by Jack Payne
“Summer catfish search out cooler water,” said Jeff Dodd, an avid catfish angler and catfish tournament angler. In a river this might be a deep hole, an undercut bank or where a stream dumps into the river. In a lake this often is a drop-off, a steep break line, and Old River or an old creek channel.
In addition, look for a deep weedline that borders the above. Or, fallen trees, stumps, logs, roots or any type of bottom debris where a cat can lay or used as a current break. Above all, look for forage. Cats love to eat and the big channel cats and flatheads love meat. Gizzard shad and small bluegills are very popular with the cats.
“I like to move and rarely anchor,” said Dodd. On a lake or one of our connecting bodies of water to Lake Michigan he suggested using the wind. In a river he drops down his trolling motor into the current and matches the speed of the river. This is the same as walleye fishing a river.
The best speed on a lake or drowned river system is .3 mph up to 1 mph. You want the wind at your back and this might require throwing out a drift sock. Boat noise will be reduced and it’s much easier to control your speed and watch multiple rods. Plus you can follow a breakline or a drop-off easier. Perfect on Muskegon and White Lake!
If you are fishing a large deep shelf you can drift sideways and use a drift sock for controlling your speed. I do this often on Lake Macatawa and on Hamlin Lake.
“Cats will follow the ledges, the sharp breaklines and an old river channel much like we use a highway to travel the quickest route,” said Dodd. Dodd also suggested fishing deep waters in the dog days of summer. On Hamlin Lake we caught cats at 83 feet down. On Muskegon we often land cats in the 30-to-50 foot depths. On the Kalamazoo River we have deep holes that are pushing 20 feet deep.
An overlooked location is any body of water is the channels that dump into Lake Michigan. There will be washed-out holes, rock rip rap bordering and protecting the piers and plenty of gizzard shad. My best catfish location and the first place I go pending boat traffic.
In a river or a lake, the technique is like walking a dog. You want that bait tumbling down the river or bouncing along the lake bottom. Keeping your line at a 45 degree angle or less is best. The hits will be explosive and if you have a rod in your hand be prepared for a few blisters.
Jeff and I utilize the rod holders from Drift Master. Tough and easily adjustable, they are used on my boat for panfish, walleye and early season brown and Coho rod holders.
“A three way swivel with a dropper line for a sinker and a dropper line for the hook is it”, said Dodd. Double the length of the bait hook to that of the sinker as a guide. A 10 inch drop line to your sinker would equal a 20 inch drop line to your bait.
Sinker weight varies from 1 ounce to 6 ounces depending on the depth of water and the speed one is moving. A second rig to use is the old drop shot rig. Sinker goes on the bottom and perhaps 5-to inches above you add a hook tied on a loop knot to the main line.
Hook size depends on the size of the fish you are chasing and the type of bait being used. A 1/0 is bare minimum and for monster flatheads you might go up to a number 6/0 hook. “Hands down the best hook to use is a circle hook,” said Dodd. A circle hook does two things for you. First it hooks the fish for you and second the fish can be easily returned unharmed.
If you are looking for pure numbers of cats and a ton of action try dip bait and dip bait rigs. They will land most of the fish and a few larger fish. It’s a perfect way to keep busy and still land a few good fish. With dip baits slow your speed down to .2 or up to .4 mph. Dip baits bring fish in.
Stopper Lures carries three very nice rigs. The Catfish Dipper, the Catfish Tubes and the Catfish Balls. All are designed to be fished with some type of stick or dip bait. Uncle Charlies, Sonny’s and other brands are available. Quick suggestion, use the Catfish Dip Plugger from Stopper Lures or your fingers will smell for a week.
We often cut the hooks off of the catfish tubes and reuse the tube with a large circle hook. We stuff the tube full of dip bait and then use cut bait or a micro waved hotdog on the large circle hook. Soak your nuked hotdogs in anise oil. Small bluegills and suckers can be used for cut bait but gizzard shad is the best.
Catfish are found in about every body of water. It’s a great time for the family and the smaller cats make great table fare.
