What is the depth range that channels usually stay in. I fish in deeper water 30-50+ ft and I have good luck with blues, but have none with channel cats. I was just wondering if I was fishing to deep?
well yeah probably.I think it depends on the water temp myself but others may disagree.In the summer i normally catch them fairly shallow but depending on structure you could probably catch them in deep water,especially the big channels.
Troy I would definately shallow up for channels. Heading into the spring months I don't think I would fish no more than 20ft deep, and if your fishing at nigt find a flat area close to deeper water that the flat area is no more than 10ft deep. Channels like to come to shallow water at night to feed but will not get away from their deeps holes too far. I usually fish in about 5 to ten feet of water especially at night. and the warner it is the shallower I go until the summer when it gets pretty hot then I'll go back to the 7 to ten ft of water and deeper if need be. The cats are gonna follow or stay near the thermocline. I have caught channels all the way up against the bank on trotlines if deeper water is near. find those shallow flats near deep water and fish them early in the morning or late evening or at night. Flatheads like to come to those shallow flats at night too.
Thanks I will have to try that. I have been kinda reluctant to move into shallower water cuz the blues are still holding pretty tight in the deep stuff. I caught my pb blue (31lb) on sunday in 53 ft of water.
What kinda current do they prefer? The place I fish for blues is in fairly open water, and with it being a tidal river, when the tides up the current is pretty hard. I use 6 oz sinkers and the current still pushes my lines the way its going.lol.
May want to look at your bait also. I assume you are talking about the chick river? I have had luck with channels in the deeper creeks there and on flats beside deeper holes. I assume you are fishing with shad or eels. Try some smaller hooks with a load of worms on it, it can get frustrating with the small blues and bullheads but I have caught some of my best channels that way. Brandon
Don't be afraid to fish shallow for channel cats. They can often times be caught in less than 2 feet of water. On another note...How do you have a tidal river in Missouri? I didn't know the tides affected the rivers that far from the Gulf.
lol, no I am from missouri, but I am stationed at fort eustis, virginia, and the river i fish (Chickahominy River) is a tidal river
In my experience I have done better with channels in slower moving water however they do tend to act like blues and you can catch them in swift water. I have found them mostly in sandy bottom areas with moving water but not swift moving water, however like I said earlier they do tend to follow the same patterns as blues.
