Channel Catfish on Fly

 ***I haven't shared much regarding techniques for quit a while, my recent posts being more about the fish with which I am so enamored.  I'm going to start sharing more specifically what I've learned for the various species I've caught.

We all know fish in different waters can behave differently and have different preferences.  But I think overall this will give folks who want to try for certain species more info that can hopefully get them started off on the right foot, rather than going blindly.  We can all shorten our personal learning curve by first learning from the experience of others.***

This blog post is about Channel Catfish.

Channel Catfish on Fly

Channel Catfish on Fly

Channel Catfish on a Bass Popper!

Channel Catfish can be found in the middle of the U.S., east of the Rocky Mountains, and west of the Appalachian Mountains... and Canada thru Texas.

They have been widely stocked, and can be found in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds.

Channel Catfish are fairly omnivorous, but in my experience, they seem to become more and more predatory the larger they get.  All sizes will hit a fly.  They will feed everywhere from the very surface to the very bottom.  In a reservoir or spillway where they may be feasting on Shad, I've caught them on white fly patterns that resemble a shad or other baitfish.  In a pond where they may be feeding on nymphs, I've caught them on flyrod versions, like a Gartside Nymph or Jumpin' Catfish Nymph or Woolly Bugger.  I've caught them on bass-sized fly rod poppers in the evening when they may be hunting for frogs or small bluegills.  I've caught them on a Zonker fly pattern, and I've caught them on sculpin or crayfish patterns on the bottom.  I've caught them on microjigs suspended beneath a strike indicator.  I've caught them on flies tied for carp fished on or near the bottom.  There truly is no wrong way to fly fish for Channel Catfish, but the fish will have to tell you what they want.

Stu Thompson catches nice channel catfish on his DDH Leech fly pattern in the Red River in Manitoba near Winnipeg.

Where I fish, I catch Channel Catfish most often during the warmest months of the year.  I don't know what they do when it gets colder, but I just don't see or catch them then.  I say that, but I've also caught them while ice-fishing.

As you might expect, I feel it helps immensely if the water is clear enough for sight-fishing....where you can present the fly to an individual fish or spot, and see how they react.  But most often I'm fishing stained water.  When ripe mulberries are falling into the water, channel catfish will hang out in the water underneath those trees and eat the fruit that drops in...or a fly that looks roughly like a mulberry.  Even during the rest of the summer, I've caught catfish under overhanging trees.  They probably like the shade, but they will certainly check out any "plop" sound on the water to see if it is food.

They do seem to like feeding along rocky shorelines.  They will feed just under the surface at times, but most often are feeding near the bottom.  They will also feed along weedlines.

Channel Catfish can get big, and are excellent, strong fighters. They can be enjoyed on 4wt-6wt fly rods.  I use a weight forward floating line, and tippet should be about 8lb Fluorocarbon.  

Handle Channel Catfish with care, as the spines in there dorsal and pectoral fins can poke you.  It stings, but they are not poisonous.  Also, don't lip them like a bass.  Expecially the larger ones have very rough tooth pads on their jaws, and a VERY strong bite force.  They WILL clamp down on your finger!  

Channel Catfish are very challenging, strong, and fun.  I really enjoy catching them on flies. They are a native fish that needs to be appreciated by more fly anglers.  Do some research, find some fish near you, and get after them!  Good luck! 

Here's some pics of Channel Catfish I've caught while flyfishing:

Small Channel Catfish will hit flies too!

Big  Channel Catfish on a nymph.

31" Channel Catfish... approx. 12 lbs, caught on a small fly during my lunch hour.

Early July 2017

Lunchtime flyfishing outings over the past week have resulted in a few Channel Catfish, but no carp.  The carp I have had on have either shook free or broke my line.  They are there!  I was getting a good drop on a carp near shore when a catfish showed up out of nowhere and grabbed the fly!
The catfish are all practically "cookie-cutter"...all pretty much the same size.  They are fun,  I look forward to when the grow another 6"+!

Also during lunch, I visited a pond hoping to try for some Grass Carp.  The grassies didn't show themselves, but the bass were very willing.

And I visited a stream to flyfishing for Smallmouth Bass.  Caught a green sunfish, a few small bass, and a nice healthy, STRONG 15.75" Smallmouth.

Catfish (on Flies) for Lunch

During my lunch hour today, I went to the carp pond hoping to flyfish for....more carp.  Saw mud clouds and bubbles, but can't say that I actually definitely saw a carp this time.

Had a few decent strikes that I missed...who knows what they could have been.

