catfisherman hibernation

[rushing]

lol

[Gordie]

[MinnesnowtaWild]

You guys are sooooo funny

[Slowhand]

Your funny too Jeff; you provided the punchline .

[Ed Carlson]

Flatheads do the hog pile thing in cold water and when the seasons change.

What I discovered is most age groups of channels don't react quite the same. The real sumo giant channels tend to find a hog pile in deep wood structure kinda like those flatheads in the video are lurking in. Yet when I revisited them, often they would be gone...moved on. And others would stay put for a month os so, it appeared to me to be a individual thing with the sumo channels, and not a set rule they sit and slumber.

Younger juvenile and adolescent channel cats I have witnessed grouped up in huge pods under the ice in the winter. Often in the same wintering ares, often grouped by year class in a pod, and very neutral for the most part. The active feeders peal off and hunt away from the main kitty pod.

What I observed with channel cats is they do what geese do in flight...I told Doug Stange about this wintering pattern about 10 years ago or so after spending many hours watching kitty pods on the Red River. Kitty watching is kinda addictive for me too...go figure.

I witnessed them in a pod and they would take turns moving from the rear of the suspended pod to the front to conserve energy in river current. Took most of a long day to figure that one out, and I drilled many holes around the pod so I could fallow a certain kitty from the back to the front and latter it circled back to the rear again. After several observations I was comfortable to say they do this often and it is a method they use frequently on rivers. I found that very interesting.

I could set a camera on there head and they would just feel it up with there barbels at times. And others if I got close, they spooked off not to happy with my camera near. Channels appear to me to be far more active under the ice than we thought..if they are in the mood to be.

If they were in the mood to hunt, they hit as hard as any walleye would on a river under the ice. Very unpredictable as to when they would do that, they just showed up to feed when I was walleye jigging and THUD...kitty on. They get your heart racing when you think it's a humongous walleye...they fight hard and feel like they weigh 30 lbs even if they only are 7 lb channels.

[Rick G]

Good report Ed. This is why I chase them channel kittys so darn hard in the winter.

[Slowhand]

Nice info as always Ed.

[pureinsanity]

Thanks for the info ed!

[Gordie]

Your funny too Jeff; you provided the punchline .

[HotPocket]

Hey Elwood the shad should be coming soon...

[Gordie]

thanks HP I am leaving for No Dak today until the 20th to shoot a lot of shotgun shells I give a ring when I get back