Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey I'm plannitng on doin some catfishin (channels and brown bullheads) what are techniques and set-ups for them?

Catfish eat alot of different things.
Bar-S Hotdogs work pretty good.
I lost a pole the other day to a fish
that bit a bar-s hotdog.
Nightcrawlers.
Another technique that u like to use, i take a can of
tuna, and cut some holes in it, (tiny holes) I tie it to a piece of string
or whatever and throw it in the water, the scent of the tuna
lures in the cats. make sure u bring in the can tho.
All these techniques work, but my overall favorite-CHICKEN LIVER!
PM me for some more tips, i catch cats alot, and know alot about them.
Ive even caughten catfish on lures.

trot line, hand line, hook line sinker fishing rod. old meat, squawfish guts, chicken guts, catfish bait.

i use herring most of the time for channels (hot dogs cut into pieces and soaked in some scent work well too) and plain ol' nightcrawlers on the bottom for the bullheads. i fish around lily pads as much as possible as the sun sets and they start moving around. Silver lake out in graham, you can usually catch bullhead cats all day during the summer with worms on the bottom off the right side of the dock.

Thanks for the replies guys, what time of year works for cats?

Whidbeyfisherman wrote:Thanks for the replies guys, what time of year works for cats?

I start fishing for them middle of march-late september/early october.

I have caught them in December, but I had to work alot harder for them.
In December, the smallest i have caught was about 4 pounds, I have not caught ANY
small catfish. Biggest has been about 9 pounds. Good Luck.

once the water gets warms up to the mid 60's they start moving getting more active. i personally dont fish'em til summer is in full swing, that way i'm not targeting spawning fish.

A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

Meeks9591 wrote:A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:

Meeks9591 wrote:A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Yup, back in high school we used chicken guts, rabbit guts, squirrel guts, whatever we shot the day before fishing.

Amx wrote:

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:

Meeks9591 wrote:A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Yup, back in high school we used chicken guts, rabbit guts, squirrel guts, whatever we shot the day before fishing.

Ahaha thats funny... i used some rabbit guts that one of my uncles caught, nothin.
I see how they would work great tho.

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:

Amx wrote:

Fish_Bait111397 wrote: I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Yup, back in high school we used chicken guts, rabbit guts, squirrel guts, whatever we shot the day before fishing.

Ahaha thats funny... i used some rabbit guts that one of my uncles caught, nothin.
I see how they would work great tho.

We had more than enough guts laying around the place festering for a good day's, and night's, fishing to come.

I just remembered that years ago, 1967 to be exact, I had a trotline out and tied to a bush. Went into the Navy and forgot to retrieve the line. Then the next time I was in Calif. My younger brother and I went out to the borrows area and there was no water left in any of those ponds. But my trotline was still tied to the bush, nothing on the hooks tho. The next time I was there was in Nov., 1972.

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:

Meeks9591 wrote:A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Channels? I wasn't aware they were in lakes around here *shrug* It's hard to imagine a bullhead weighing that much

Graceclaw wrote:

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:

Meeks9591 wrote:A regular Carolina rig with a 2/0 owner circle hook with cut bait always works for me, chicken liver is another good bait probably my favorite.

I caught 3 cats in december weighing 9 pounds, 8 pounds, and 6 pounds, all on chicken liver.

Channels? I wasn't aware they were in lakes around here *shrug* It's hard to imagine a bullhead weighing that much

The Fish_Bait lives in Arizona, FYI.:bball:

Sorry, I apologize in advance for the following: Don't catfish eat just about anything other than dogfish? LOL

they'll eat just about anything, but channel cats (once they get some size on'em) are predators and hunt live fish & frogs. when i'm out at hearts lake or swofford pond where i know some pigs are swimming i like fresh cut bait or herring to target the bigger fish. that said my biggest cat so far was 14lbs out of harts and i got it on some stink bait. never know whats gonna tickle their fancy any given night so it's best to bring a few different baits if you after the big boys.

Are there any lakes on the north/west side that have channels in them?

natetreat wrote:Are there any lakes on the north/west side that have channels in them?

Harts Lake,Pierce County.

Channel cats are hard to find in these parts but bullheads are everywhere. Most are caught accidentally by trout fishermen using nightcrawlers. I caught my last bullhead at Cassidy a few years ago -- on a 1/16 oz homemade jig!

Fresh channel cat is good eating but I still prefer walleye and slab perch over just about anything else. Not sure how big they get here in WA.