I've caught a bunch of channel cats on Shad Raps, especially in the springtime. A good sized one will wreck a Shad Rap. Not to mention getting slime all over your line and making a mess of your boat. I'm disappointed when I get one because I was hoping it was a striper.

 

They do primarily eat shad wherever shad are available, so it's not surprising.

 

To each his own. But to me, the bigger the catfish I catch, the bigger nothing I have.

Two small channel cats so far this year on cranks, one deeper on a Strike King 3xd, one shallow on a Norman Fat Boy. My brother had a 6 pounder follow in a black and blue booyah jig when he was reeling it in to make another pitch this year too.

This is several trips in a row for me now. I also caught a channel cat on a bladed jig about half an hour after I caught this one, plus one of the biggest drum I've ever caught also on a jig and another on a squarebill.

I've caught them on wobble spoons, a buzzbait that I hadn't even started retrieving, spinners, senkos, etc.  Catfish will eat anything, just need to know where they are.

I have caught them on crankbaits, jig, and plastic worms.  One of the local city lakes has a "no live bait" rule.  Just about every one that fishes it uses spinnerbaits.