Post by Indiana Fisherman on Jan 24, 2012 15:39:01 GMT -5
Bait Fishing - Channel Catfish Fever! Catch it Today!
By Mark Fleagle
North America's channel catfish habitat range has skyrocketed to a point that every state in the lower 48 now has a healthy population of channel cats. If you you are new to catfishing and you want to try your luck at bat fishing then targeting channel cats is a excellent way to start. Or if you are a experienced cat fishing person there are many trophy channel over 25 lbs to be caught.
Currently there are over 8,000,000 catfish anglers in the untied states probably do to the fantastic job of stocking and regulating the channel catfish population the individual state departments of wildlife have done over the years. And because of their great efforts, of the 8,000,0000 catfish anglers the majority of them target the channel cats. The channel catfish is pursued mainly because the easy accessibility the majority of these populations, and because they are excellent table fare. Fishing for channel catfish cat be done from the banks just as easily as from fishing from a boat. Fishing from a boat just gives you more opportunity to cover more catfish waters. These fish are also tenacious fighters once on your hook and line. They will fight you to the very last reel in. What is also amazing is channel catfish are easy to set up and go bait fishing for.
There are an abundance of channel catfish that are in the 1 ½ to 3 lb range that you can have a great time catching either from a boat or from the shore. If you are targeting large channel catfish it takes some skill and experience to catch these fish but with experience these fish too can be caught.
To set up to catch channel catfish is quite simple. If you are fishing from a boat get a medium power spin cast or bait casting rod and either a matching bait casting reel, or spin casting reel (open face reel) designed to be spooled with 15 to 30lb test line. My preference is fire line because you can spool double the amount of line you could with monofilament line because of it braided design is the ½ the diameter of monofilament line. Next make a simple slip sinker rig that works great for bait fishing for catfish. To make a slip sinker start by sliding a ½ to ounce egg sinker up the line. Next tie a two way swivel onto the line. The step is tie a 12" to 24" leader with a 5/0 to 6/0 hook onto the open eye of the two way swivel. For catfish bait I suggest two choices, of creek chubs cut into 2" chunks, or gizzard shad cut into 2 to 3" in strips or chunks. Now your ready to catfishing!
Well folks that concludes my article about bait fishing for channel catfish. May your next fishing trip be a success! Have a great day!
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