Catfishing Season – Best time to Catfish
Spring
As the days get longer and the water starts to warm, the catfish start to feed. This is a slow process, a few catfish start showing up around docks and near the tules in late March.
Sometime between the middle and the end of April they start to move shallow in greater numbers to feed on crawdads and other forage. This is when bobber fishing with crawdad tails and or shrimp start producing.
The month of May shows a slow but steady improvement. Although a lot of fish are feeding shallow by now, there are still a lot of fish taken drift fishing with live minnows in 20 feet or more of water, especially in the south end.
This is substantiated by referring to the results of the past catfish derbies held on the last weekend in May. Most of the winning fish are taken drift fishing in 15 to 25 feet of water.
By early June, the catfish are starting to think about reproducing and therefore arrive in shallow water in great numbers.
Summer
By early to mid June, depending on water temperature, the majority of the catfish population are in the spawning mode. Their favorite spawning areas are shallow (3 to 8 feet) rocky areas, areas with lots of sunken tires and brushy areas. They continue to feed on crawdads and various other forage throughout their spawning cycle. Bobber fishing with crawdads, shrimp, or in some cases nightcrawlers continues to be the best fishing method.
As the fish complete their spawning, the majority remain relatively shallow until late August. During July and early August there are a lot of fish taken in 8 to 12 feet of water by still fishing with shrimp or cut baits such as mackerel or shad. There are still a lot taken by bobber fishing in shallow water then also.
Late August to early September starts the migration back to deeper water. By the middle of September the drift fishing in 20 to 35 feet of water is in full swing. The top baits used in the north end of the lake are shrimp, mackerel and shad in that order. In the south end jumbo sized live minnows are the top bait.
Fall
This is my favorite time of year for catfish. I catch more nice channel catfish from early September to roughly the middle of November than during the rest of the year combined.
The fish school up in 20 to 35 feet of water under schools of bait fish (shad and silversides), waiting for injured or dying bait fish to fall to the bottom. This pattern remains steady until the heavy rains hit or the water temperature stays below 55 degrees for any length of time usually mid or late November.
As I mention in the summer section, the top method is drift fishing with shrimp, mackerel and or shad in the north end, especially the Nice/Lucerne area. For some reason, the catfishermen in the south end of the lake still rate jumbo minnows as their number 1 bait for drift fishing.
Winter
I consider winter, late November to the middle of March, the toughest season for catfishing. Most of the fish are in deep water (25 to 40 feet) and are very inactive. When we get enough rain to start filling the lake with muddy run-off water, a few cats will feed wherever the muddy water flows into the lake. The best method for this scenario is to toss a line baited with a gob of garden worms into the moving water and let it drift. Occasional catfish are taken drift fishing in deep water or still fishing from shore or dock but they are few and far between. In the south end of the lake a fair amount of catfish are taken drifting with large or jumbo live minnows.
From the Lake to your Plate
Easy steps on how to properly clean a catfish or bullhead
Two things are usually prevalent when most fishermen encounter a catfish or bullhead while fishing.
One, they appear too ugly to eat, so they let it go.
And number two, catfish and bullhead are believed to be too hard to clean, so they let it go.
False on both counts. Catfish and bullhead are excellent table fare, especially if taken out of clean, fresh bodies of water. Cleaning catfish or bullheads are actually easier to clean than most other fish caught.
Use the following illustrations to teach yourself how to properly clean catfish or bullhead. Once you master it, you’ll be fishing catfish or bullhead more often than you ever thought you would.
Catfish, or better know as bullheads here in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, are quite abundant in most all our inland lakes. First time anglers visiting our clear water paradise will undoubtedly catch one or many of these morsels while trying to locate big bluegill, yellow perch or walleye.
Here’s some information to help you during your encounters with them. When the fishing is slow, you can just about bank on having fun catching these tasty morsels.
The Bullhead or Catfish is the most common member of the catfish family. Catfish are named for the long feelers on their faces that look like cat whiskers. Bullheads are brown above and yellow below. They can grow to twenty inches long.
All catfish have sharp barbs on their pectoral fins that inject poison when they jab an enemy. To people, catfish “stings” are no worse than insect bites. Remember, it is their fin barbs that sting, not their whiskers.
All catfish have sharp barbs on their pectoral fins that inject poison when they jab an enemy. To people, catfish “stings” are no worse than insect bites. Remember, it is their fin barbs that sting, not their whiskers.
Bullhead catfish will eat anything from snails to aquatic plants. They rarely come near the surface and, because of their muddy coloring, are hard to detect in the water. But in the spring thousands of spawning bullheads can be seen crowding the shallow of lake-feeding streams. Here the females lay their eggs in a sand nest. The males fertilize the eggs. Both males and females guard the eggs and also the hatched fry. Then the father takes charge and teaches the baby bullheads how to find food and avoid danger.
Homemade Baits for Big Catfish
Sometimes we just feel like grabbing our fishing rods and head out to the lake. Here are a couple of things I have used to catch big catfish.
1. Bread – Regular sandwich bread works wonders. Bread dissolves in the water so the catfish will smell the flour from the bread and send them to find the source. The trick is to make a firm ball of bread and stick it on the hook. The ball needs to be on the belly of the hook for the fish to be hooked. Spray on blood stink bait will maximize your chances to catch one. Let the bait drop with the sinker and get ready for a nice drag (if you don’t have drag turned on, your line might snap… FYI).
2. Bacon – Who doesn’t love bacon???? Why would catfish be any different??? Hook it like you would hook up a worm. The warmer the bacon, the better; DON’T COOK IT FOR THEM… Put a couple of slices in a Zip lock bag and put them on your dashboard on your way to the fishing site. Use a little piece of bacon with a ball of brad, kind of like if you where making a filet mignon with the bread ball, and toss.
3. Dog food – Don’t ask me why, but they like it. Hook up some kibbles and bits or something of that nature like you would do stink bait pellets; the oils that these let go on the water is what makes the trick. Puppy Chow I heard works best. Downside, you have to re-bait often.
Happy fishing!!!!
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Lake Lewisville Fishing Guide Charters
Love to fish? Visit Lake Lewisville Fishing Guide
Secret 7 Catfish Bait
Best Catfish Bait around. Visit www.teamcatfish.com to purchase.
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Catfishing in Providence Village Texas
Hi all, here is a video of me Catfishing in North Texas. This is my first 10+ lbs Catfish.
If you have any catfishing videos please send to us to: photosvideos@catfishingusa.com
ENJOY!