Hey I have been thinking about trying to get into some channels seeing as I wont be able to legally fish for bass pike or walleye for the next month. I have a small river that pretty much runs through my back yard that has put out some monster (30+ lbs, in a reservoir of this river a guy caught and released a 42lbser about 10 years ago). Anyone have any tips for fishing them in early spring? I would assume the water is low to mid 40’s right now. I got into some really nice ones this winter while walleye fishing in the stretch downstream from the lake, completely stacked in the 30ft hole under the dam. I would assume some fish would be moving up shallower but I’m no cat fisherman, just want to do something different. Thanks, I’ll put a pic of one I got on a blade bait while eye fishing.

Wind blown flats near river channels with cut bait of some kind are a solid bet. If they're there it shouldn't take longer than 5-10 minutes to get bit. Don't need much water either, they'll cruise a couple feet looking for winter killed shad/bait.

On 4/6/2020 at 10:43 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Wind blown flats near river channels with cut bait of some kind are a solid bet. If they're there it shouldn't take longer than 5-10 minutes to get bit. Don't need much water either, they'll cruise a couple feet looking for winter killed shad/bait.

I had a long debate with a pond owner the other day regarding channel cats. He claims you need the lightest weight possible on a Carolina Rig and hide the hook entirely. Let them run for 60 seconds before setting the hook.  
 

I said I’ve caught cats for years with an exposed circle hook and heavy weights. I let them run for 5 seconds before a fast reel and set. 
 

after our talk, I reflected and have missed a lot of fish by them taking short runs and dropping the bait. Never getting a second chance. Think he’s right, Blue?

10 hours ago, Dorado said:

I had a long debate with a pond owner the other day regarding channel cats. He claims you need the lightest weight possible on a Carolina Rig and hide the hook entirely. Let them run for 60 seconds before setting the hook.  
 

I said I’ve caught cats for years with an exposed circle hook and heavy weights. I let them run for 5 seconds before a fast reel and set. 
 

after our talk, I reflected and have missed a lot of fish by them taking short runs and dropping the bait. Never getting a second chance. Think he’s right, Blue?

I'm not a big fan of circle hooks for rod and reel fishing. Early season channels like to moith the bait a lot and it seems like smaller pieces of bait than normal work better. Never hide the hook, that's just asking for missed fish when the hook buries back into the bait. No reason to let them run that long either. If they start running, they've got it good 9 times out of 10. I run a 2/0 Kahle hook and slip sinker rig if I need a weight, I'll just use the weight of the bait if I can get away with it. 

16 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm not a big fan of circle hooks for rod and reel fishing. Early season channels like to moith the bait a lot and it seems like smaller pieces of bait than normal work better. Never hide the hook, that's just asking for missed fish when the hook buries back into the bait. No reason to let them run that long either. If they start running, they've got it good 9 times out of 10. I run a 2/0 Kahle hook and slip sinker rig if I need a weight, I'll just use the weight of the bait if I can get away with it. 

Thanks man! This helped a lot

Thanks for the input, wish I could go out it to use. It was in the 50’s - 60’s the last 2 days but looks like we’re back to the 30’s the next week or two. Really hate living in Minnesota 6 out of the 12 months of the year. The other 6 are the best of anywhere in the us IMO but god does winter sucks when it starts end of October and goes until may some years.