I caught some bluegills and Hybrid Sunfish that were near/on nests...and 3 Channel Catfish that were hiding down in (and so probably MAKING) some of the mud clouds I was probing (with the fly) for carp!

Multiple Channels Cats on flies...during lunch??  YES PLEASE!

All fish were caught on a John Montana's Hybrid Carp Fly.

Evening Fly-Fishing Report, 5-21-2012

I was hoping I'd get a chance to fly fish today.  It was the calmest day we'd had in 2 weeks.
My son had a cancelled extracurricular activity, but I didn't get confirmation of that until I drove him 1/2 hour to get there.  Long story about horrible communication skills by certain people, which I won't detail here.

By the time I got back home, it was 8pm.  I grabbed some mosquito repellant (a.k.a. "cigar"), a few recently tied flies, camera, and headed out the door.

I arrived at the pond to find a couple other folks fishing with spinning gear.  I'm not sure if they ever did catch anything.  I started out with the Bass Gurgler I recently posted about.  Once again it was a fish-catcher.  No biggies this time...but I did land 2 largemouth bass on it, lost a third one near shore, and had a handful of missed strikes.  In that short amount of time, a tot on a Razor scooter stopped behind me to watch.  He no sooner went on his way, when a Dad and son stopped by to watch.  They followed me around  1/3 of the pond, during which time I caught zero fish.  I know, impressive, right?  But I had spotted a grass carp back, and had begun stalking it.  Cast after cast with a deer hair "pellet" fly.  I may have actually gotten one strike on this, but no hookup.  Then I switched to an unweighted white woolly bugger.

When I had arrived at the pond, I noticed a woman on the opposite side of the pond chucking some bread into the water for the ducks.  I actually like to see this, since it often gets the catfish active, and it should get the grass carp active.  But those darn grass carp...frustrate me to no end, and I want to catch more of them SO MUCH!

Anyway, I worked my way around to where the bread was.  Some smaller fish were playing with it.  The grass carp I was stalking was hanging out near it, but about 30 feet further away from shore from the bread.  As I was casting to this grassie, a couple other large fish that I suspect were also grass carp that were slightly deeper, showed their locations with some large rings at the surface.  Eventually (and after my audience finally gave up on me), one or two large fish started coming in closer to shore for the bread.

I cast a bit beyond the floating bits of bread and slowly brought the white woolly bugger back through it.  Sooner than I expected, my line tightened...FAST.  Big fish on!  I didn't want my hooked fish to disturb any other fish in the area more than it needed to, so I immediately started walking the fish down the shoreline away from the area.  This was a strong fish, but mostly slow.  I could walk it around like a dog on a leash, but it would simply parallel shore.  Whenever I leveraged the 6wt to try to get the fish to the surface, it would turn and make a powerful run for deeper water again.  The happened repeatedly, and I still hadn't gotten a visual on the fish.  Plus, it was getting dark.  From the way it was fighting, I was SO SURE it was a grass carp.  I was so happy!  FINALLY hooked another one, after a hiatus of over a year!

I finally got the fish up into the shallows near shore, and it made one more short run before I was able to get my hands on it.  Hands.  I pinned it down with one hand, but couldn't secure a grip across its back (by this time, I realized it was a nice channel catfish instead of a grass carp, and was sort of bummed....but I love catching catfish on the fly rod too).  I set my rod down and got on my knees and put two hands around the fish's midsection, with fingers on either side of its pectoral fins.  With this grip, I was able to lift it onto shore.

This was a really nice male channel catfish.  I measured it at 27", which would put it in the 9-pound range.  I snapped some photos and released it.

I love it when a fish makes my gear look small!

See the beat up white woolly bugger hanging from its lip?

Here I'm holding the fish down so I can hold it still while I photograph it.  Looks like I could have picked it up with one hand...but I really couldn't get an adequate grip with just one hand.

I returned to the breaded area.  A couple nice fish showed up on it, but nothing was feeding quite as aggressively as before.  I switched to a fresh white woolly bugger that was bit larger, since the catfish had beat up the first one pretty good.  I caught at least a dozen crappies on it before I left.  I also caught a couple bluegills, but found it very odd that I foul-hooked almost 10 bluegills!  Its very rare that I foul-hook a bluegill EVER...and to snag that many from one spot was bizarre!  All I can figure is the fish were pecking away at the bread and were either slapping at the fly to break it into smaller pieces, or were oblivious to my line/fly passing near them while they were distracted by the bread?

Anyway, its always a great night when one can land a big fish on a fly rod!