how to catch a channel cat

Nothing better than some good eating channels.
Get you some chicken liver and maybe some worms. And dont forget live or cut bluegill. I seem to catch more channels using a bobber than on bottom. I use 4/0 tru-turn catfish hooks and I love them. Ive never had any luck with circles but others swear by them. As far as where there at youll have to find them. Try one deep and one shallow. One in the open and one by cover. Just keep looking and trying new spots. If it looks interesting to you it might look interesting to the cats. Usually if you dont get a bite in 15-20 minutes try another spot. I also like to keep old rotten livers in a bait fridge to chum em a bit.
Alot has to do with where your fishing. At one paylake I use to fish there was an old bench right by the water. I cast there as soon as I get there and usually catch a few before they move. Everyone at the paylake would laugh when I pull out my liver. They all use chicken breast with koolaid or hamburger bait. Id just put a huge glob of liver and launch it. I usually catch just as many or more than others. Seems the bigger the glob of liver the better the bite. I know of alot of paylakers will use those small #4 hooks but I dont like em.
I like to toss a cut gill deep on bottom while I fish with a bobber at different places. A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work.

channel cats don't "hide" at night .. night time is their most active time .. they'll be roaming about looking for food .. the location of an active channel cat is, surprisingly, easier to locate during the day .. keep in mind in order to find ACTIVE channel cats you have to be willing to move around

a river is made up of riffles, holes, and runs .. at the end of the riffle where it begins to get deeper is an EXCELLENT place to find active channels during the day .. also fishing log jams or behind big rocks and rock ledges during the day will allow you to catch semi active fish, or fish that weren't active at all but are unwilling to pass up a good meal

at night time its much trickier .. you will rarely find them gravitating to structure like i mentioned during the day .. you'll still find quite a few at the end of the riffles but most will be roaming flats and ledges in search of food .. a hot spot when the sun is going down, is at the mouth of a creek dumping into the river

bait type and size depends on how big you're looking to catch AND how big the fish grow in the river .. the tried and true method of drowning a worm applies here for small fish mostly but big fish most likely won't pass it up .. if you're looking for bigger fish, cut bait is key .. cut bluegill fillets and don't forget to use the head too .. dip baits in an area with a good concentration of cats is sure to keep you busy most of the night altho big fish are pretty rare on that

All my cattin' is done from shore at various places on the Wisconsin River, here in the central part of the state. I have tried various baits and the one that gets me the bigest cats is cut bluegill. I go out and catch a limit (25) of 3-5" 'gills, cut them in half from top to bottom, put it on a 4/0 circle hook and wait for the rod to load up before reeling it in. Using the head portion for some reason really does attract more bites than the rest of the fish.
All my fishing gear consists of spinning gear (open face). For the cats I use Shakespeare X-Terra reels and Shimano FX2702, 7' rods along with Trilene 12# test line.

There are 3 main areas I fish the river. 1st is at the base of a 4-lane bridge. I cast out about 30 yards to one of the support columns on the down side of the current. The closer to the column the better. This is where I can count on catching channels in the 7-10# range. 2nd is a slow water area about 400 yards above a dam. This area in the summer gets some good patches of lily pads. The pads grow out only as far as the edge of the main channel so knowing where to cast is a given. Right on the outside edge of the pads. The cats come from the channel into the pads to feed at night. These are typically smaller in size, eating size at about 2-4#. 3rd is yet farther downstream at the mouth of a small feeder creek. This has the additional bonus of having riprap on the opposite side of the creek and main river. this spot has two areas that attract the cats. The upstream side of the creek where it meets the river, as it is a submerged point, and the riprap area right across on the opposite side of the creek. The creek is only about 30' across. There is a 4th area which contains some submerged logs and trees which is a great place, but I lose more cats to breakoffs from the snags than I catch.

So thats why they are on the kill list. Noone actually explained why. Good info. My buddy caught one a while back i told him to kill it but he threw it back. So small it looked harmless. We were fishing the chicago river in chinatown ping tom park for carp. Never would eat anything from that part of the river though.
I fish the fox river in algonquin and a couple small lakes around me.


For channels i like 4/0 j gamakatsus. Still working on the octopus circles. My favorite baits are chicken liver , slightly cooked bacon , and bluegill cutbait middle part. Chicken usually produces the most bites. Must be the blood. Bacon and cutbait are about the same results for bites. Cutbait has caught me my largest channels.

I like to fish with 2 poles. 1 far and 1 close to see if they are biting near or far. Then once i get some nibbles i will cast both to the hotspot.

Most important thing for me is my reaction time. Sometimes they can be bait stealers. Around my area they hardly take off with the bait. I love it when they do. If the channel only hangs on for 2-4 seconds you have to be very quick. Set the hook or its gone. So i use my graphite 7ft rods angled low and close to me as possible. I hold one pole most of the time. If i see any of my poles move at all i hold it with it tightlined ready to set the hook if i feel a good tug. Also like to use the lightest weight possible.