Catfishing For Beginners

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

If you can find any spots to where there is a eddys or stream that connects to the river is a good spot to try. Also look for any downed tree that is hanging into the river. You should be able to pull a few big girls out of their.

[Bumpkin74]

Thanks, Hanson. Although I grew up on a northern WI lake, I never really learned to fish (I was waterskiing). Now at age 50, I find myself wanting to learn and also take my kids out. This is a nice gesture on your part, and you have excellent writing skills.

dan from eagan

[Jeffreyyy]

i use a c3 6500 with a 7 1/2' heavy ugly stick. 85lb braided and usually a size 6 hook on a 6" leader. weight depends on the current and water level however the easy switch weight things from walmart make this an easy option, but ive used 2oz - 8oz on the MN depending.

ive caught both flats and channels on bullheads. just got a possible state record channel on a live 10" bullie, and my first flat was a good 30# and i caught that on a single crawler fishing from shore. ive come to the conclusion a catfish will eat a black bird if its hungry.

best advice is to get a line in the water.

great thread, i learned a ton.

[mrklean]

lets bring this back to the top

[pureinsanity]

RIP Jeffreyyy.

[Gordie]

RIP Jeffreyyy.

yea that was the first thing I noticed Nick.... RIP

[Johnny_K]

Great thread. I am a long time fisherman but seriously got into catfishing last year. Can someone please go over what time of season (and water temp) channels and flatheads become active/unactive. Im itching to get out, but not sure if its too early. Thanks!

[wooduck26]

Can someone please go over what time of season (and water temp) channels and flatheads become active

Channels, pretty much bite year round.....

Flatheads, water temps around 55 will get them, moving 60+ will get them eating everything they see......

Typically Mid May through the 4 of July is the best for Flatheads.

[Johnny_K]

Thanks for the info! Might go try for some channels this weekend!

[Brad B]

Thanks for the info! Might go try for some channels this weekend!

Come to Shack's HSO Mississippi North Catfish Get Together this Saturday at Otsego County Park in Otsego, MN .

Go to the Get together forum for details.

[Johnny_K]

Come to Shack's HSO Mississippi North Catfish Get Together this Saturday at Otsego County Park in Otsego, MN .

Go to the Get together forum for details.

Didnt see this til today and missed it! Thanks for the heads up though, much appreciated!!!

[sparetime]

When fishing, do you leave the casting reel in free spool mode and then wait to hear the clicker? That's my understanding. What I'm wondering is, if you need 3 oz of lead to hold the bait in place in the current, how does the bait not drift away from the lead? Maybe a stupid question.

Or, do you set the free spool on the reel tight enough to overcome the drag on the bait.

[aanderud]

You engage the free spool mode and also engage the clicker to 'on'. The clicker tension itself will often be enough to hold the spool even with the drag on the bait (without adjusting the spool tension). This is especially true of the garcia 7000 series reels that I use. However, I do have some 6500 series reels with a weaker clicker. While they work fine with cutbait, I have to adjust the spool tension when fishing stronger baits (think 10" bullheads).

[TruthWalleyes]

With the big baits and/or heavy current i'll often loosen the drag on my baitcaster reel with the clicker engages as well. As soon as a fish takes it, i quick spin the drag and set the hook.

[WasteManagement]

When i go online to look for a rod/reel combo, the line weight is always low,12-20 or so. I read (great thread)recomended 50+ if there are flatheads i am 10 min from pool 2. Line weight does = #test. Do i just have to fork over extra money or am i missing something?

Should have never caught my first cat. I know walleye, pan fish fishing.

[WasteManagement]

When i go online to look for a rod/reel combo, the line weight is always low,12-20 or so. I read (great thread)recomended 50+ if there are flatheads i am 10 min from pool 2. Line weight does = #test. Do i just have to fork over extra money or am i missing something?

Should have never caught my first cat. I know walleye, pan fish fishing.

