I fish a fair amount for bass. I was out yesterday, fishing a shallow cut off the San Jacinto river with a chartreuse spinner bait. I caught, of all things, a channel cat on it. I was making a moderately paced retrieve.

Has anyone caught any cat on a bait like that? I never have. I can only think I drug it right in front of his mouth. It clearly was trying to eat the bait - it was deeply hooked. I just don't think of catfish as chasing swimming baits.

quote:

I just don't think of catfish as chasing swimming baits

Bastards will surprise you every chance they get. Just like other fish, they are opportunistic feeders. Dragging it across his lips might have helped

Really though, I've caught channels cat with everything but the kitchen sink and that's only cause it was too heavy to carry to the boat. Bubble gum, hot dogs, crickets, grasshoppers, a ball of freshly mowed alfalfa, mice, in addition to those I've caught on regular bass tackle.

During my brief stint as a PI, I was working a surveillance of a residence in a tiny town that had a portion of the old Erie Canal dividing it. The only way I could pull this off and not stick out like a sore thumb, was to fish the part of the Canal across from the house. I plopped down on the bank with my gear, which was rigged with spinners for bass. I did not really want to catch anything. Soon after, a drunk wanders up and sits down beside me. He tells me that there is a huge Catfish in the canal who has been caught and released many times. The drunk hung out with me for a while but got bored, said I was a shitty fisherman and left me. About 5 minutes later, something hit my line hard and took off like a cruise missile. An epic battle took place during which I thought my rod was going to break. I finally dragged up on the bank a 3 foot long Channel Cat. He had 4 or 5 hooks in his mouth from previous battles. I took his photo and let him go. When I handed my report to my client, a photo of the Cat was included. He was somewhat put out he was paying me to fish on his dime!
Thats my Catfish on spinning gear fish story!

Caught 2 catfish while drifting points with spring lizards for bass on Lake Lanier in Ga.

quote:

Caught 2 catfish while drifting points with spring lizards for bass on Lake Lanier in Ga.

i,ve caught several catfish on spring lizards. I've caught a few on crankbaits while bass fishing here in Georgia. On my only trip to Santee-Cooper in S.C. I kept catching catfish on a Deep Wee-R crankbait. Every time I'd tell myself it was a bass only to pull in another cat. A little frustrating that.

Catfish are very aggressive predators. We regularly catch them trolling cranks for walleye (2.5 - 3mph) and I've even caught one burning (cranking fast with a reel that takes up 43" of line per turn) a large double bladed inline spinner while musky fishing.

Catfish are pretty much bottom feeders using their long "whiskers" to help them detect available food. They will rise to grab what they think is an easy meal. I've caught quite a few while trolling for stripers on Lake Whitney using down riggers in fairly deep water. Channel Cats mostly. The most common way to catch them in deep water is with live bait (shad, sunfish etc) weighted to bring it down near the bottom. In shallower waters the good old stink bait along with chumming is favored.

I've caught cats on purpose many times on live bait, cut bait, and chicken hearts down near the bottom. I just never expected to catch one on a retrieved artificial. I think the shallow water where I was is a factor since any bait or lure would be close to the bottom - maximum depth was probably three feet.

Live and learn.

I've caught a few on chatterbaits. I didn't expect that either.

never caught one on topwater, but I have caught them on plastic worms, spinnerbaits, and small crankbaits. typically in shallow ponds.

Catfish are like the goats of the waterways, they will eat anything. When I was a teen, I used to fish in the Schuylkill River near my house, there was a bend in the river that formed kind of a deep slow moving creek and was a great spot for catfish.

I'd take a can of cheap dog food, punch a bunch of holes in it and throw it into the middle and fish with cheese, corn, worms, you name it they would go for it.

Seen it done and heard of it before but not me personally.
Top water baits , mepos sinners
The very old Big Jimcrank bait.