Dunking for catfish

[leoric]

Has anyone ever tried dunking (aka baitcasting) for catfish at the lake? Rigs? Baits? Location? Thanks.

[skunked]

I have tried it a few times with mixed results. If you expect to catch a lot like at nuuanu reservoir, then you'll be disappointed. Try to find a spot with a non-muddy bottom with some shallow water with close access to deep water.
I used a berkley gulp nightcrawler a few times and didn't get any bites. Caught a few on live and dead minnows. Earthworms are always good, as long as you don't mind also catching tilapia. Shrimp also works good. I don't know too much about this, so hopefully more people will chime in.
Use a sliding egg sinker so that the cat feels no resistance when taking the bait.

[Stan Wright]

I see some guys catching catfish right from the boat ramp. We've caught them over the years on lures in all parts of the lakes.

The best places I've seen were around the avocado trees and way up the north fork close to the water fall where the ripe rosy apples fall into the water. The catfish go crazy.

Years ago when Leon was renting boats over behind Kemoo Farm (he is no longer in business, but the boat dock is still there) he would toss bread and rice and stuff into the water every day. It really attracted the catfish, and everything else.

There was also a home owner over on Tuke Bay who would throw 2 cups of dog food out into the water every afternoon at 6:00 PM. On the several occasions I watched him, the fish were already starting to gather there at 5:30. LOL It was wild. Red Devils, catfish, carp, bluegill, oscar, tilapia, even the bass and tukes came around to see what all the splashing was about.

I was thinking of "baiting" a spot with dog food every time we make it to the lake. Even geting one of those automatic game feeders you see in the catalogs and tie it to a tree limb out over the water some place.

Stan

[Ken]

I fish for channel cats here mostly in rivers. So far, I've used worms and chunks of pork liver. We would find deep holes in the river where they are holding up. Usually, we would cast to the top of the deep hole (before it drops deep) and leave it there. The current would bring the scent of your bait downstream and the fish would swim up to find your bait. We would change bait every once in a while to set up a new scent trail. I don't know how much current Lake Wilson has (not that much from what I remember...but maybe this can work if you fish closer toward the dam where there is more current (but not in the scanturary though ).

Try fish any inflows or outflows as well, even if it is just a trickle. Channel cats are really more predator than scavenger, so the mouths of tributaries are good hunting spots for them as well.

HIH

[Stan Wright]

Ken,

Good advice. There is a little current way up where the waterfall is. That's where I saw all the catfish eating the ripe fruit. I've seen TV shows and read magazine storys about your catfishing. One of these days I'll make it to your part of the country.

[leoric]

Thanks for all the response guys. My next question is: are circle hooks the preferred hooks or the do you guys like the old limerick (straight shank) style for catfishing?

[Stan Wright]

Small, light wire circle hooks are great. You don't have to set the hook (the fish does all the work) just reel. Once hooked, it's hooked for good. Even with live or cut bait you get hook ups in the cornor of the mouth of the fish. I like the circle hooks. That's the only thing we use in salt water any more for dunking and bottom fishing. Some of the marlin fishermen are starting to use circle hooks on trowling lures. I'm even using some circle hooks for fly tying. In Hawaii we have a wide selection of style and size circle hooks to choose from.

Works great for catfish.

[Ken]

For us, we don't have circle hooks here. However, we do use shorter shank style hooks like octopus hooks. You can use longer shank hook as well and I've used them before. I think preference is really based on which bait you're using. If you choose to use a dead baitfish or worms, using a hook with longer shank helps you bait stay better on the hook (better yet, use livebait hooks which is reverse barbs on the shank). When I use chunks or slivers of pork liver, I choose to use a octopus style hook. The shorter shank is good enough to hold the pork liver, yet leaving the sliver of liver to flap in the current .

I don't find hook choice very important to channel cats. They're not too hook shy and when they bite, they'll either gulp in small baits or chomp on larger baits. Once your bait is in its mouth, it'll only stay in there. I did have channel cats spit out my bait before because the fish felt some line tension when my line was taunt and the drag was tight. So usually, when I'm getting bites, I feed it a little bit of line and count about 2 seconds before setting the hook. So far, all my fish has been hooked in the upper jaw and corner of the mouth. You don't want to wait too long or else you may gill hook or gut hook the fish .

However, my fish were usually caught in currents...so I think once the fish locate a scent trail and found my bait, it has already determined that my bait is food and it doesn't think twice about biting. In a still water situation, the fish may be a bit more picky.

Oh, to elaborate a bit on the pork liver...We cut a piece about 1/4 inch thick and about 2-3" long. With the octopus hook, we use about a #4-#2. I would thread the liver twice onto the hook on one end, leaving a "tail" of liver to flap in the current. Try to cut the liver so that you can push your hook through the membrane of the liver. It helps to keep the liver on the hook much better that way.

All my big cats (3-6lb range) has managed to cut my line (10lb leader, 8lb main) in the rocky areas that I fish...I've only managed to land small 1lb fish so far. Next summer, I'm going to use my musky baitcaster and 50lb PowerPro for them

[Modest_Man]

I landed a channel cat today that was well over 10lbs. It was actually towing the kayak I was in, pulled me about 40-50 ft. We measured it against the paddle, but I haven't measured the paddle yet. I was using a size 16 hook with a 4" talipia on it on 6lb test in about 2' of water...not what I was going for. Took about 10 minutes to land.

Definately the biggest catfish I've seen up close...could have eaten my fist easiy. Too bad I didn't have my camera.

[skunked]

Good job on your big cat! Get a camera!

[leoric]

10 lb cat on 6 lb test. Wow! Your catch could be some sort of a record (igfa, etc.). Congratulations.

[Modest_Man]

I had a camera, just left it in the car because I didn't want it getting wet. The cat's aren't bad on light line, they don't really speed of or try to snap the line, it was much more of a solid steady pull, hence it towing me.