Now that i do not a few too many beers in me. Let me ask this the way i thought i wrote it.

Does the mono to braid conversion run pretty spot on. Or should i plan to go a lillte light or heavy. On a 12- 20 mono tested rod.

[Gordie]

UMMM ...

Well If yu asking about braid thickness the diameter of braid is much small than the test of the line compared to mono.

Like 12 pound test braid has the diameter of 4 lb mono or 30 lb braid has the dia. of 12 pound lb test mono.

Hope I wrote this in a way you can understand it.

[Brad B]

braid to mono comparison

Braid = Mono

5 lb = 1 lb

10 lb = 2 lb

15 lb = 4 lb

20 lb = 6 lb

30 lb = 8 lb

40 lb = 10 lb

50 lb = 12 lb

65 lb = 16 lb

80 lb = 18 lb

100 lb = 20 lb

150 lb = 30 lb

this comes from power pro (other brands may be slightly different)

[WasteManagement]

Well i looked way too hard into this one.

Coming from a bio/med back ground i look at any convesion under a microscope. 37 degress celcius can be depending on rounding any where from 97.7 to 99.4 degress farenheit. Which is not big deal unless you need to be exact boiling point or melting point.

So if a rod says 10- 16 lB mono i will be just fine using 40- 50- or 65- lb braid and not have to worry. My thought was that i should play it safe and always go with the middle number.

Is there an overthinkers catfish group?

[DTro]

Yep, we are called CatGeeks

[bobbymalone]

What really does the line weight mean to a rod? Why does diameter make a difference to the rod other than something like casting distance?

I guess I thought something like 10-16lb means your rod will break before you can double it over with 80lb braid and your 4lb will break before you can get a decent bend in the rod.

[motownmasher]

i think the quality of eyes and their strength is much greater in a rod with a 20-40lb line rating than one with a 8-20 lb rating.

[Scott M]

I don't know if I'm interpreting this banter correctly, but if you are talking about line weight requirements on rods, they are pretty modest. For instance, my cue stick flatty rod that rushing built for me reads 10-30 #. The reason they put 10-30 pound test is that's the safety zone from the company that built the blank so you don't blow the rod out. Some guy could be trolling with that rod and hook bottom. 30 pound line would have a lighter breaking point than the rod so you'd blow the line before the rod. The rods can handle 40-60-80-100 whatever pound line just fine, but if you put that kind of stress on the rod, the rod will break before the line.

Guys generally prefer 60, 80, or 100 pound Sufix or Power Pro braids because they don't lose fish in snags or rocks. Plus it is wider diameter and doesn't cut down into the spool and make birds nests.

Hope this helps.

[rushing]

lol Does it read 10-30? Should be 15-50.

[Brad B]

Well i looked way too hard into this one.

Coming from a bio/med back ground i look at any convesion under a microscope. 37 degress celcius can be depending on rounding any where from 97.7 to 99.4 degress farenheit. Which is not big deal unless you need to be exact boiling point or melting point.

So if a rod says 10- 16 lB mono i will be just fine using 40- 50- or 65- lb braid and not have to worry. My thought was that i should play it safe and always go with the middle number.

Is there an overthinkers catfish group?

here's a example :

on my bass rod I use for spinner baits it say 8 to 20 lbs line. I run 40 Lbs braid(10lb mono equv.) on it and have no problems at all. the one area to watch is the guides if you do use braid. there are some cheaper guides out there that braid will dig into with time. this is not normally a issue if you go with a middle of the road to high end rod as these will normally have guides that will handle braid. also the issue of blowing a rod has more to do with the power of the rod (ie : ultra light, light, med light, med, med hvy, hvy). if you try to run a heavy braid on a light rod you will break the rod before the line. as for rods for catfish I would not go lighter then a medium heavy ,this would be more of a channel cat rod and would go up to a heavy or extra heavy for a flathead rod. you could get by with a medium if you were only fishing for small channels (5lbs or under).