a cat takes the bait, the bell rings, and the line pulls free from the release. Once the hook is set, the cat generally moves toward the main channel. This movement away from shoreline snags is critical to Davis who often lands large fish on light line.
To cover water, Davis often fishes a float or bottom rig or both directly below the boat, using a "release jug," which consists of a three-liter bottle with a barrel swivel glued to the cap. A length of 50-pound line is attached to a heavy bank sinker or decoy weight to anchor the float in current. Another shorter line is tied to a release clip. Once the jug's in position, a baited float rig is attached to the clip. Current keeps the float downstream from the jug, away from the other rigs.
Other boats on the river after dark present a problem when lines are spread across the channel. A band of reflective tape makes the jug visible to boaters, but lines remain a problem. Ed used to reel in when a boat approached. Now he attaches a clothespin weighted with a one-ounce sinker to his lines and disengages his reels. The weight is enough to drop the line below the surface to let boats pass, but not enough to trip the release on a jug or limb set.
When Davis targets flatheads, he prefers large livebaits like 8- to 10-inch American eels or keeper-sized bluegills. For blue cats, he favors big pieces of cut squid or eel about four inches long and two inches in diameter. During the height of the prespawn season, the biggest cats move into the best shallow feeding areas. But Davis says using large baits is still important to avoid catching "nuisance" catfish under 30 pounds.
INNOVATIVE RIGS
Fishing for catfish in rivers means snags, rocks, and debris--elements resulting in lost rigs. Sometimes active fish can be drawn away from snags by the flowing juices of a fresh piece of cutbait or festering dip bait, but most of the time, it's necessary to risk your terminal tackle to catch those cats. To minimize the frustration of constantly retying rigs and the despair of losing a big fish, use a snag-resistant rig or a break-off rig.
Modifications to standard rigs make them more snag-resistant. Using a float rig, for example, instead of a shot or drift rig, over a rocky bottom keeps the bait skipping along with fewer hang-ups. Even the standard slip rig, constructed with an egg sinker and split shot 12 inches above the hook, can be improved by using a bell or bass casting sinker and a swivel. The length of the leader on this rig can also be shortened in heavier current to reduce the number of snagged hooks.
Some environments where catfish are found, however, call for rigs that sacrifice snagged components to allow a fish to be landed. The simplest and most versatile example is the three-way rig. The line to the hook can be slightly lighter than the breaking strength of the main line, while the line to the weight is lighter than both those. The length of either leader can be adjusted to change the depth or movement of the bait. A slip float on the hook leader or a floating jighead instead of a hook keeps baits riding off the bottom for additional snag resistance.
Good story. Trent Luger (pictured) and Joel
Hanson, college students from Minneapolis, get the catfishing bug
from reading In-Fisherman. They follow principles outlined in the
magazine and apply a good dose of intuition to catch several good
flatheads during summer 1995. On their spring break in March 1996,
they head nonstop overnight, with four days to burn, to fish monster
blue cats in the Cumberland River, Tennessee. Conditions are
difficult, but they team for a flathead that has to weigh 60 (maybe
70) and a blue cat the must go 50 pounds. The fish went back. The
boys went home.
Saltwater Adaptations-- Saltwater fishermen who probe wrecks and rock piles in 200 or more feet of water also deal with snags. Losing rigs is part of their game, too, and these anglers have developed some slick rigs to minimize tackle loss. They begin with stiff monofilament leader material, the kind sold in prestraightened 4-foot lengths (available from Offshore Angler, 800/227-7776), and tie hooks to short droppers. These rigs are designed to be dropped vertically into rig-eating cover and pulled out again.
To present baits on the bottom, some anglers snell a hook to each end of a piece of leader material and tie a dropper loop (or surgeon's loop) in the middle. The main line is attached to the leader at the base of the dropper loop with an improved clinch knot. A bell sinker is threaded onto the loop. This rig can be tied with a single hook in states that permit only one hook per line. A break-away variation of this rig is made by tying the main line to the top of the loop and attaching the sinker to the base of the dropper with a rubber band. If the sinker becomes snagged, the elastic can be broken easily and the rest of the rig retrieved. This break-away version, however, isn't suitable for casting.
Catfishing remains tethered by tradition. Many catmen still fish as catmen did forty years ago. But we have more fun and fish more often when we're successful. So we're committed to the continuous improvement of catfish rigs and presentations.
Please refer to the March 1997 issue of In-Fisherman to read about more alternative catfish rigs and presentations including remote control boat rigs at tailwaters and river bank planer boards.
