Channel Catfish Photo Gallery

[Gordie]

Picked up a healthy 32X19 channel last night.

[KMR85]

On Sunday I thought I was going to hammer the channels after landing 2 and missing 1 in the first 30 minutes at spot #1. Ended up landing 3 all the same size as this one in about 3 hours on the water (4:30pm to 7:30pm).

[DTro]

[reinhard1]

sleek lookin cat. very nice one. good luck.

[Rick G]

Nice fish DTro, very clean looking cat.

[DTro]

A few pics that were sitting on my camera:

[dustybaker]

I had a couple pictures to share....but after seeing those pigs I think i'll wait until some smaller ones get posted...lol. Im kind of new to catfishing and my fish dont compare to those! Nice fish!

[Scott K]

Size doesnt matter

[nsnutter]

My new PB Channel - 35x20

[aanderud]

Nick, that 20 pounder you have in your hands is pretty nice, but isn't a 20 inch girth on that thing pretty skinny? I mean, it's NOTHING compared to that "state record"-class walleye that was caught earlier this year up north. Remember -- that fish was also 35 inches long, but it had a 24.5 inch girth. That kind of girth ought to completely dwarf your little 20 pounder -- putting his at what, maybe 25-30 lbs?

Kidding, of course. Your fish is at least 50% bigger than the one that guy was holding, I still can't believe how much press he got out of that complete farce.

[nsnutter]

Haha yeah that walleye must've been at least 30 pounds ... If I would've long armed that channel I could've claimed it was 45x30 and a new "state record" right??

Definitely a bit on the slim side for how long it was (the channel) but what can ya do? My PB doesn't hold a candle to that slob 35x25 Steve D caught a few years back ... That thing looked like it swallowed that "state record" walleye!!

[dustybaker]

Nothing to impressive, but just shy of 28" and 9.03lbs.

[TruthWalleyes]

Nice 35" Channel!

I was pretty pumped with my first 30" channel this year...35" Looks like MORE fun!

[Mr Special]

Nothing to impressive, but just shy of 28" and 9.03lbs.

Nice fish bud, nothing wrong with that at all.

You say you're kinda new to Cattin, id like to say

WELCOME to the many sleepless nites

the addiction only get worst from here and everything else u catch, you'll see as bait LMAO!

[TruthWalleyes]

You say you're kinda new to Cattin, id like to say

WELCOME to the many sleepless nites

the addiction only get worst from here and everything else u catch, you'll see as bait LMAO!

And the best fishing is just around the corner....Sturgies!!

[Mr Special]

And the best fishing is just around the corner....Sturgies!!

[TruthWalleyes]

Hit ya up in a month.

[Gordie]

Got one this morning this morning

[DTro]

Aanderud and I got into some nice ones last night:

[JIvers]

Here is my best channel catfish of the summer--I caught him on a nightcrawler on Lake Macbride near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He went 28", and was released after these pictures:

I've caught several larger channel cat on Macbride over the years, the biggest going 32", but they usually came on shad-colored crankbaits.

I did get a 29" channel cat on a live shiner in the spring a couple years ago on Macbride. I was crappie-fishing, so that 29" cat was caught on a #10 Aberdeen hook, 4 lb. test, and an ultralight rig. That was interesting.

[aanderud]

Nice one, 'eyehunter. You ever target cats on the Cedar or the Iowa rivers?

[JIvers]

Nice one, 'eyehunter. You ever target cats on the Cedar or the Iowa rivers?

I don't so much "target" channel cat on the Iowa River as catch lots of channel cat while fishing for walleye, wiper, and/or flathead. I never use stinkbait or any other sort of "channel cat only" bait on the Iowa, as there are walleye, white bass, flathead, and the like to catch on live bait or lures, and I catch more than enough channel cat using those.

As for the Cedar River, it has been a few years since I fished it, even though it flows within twenty miles of me. If I want to go bank-fishing the Iowa River is right here in town, and if I want to get the boat out and look for walleye, channel cat, wiper, musky, or whatever I can drive less than ten miles to Lake Macbride, or drive right over the Cedar on my way to the Mississippi around Muscatine. I used to catch a lot of channel cat on the Cedar, but it just kind of falls through the cracks for me now.

Like the Iowa River, I never use stinkbait or stuff like shad guts on Macbride, as I get plenty of channel cat trolling crankbaits for walleye. Last year fishing a nightcrawler below a slip bobber just off the rockpiles produced plenty of channel cat, but not so much this summer.

The only place I use stinkbait around here is the Mississippi. If I am going to drive forty+ miles to fish I want to be sure I catch something to bring home. The channel cat on the Mississippi really seem to prefer stinkbait over crawlers or crankbaits, so I always pack the dipworms and the jars of Sonny's Regular and Blood Formula alongside my JSR-5s and crawler harnesses when I head that way. If the walleye bite the stinkbait doesn't come out, but if the 'eyes are off I break out the Sonny's and almost always catch a mess of eater channel cat in front of the wing dams.

[aanderud]

Gotcha. Rather than the crawler under a bobber and the stinkbait, I suggest that you catch a few sunfish and cut them in half and use them for cutbait. You can go live too, but cut sunfish seem to be like candy to big channel cats like the one you have above. Next time you're on Macbride, try throwing out one line (you can use two there right) with cut sunfish and see if you get any big channel cats to bite that way. Good times.

[ETH310]

This is the only fish we got in the boat Monday night.

[DTro]

39x24 and 26lbs