Snagging channel cats

[Huckfinn38]

Is this common for anyone else?  6 in the last few weeks. Crankbaits, blade baits, and flutter spoons.

[GreenPig]

I've caught Channels on big wakebaits, shakey  heads, swimbaits, poppers, jerkbaits, jigging spoons, Neds, Spinnerbaits, Spybaits, most likely every type of lure I own. At times they feed just like bass.

[Susky River Rat]

I’ve snagged some even had some eat the crank bait. Same with flat heads. 

[VolFan]

On the Catawba chain in NC (and previously on the Potomac) it’s not unusual at all. I’ve also had big blue cats eats wakebaits with enough regularity to be almost a pattern. Annoying and slimy, but a big cat is probably more fun than a 2 lb largemouth. 

[gim]

Probably dependent on location.

 

I've never caught a species of catfish in nearly 25 years of fishing here for walleye, panfish, bass, and muskie.  Most of the catfish we have here live in rivers though, which I do not fish very often.

[Team9nine]

Routinely catch channels and flatheads while fishing, especially from early summer when they get ready to spawn and on. Channel cats actually have really good eyesight and will eat baits well off bottom they spot visually. Blues and flatheads tend to be more bottom feeding oriented. I’ve caught channels on about everything. Flatheads have mostly been crankbaits, jigs and shakyheads, often at dusk/night. I have friends who fish waters with heavy blue cat presence and they clean up at times trolling Spoonplugs. 

[Dwight Hottle]

I never realized how many there are in lake Erie & they do attack jerk baits regularly.

 

[Huckfinn38]

7 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I never realized how many there are in lake Erie & they do attack jerk baits regularly.

 

Hawg

I snagged a big channel 2-3 weeks ago in the tail on a medium crankbait rod. He gave me all i could handle 

[SC53]

Chatterbaits, crank baits, jigging spoons and even beetle spins. 6-14# cats.

[Timpson]

I've actually caught a few channels and 1blue on inline spinners 

[Spankey]

That is not all that uncommon for me or my grandsons to catch a cattie while bass fishing. Not snagged, in the jaw. Soft plastics, crankbaits, jig & pig. River Smallies like to hit this one lure in particular that’s a Blue Fox Brand. It’s sort of like an inline spinner but has a balsa body to it and a single tail treble on it front spinner blade. Sort of reminds you of a trout spinner but we fish the bigger sizes of it.  We find that channel cats are attracted to it sometimes. Clearer water conditions. Has various color patterns but we primarily fish silver with black back or gold with black back. They tend to like a Bomber Model A in Firetiger also. We are not constantly catching them but do. It’s fun because at first you are not thing catfish. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 9/7/2024 at 9:42 PM, Huckfinn38 said:

Is this common for anyone else?  6 in the last few weeks. Crankbaits, blade baits, and flutter spoons.

Actually snagging them or them eating the bait? It's unusual for me to go a trip without catching at least one. I had a trip just a few weeks ago I caught over 10 of them on spinnerbaits and bladed jigs. 

 

Only time I snag a bunch of them is fishing around outlets with jigging spoons in the winter. They congregate in the winter in huge numbers and there's just no way to avoid it, especially with their soft but tough skin. 

[WRB]

For me structure spoons targeting bass around Shad schools big channel cats strike the spoons.

I did snag a big 40 lb class channel cat under the pectoral fin with jig in deep water, thought was the bass, very disappointing when I finally boated the brute. 
Tom

[Pumpkin Lizard]

I caught a half dozen channels incidental to bass fishing this year.

 

A huge one (by my standards) on a Bellows Gill. That bait smells like rotten fritos so that makes sense.

 

Another few on Rage Bugs. And a couple on a Magdraft. One was foul hooked, but it wasn't a pure snag.

[MichaelN]

I've snagged quite a few cats in farm ponds. I've even caught several cats that's eaten my flies while fly fishing. They'll totally destroy a fly. They'll explode on spinnerbaits too, as others have mentioned. They're fun though, so...

[Bluebasser86]

Assuming the OP is actually talking about catching channel cats and not snagging them while bass fishing, I catch well over 100 of them fishing for bass every year on a wide variety of baits. Caught one just last Saturday on a blade bait in 40* water mixed in with a school of white bass. One day this fall, I caught 13 of them on spinnerbaits and bladed jigs.

It's a rare day that I spend much time fishing a Ned rig and don't catch one. Same thing for a bladed jig.

One of the biggest I ever caught was on a suspending jerkbait.

The other biggest was on a jig which was also a lake record.

I've had dozens of them explode on buzzbaits, poppers, even through matted grass on a frog once.

So yeah, it's more uncommon that I don't catch one while fishing for bass.

 

 

[WRB]

I snagged a 40+ lb Channel cat under the pictorial fin with a jig. Felt the line move and set the hook into a fish that freight trained me and had to get on the TM to follow it. I am telling myself claim down this is the fish! Very strong fight no rolling to indicate a cat, just hard runs.

Finally got the fish up where I could net it and almost cried then slide the big cat into the rear deck.  Slimed up my deck carpet and hard to pull the hook out with pliers leather like skin and cartilage.

Yeh I have hooked Channel cats using a wide variety of lures like everyone else. My son caught a lake record channel cat on a 3 1/2” reaper when he was 10.

Tom