Nothing makes a summer day like fishing for catfish
Until my vacation in June, I hadn’t going fishing in years with the intent of just catching catfish. We spent one day on Lake Marion in South Carolina fishing for blue cats. We caught a few “small” ones (10-pounders), but they made every cat I ever caught around here – except some taken in pay lakes – look small.
We see some cats that size, but down south they start talking “big cats” when they weigh at least 50, 70 or 100 pounds.
As the days continue to really warm up, fishermen give up fishing, especially during the day.
Fish retreat to the cooler water during the day and choose to feed more from a couple hours before dusk to a couple hours after daylight.
But that is not the case when it comes to fishing for catfish. Catfish turn on as the water warms. They like to lounge around and eat.
If you are a sun lover, try fishing for cats in the afternoon. However, when I do fish in the heat of the day, I check the Solunar Tables first to see what time of day fish should be most active.
Catfish cruise the bottoms of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in search of a meal and are particularly active after dark when they leave the safety of their holes.
When feeding, they can be caught one after another and usually put up a pretty good battle.
Bullheads, however, often hit hard and settle back to the bottom with the food firmly locked in their jaw and won’t move again for quite a while, leaving fishermen wondering if the fish cleaned his hook. Most often they are there but will not begin to fight until you start to reel them in.
Bullheads were a favorite of my father and his fishing buddies. They had their favorite spots along the Monongahela River, Pigeon Creek and Tenmile Creek.
Bullheads are found almost everywhere, are easy to catch, and are quite tasty if taken from clean water. But that is the catch – clean water.
Even though environmentalists pushed bureaucrats to clean up the Monongahela River, and it now has many times more fish than it did 40 years ago when fish only survived around the mouth of clean streams which emptied into the river, the fish are still not fit to be eaten for the most part.
Problems still remain. Most streams and rivers are a lot cleaner now, but catfish are still a victim of the long-time pollution. Being bottom feeders they pick up PCBs, chlordane and other fertilizer and pesticide residues that settle to the bottom. For that reason it is best to just catch the river cats, bullheads and channels, just for the fun of it and take those for table use from cleaner waters such as the Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny Reservoir a, lakes and streams that are stocked with trout by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and farm and hunting club ponds and lakes.
However, there no guarantee the water is free of pollutants, but it is probably better quality water if the state releases trout there for fishermen to catch and eat.
For best results, keep your bait near the bottom, but in pay lakes, which usually have little structure to keep the catfish down – channel cats are often taken while fishing on top with a wooden egg bobber and a No. 2 hook baited with a cluster of worms or a lively minnow.
Many pay lakes stock catfish not native to the area such as large flatheads, but almost all have ponds full of channel cats and bullheads. Channels and flatheads are good battlers, while the yellow and black bullheads common to this area put up a little scrap but seem to tire quickly.
One thing good about being a catfish angler is that you never have to throw anything out that gets old in the freezer. Anything that becomes old and freezer-burned will make excellent catfish bait. Just take it to the back of the yard and allow it to “ripen” on a fence post for a couple of days. Cut it up first. It is hard enough to put on a hook let alone cut up after it becomes “ripe.” If you don’t want to go that route, special catfish stinkbait rigs are sold commercially. The bait comes in a tube and you squeeze it into holder that is molded to the hooks.
When they are biting, garden worms and nightcrawlers are as good bait as any other. I once had a bullhead take a small rattling crankbait while trolling for bass in Lancaster County, so I wouldn’t rule out any type of bait.
Channel catfish are found in the deep, clear water of lakes and rivers, and its cousin the bullhead likes more structure near the shore, especially weedbeds. Unlike its cousin the bullhead, channel cats hit hard and run, so you don’t have to worry about setting your hook immediately.
If the catfish are finicky, move your bait a little by reeling in a few turns. The moving bait will often entice them to start feeding.
Tackle should be of a stout nature when fishing for catfish, especially channels or flatheads. Serious catfish anglers use special catfish rigs, which resemble a saltwater spinning outfit in size and heft.
I like 12- to 15-pound test when horsing a hefty bullhead out of a weedbed, but I have landed many on much lighter line. But, if you plan on going after the big boys in the Allegheny River, Yough Dam or pay lakes, use 20- to 30-pound test line and a rod and reel that are made to accept the same. Otherwise you could be disappointed when a big battler snaps your line with his first big run.
For bottom fishing, use a barrel sinker and stop it a foot or so from the hook with a split shot or snap swivel to allow the fish to pick up the bait and move off with it without feeling the weight of the sinker.
Many species of catfish become quite large. The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame lists records for catfish as follows: blue cat, 109 pounds, 4 ounces taken in 1991; channel cat, 58 pounds, taken in 1964, and flathead 123 pounds.
Bullheads also get fairly large. The largest black bullhead on record is 8 pounds, 15 ounces caught in 1982, and the biggest yellow bullhead ever recorded was caught in 1989 and weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces.
The largest bullhead on record in Pennsylvania weighed 4.23 pounds and was caught in 1983. The state channel cat record of 35 pounds, 2 1/2 ounces was set in 1991 and the top flathead, which was taken in the Allegheny River in 1985, weighed 43 pound, 9 ounces.
West Virginia’s record bullhead is a 6.1 pounder taken in the Tygart Lake headwaters, the largest channel cat on record in the Mountain State is 33.38 pounds, but the state’s record for flathead catfish is a Kanawha River lunker weighing 70 pounds.
Remember; use big baits for big fish. Keep only what you plan to eat. Larger fish aren’t usually as tasty, and it is best to just take photographs and release them.
If you really want to keep some for table fare, keep the smaller ones.
Not only are the smaller cats better eating, they usually contain less contaminants than larger fish.
Contaminants in Pennsylvania fish species include PCBs, chlordane and mercury.
When properly cleaned and prepared, it is safe for anglers to eat fish once a week. Women beyond their childbearing years and adult males face fewer risks from contaminants in fish than do younger women and children.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission fish consumption advisory suggests that fishermen do not eat any white bass or channel catfish due to high concentrations of chlordane.
Mercury is another pollutant found in local fish, especially bass and walleye. Fishermen at Dunkard Creek in Greene County and the Youghiogheny River and reservoir are on the fish consumption list.
Small and largemouth bass from these waters and walleye from the Yough Dam should only be eaten twice a month.
The Fish and Boat Commission notes that PCBs and other organic contaminants usually build up in a fish’s fat deposits and just underneath the skin. By removing the skin and fat before cooking, you can reduce the level of these chemicals. Mercury collects in a fish’s muscle and cannot be reduced by cleaning and cooking methods.
To reduce PCBs and other organic contaminants:
1)Remove all skin, 2) slice off fat belly meat along the bottom of the fish, 3) cut away any fat above the fish’s backbone, 4) cut away the V-shaped wedge of fat along the lateral line on each side of the fish, 5) bake or broil trimmed fish on a rack or grill so some of the remaining fat drips away and 5) Discard any drippings. Do not eat them or use them for cooking other foods.
You must follow these cleaning and cooking directions for fish listed in the PFBC advisory. The meal advice is for eating skinned and trimmed fish.
For the sake of your health, get out and have some fun fishing for channel cats on the Mon, but practice catch and release and catch fish for table fare elsewhere.
CHUMMING: Just for the fun of it, I went to the Internet and called up “catfish.”
Got over 40,000 nibbles, but a couple of the more promising sites catfish anglers might want to check out are www.catfish.net and HTTP://WWW.catfishaintugly.com.
Herald-Standard outdoors editor Rod Schoener can be reached on line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com.