Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/2107
hooked 25 September 2009 of their range, fool- ing a stringer-full of fat channel cats or tasty bullheads simply isn't that hard to do. In fact, I wait until after the dog days of summer to do just that: when nothing else seems willing to do battle, that's when I break out the catfish gear and target my local population of channel catfish. And yes, that does mean engaging in some twilight angling, for some of the best action is right before sunset to an hour or so after dark, and again, just before dawn. But no, I don't pull any all-nighters like some of my fishing fra- ternity does, returning to the docks in the morning with proof of their success in the scent on the breeze, the slime on their decks and the images on their cell phones, documenting the huge catfish they fought in the hours 'tween midnight and dawn. To catch catfish during anything resembling "banker's hours" can be a challenge, but by using the right baits placed in the right places and with aids like chum to get the fish to come to you, catfishing may be the most productive angling you experience all summer. Most lakes have a population of shad, or other baitfish. Shad are the most common prey fish across most of North America, ranging in size from little more than "an eye and a wiggle" in the spring to specimens more than a foot long in the fall. The prolific baitfish swim in dense schools and remain close to the surface, which puts them in range of anyone with a good eye, a cast net and the ability to lob it off the bow of a boat or dock. Chunks of fresh-dead shad, trailing some guts, fished on a flat near deep water, will rarely be refused by lo- cal members of the catfish clan. Where legal to use chum, which is simply fish food of any kind placed in the water to attract fish, chunks of shad tossed into the vicinity of your baited hook can create a feeding frenzy that will keep you busy baiting-up and battling fish as long as the shad supply lasts. That goes for most popular catfish baits too. I know one angler who goes around to the local groceries and buys—or is given—unsold, outdated cocktail shrimp. He places the shrimp in bags and freezes and thaws the crustaceans, in the hot sun, three times until the contents "turn" and become a foul-smell- ing goo that requires mesh sacks to hold it together on his hook. His favorite stink bait wrap comes from two-inch- square sections cut from his wife's old panty hose, a tactic he shared with me and thousands of listeners when I interviewed the catfish addict on my radio show. His wife was not pleased with the connotation and he is now forced to use cheesecloth or mesh used by salmon anglers to make spawn sacks. Chicken liver, also placed in mesh sacks if it's too frail to stay on a hook, is popular catfish bait, as are gobs of night crawlers. The latter can be deci- mated by bites from panfish and other small fish and critters, however, so it always pays to have a back-up bait when using worms. Prepared catfish baits, which come in a jar or plastic package, can be productive and are convenient. Dip baits can be deadly, and require little more than special devices placed on the hook to absorb the stinky, semi- liquid substance. Live baits are pre- ferred for big catfish like flatheads, and live chubs, sunfish or even goldfish are fished in the deepest bends in a river or pockets in a reservoir. The trick to catfishing with any bait is patience; catfish find their food pri- marily by scent, and it can take awhile for the aroma of your offering to reach the barbells of resident catfish and then take them awhile to hone-in on the source of the pungent smell. When they do, circle hooks embed- ded in the bait have become the most reliable way to get the catfish in the boat. Designed for commercial fishing, circle hooks are now popular among catfish anglers for their self-hooking traits—the hook turns and catches in the corner of the fish's mouth as it swims off—and the fact that the hooks are rarely swallowed. That means the hook-removal process is quick and any fish that are caught can be released unharmed to grow and offer an oppor- tunity to fight another day. And that's a fine thing, for when the weather gets hot, catfish are often the only game in town.