Catfish Question

[walleyeslayer18]

When it rains, does that bother the catfish and their feeding habits? like will they bite more or less when it rains, or will it not really affect the bite at all?!

[harvey lee]

I have fished in the rain for catfish but not very often or for very long and have caught them. I have never fished enough times or in a very heavy rain to be able to give a time tested answer.

[Shack]

I had one of my best channel day in the rain last summer. It was a down pour, hot day situation, but it was raining.

I have found after a rain on a summer night, seems to produce a nice bite. Baring I do not have a 50lber under my belt yet, the fish seem to bite.

[DTro]

One of the better nights I had last year was during a hard rain/hail.

I post a video here later.

[walleyeslayer18]

thanks for the info guys!

[DTro]

If you listen at 1:08, you can hear the weather service in the background, "severe weather alert"

[Peachy]

sowwie I can't hear what u were saying on that video (I'm deaf :-)) but thats a nice catch! :-)

[walleyeslayer18]

thats awesome! i have done that same thing on the croix except going after smallies and walleyes we had hail and a lot of rain! i think im going to the river tomorrow! is their a local bait store that has suckers or anything for bait that i can use?!

[SteveD]

 Originally Posted By: dtro

One of the better nights I had last year was during a hard rain/hail.

I'm ready for the rain, bring it on.

[Lowblazah]

wow...nice setup...

[pikestabber]

I can't speak for everyone, but I have found that I do better, on average, when it rains. I'm not an expert, but I think it probably has something to do with the fact that rain creates more turbulence in the water and starts kicking up sediment, and along with that, aquatic insects, etc., that many smaller cats feed on. In general, I think it gets all cats, regardless of size, excited. Of course, this is rain I'm referring to, not full blow thunderstorms! I think all fish, more so in lakes than rivers, are affected by pressure changes brought on by major storm systems.

[HuskerBen]

I have generally done pretty well in the rain. On more than a few occasions, the bite hasn't started until the rain started coming down.

I like to fish areas like creek inlets, storm sewer discharges, and culverts when the rains hit. More current in those areas seems to bring fish in, although it may just be good ol' dumb luck.

[Steve Foss]

I haven't done any better for channels over the years in the rain than without rain, but I haven't done any worse, either.

When it HAS been great on rivers is when the water's been low for an extended period of time and then rain raises the water level and current. That gets more goodies washed into the river and puts channels on the prowl for the few days after the rain. They move upstream in those situations and put on the feedbag as they go.

[hanson]

Fisky talks about a rising river being very good up there on the Red.

[Scott K]

What I have noticed when it rains hard is I will hit the back waters where the creeks come in. The creeks will wash food in the back water and the fish feed like crazy the first day or so after. Up until the water gets really dirty, then I have noticed it being a tough bite!

[Ketch]

I have had this discussion with other people and didn't realize until looking at my fishing logs how much better fishing in light to moderate rain has been for me for both quality and quantity of fish.