Tactics for Fall Channel Catfish

Tactics for Fall Channel Catfish

By Brad Durick

It seems that the summers fly by faster each and every year and this summer was the fastest of them all. Now as we look ahead we are entering the fourth quarter, the eighth inning so to speak. The good news is, now could be the best time to land a hog catfish.

What is happening with the catfish?
As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler the catfish know that big changes are coming and that they must get prepared. Their instincts tell them to bulk up and be ready for the long winter ahead.

This is a time when the catfish can be very predictable, especially when water conditions are favorable. If the water temperature is right and the flows are right the cats will kick into high gear and become very easy to catch.

Should something negative such as a huge cold front, low or high water be in effect then all bets are off and you will have to go searching or adjust your tactics to stay on fish.

The bottom line is, the fish are on a mission to eat and get ready for the winter. This is the time to fish and it can be the fishing of a lifetime.

How to successfully target catfish?
In the early part of the fall when the water temperatures are dropping out of the mid 70s and 80s is when things really take off. This is the time when you should start looking in faster water areas or heads of holes. The fish tend to be spread out at this time of year and are still somewhat territorial.

The easiest tactic is to find a stretch of river that is fairly windy with ample snags and other structures in it. It should have some faster water riffles and deeper water holes both in the middle of the river and along the outside bends. This is fairly typical to find in Iowa and provides the best of everything a catfish might want.

When the weather and water conditions are stable the fish will be in the mid-river holes and the faster current areas of the outside bends. They may also be at points where the current meets the edges of the snags. All of these locations provide great ambush locations for a hunting catfish to find fish to prey on.

This is a time when fishing can be fairly easy. Simply keep the bait fresh and keep moving. Fifteen to twenty minutes on a spot with no fish is enough. Moving locales does not have to be big but you need to be specific in nature to put the bait right in front of the catfish.

Should the conditions cool down quickly those same feeding fish will move out of the current and to the slower side of the river (usually and inside bend) or deep into wood structures and snags. This is because they are shocked and don’t want to or in some cases need to actively feed. This phenomenon I call “lateral movement”. It may be as little as ten or so feet to move out of the current.

When this happens the fishing can become downright bad. The ticket is to get out of the current (not in back currents) and let the fish come to you. Be prepared to sit on spots for up to three times longer than normal (45 minutes to an hour). The fish are not in a feeding mood so you will have to put the bait down and wait for them to come to you. For those who like to “run and gun” this is torture but it is the best way to go to see success during this transition period.

When the conditions settle down or things warm up a bit the fish will move back out and feed aggressively. Just simply move back to the aggressive spots. It takes some experimentation to find the pattern of the day during this time but it is so worth it. This will go on as the temperatures fall into the 60s and even the mid-50s.

It never fails that water temps eventually fall enough to call an end to the season for many. When the water temperatures drop into the forties the fish will tend to move to their wintering holes where they will take up residence for the winter ahead.

This does not mean hang up the rods and wait until the spring arrives again. This means you still have a shot at them but you must change tactics. During this time the catfish are so sluggish that they are not actively feeding. You can catch them by finding the large groups of them in the hole and begin to fish the outside edges of the group.

It is a great time to bring in walleye tactics such as jigs on lighter rods. Slowly jig along the edges of these fish not with huge jigging motion but with very subtle movement if any movement at all. The fish will have to find the bait rather than attack it.

You will usually feel a light bite almost like a walleye or panfish. When you set the hook you will know that it is not one of those. Because of the cold water the metabolism is so low the cats won’t take huge runs on you but rather shake their head.

A non-conventional way to locate catfish
One of the best ways to determine the bite of the day is to fish against the pattern, go where you think the fish aren’t. While this seems odd if you fish spots that should be on the wrong pattern and don’t catch fish you just eliminated fifty percent of your spots in less than an hour and now can concentrate on the productive spots within the pattern.

Fall time is the right time when it comes to catfishing. If the weather is not big cold fronts and warm ups but rather a light cool down into winter you can fish long into the late fall with great success. The catfish know they need to feed to get ready for winter. This starts in late summer and continues until the water nears freeze up. Get out and take advantage of the great weather and potential great fishing.