REEL CATS

It’s no secret that Texas is home to a bounty of reservoirs and rivers, and many of them are loaded with whiskered fish. Three sub-species are recognized as sport fish - flatheads, blues and channel cat.

While blues and flatheads rank highest on the hit lists of trophy hunters, there are an army of fishing fans hooked on channel cat. They are abundant statewide, a blast to catch and pretty cooperative from one day to the next. Plus, channel cat are protected by liberal limits and they make for some outstanding table fare.

The statewide rule allows anglers to keep 25 fish channels and blue cat in any combination, but only 10 may be 20 inches or greater in length. Statewide regulations apply to all public fresh waters, except locations noted in the Exceptions to Statewide Freshwater Harvest Regulations. The exceptions are listed on the TPWD website.

Get the grease hot and ready the corn meal and fresh tomatoes. Here’s an angler’s guide of tips to help you become more successful at catching ol’ whiskers: Stick with the Basics: There are several ways to rig up for catching catfish. It’s usually best to stick with the basics when going after channel cat - cork fishing and bottom fishing.

The cork serves a dual purpose. It suspends the bait off bottom and allows the angler to detect strikes without having to rely on feel. When a fish bites the bait, the cork lets you know it.

The standard cork is secured to the line using clips that suspend the bait at a constant depth.

The slip cork concept allows the cork to slide up and down the line until it comes in contact with a bobber stopper or a rubber band. This makes it easy to control the depth of the bait presentation. Simply slide the stopper up the line for a deeper presentation, downward to fish shallower.

Many anglers will use a weight above the hook to hold the bait down and make the cork stand erect in water. Others prefer no weight at all, especially when soaking their bait in waters with abundant channel cat populations and the fish seem to biting very light.

The slip cork set-up can be used in combination with a variety of baits - live, dead or prepared - for targeting channel cat around rocks, retaining walls, boat docks or anywhere else they live.

Lake Fork fishing guide Gary Paris likes to make use of the slip cork rig in a variety of situations. One of his favorites is to drift prepared punch or stink baits over submerged creek beds, channel ledges and points.

The guide prefers to tie or anchor the boat upwind from the target structure whenever possible.

“This allows the wind to work for you,” Paris said. “The wind keeps the cork and bait away from the boat. Plus, it carries the scent of the punch bait. The punch bait makes its own chum as it soaks and slowly comes apart. This will attract fish from distance.”

Paris always uses a small treble hook (No. 6) in combination with his homemade punch bait. He adds a split shot sinker just above the hook to keep the bait down.

“The smaller hook doesn’t hold near as much bait as a bigger one and it seems like the fish can get it in their mouth easier,” Paris said. “It’s been my experience that you don’t need lot of bait to catch these fish. If they can smell it, they’ll find it.”

Cormorant Roosts

Flocks of double-crested cormorants migrate to Texas lakes each fall and winter. The birds spend part of their time during the day dining on shad and other succulent forage. The rest is spent lounging on stumps and available standing timber, where they periodically relieve their clogged bowels over the course of the day.

Channel and blue cat like to gather beneath roost trees to pick off the high protein cormorant poop when it goes splat on the surface. Anglers have learned they catch fish tossing various baits around the roost trees to simulate the droppings. It’s a viable pattern on several lakes — Richland Chambers, Cedar Creek, Tawakoni, Ray Hubbard and Bois d’ Arc are among them.

One of the best baits to use is chicken gizzards. The meat is tough and hard to get off the hook. The bait also makes a nice “splat” when it hits the surface.

Paris capitalized on the pattern dozens of times at Lake Fork until most of the timber finally rotted and fell. He recommends using a heavy duty worm hook, no weight, braided line and a stiff rod.

“It’s real important to approach the roost trees very quietly to avoid spooking the fish,” Paris said. “Try to stay at least 30-40 feet away from the tree when possible and try to land the bait as tight to it as possible.”

Paris added that strikes typically come soon after the bait hits the water, so be ready.

Another way to score around roosts is to anchor upwind and cast a Carolina style rig to the fringes using punch bait, chicken liver, night crawlers or shrimp. A slip cork rig also can be effective in this situation.

Baiting A Hole

Catfish will feed by sight, but most often they go where their olfactory glands lead them.

“Chumming” or baiting a spot using some sort of soured grain like maize, chicken scratch or milo is good way to boost your chances. Bagged range cubes intended for cattle also work well.

Sam Rayburn fishing guide Dan Bentley likes to keep several spots pre-baited, even when he isn’t fishing them. He calls it good insurance, because it trains the catfish to hang close to the areas.

Bentley pre-baits his catfish holes using sealed 5-gallon plastic buckets filled with range cubes. He drills small holes in the sides of the buckets and uses rope to suspend them around stumps or snags. The holes allow remnants of the cubes to seep out as they break down. A bucket of cubes will usually last about two days.

When he readies to fish a pre-baited spot, Bentley will dump soured chicken scratch or milo around the general vicinity of buckets.

It’s best use the chum sparingly. The idea is to ignite a feeding frenzy and concentrate the fish to a specific spot, not feed the fish until they get full. A small coffee can or two will usually get the job done.

Bentley fishes almost exclusively with a homemade cheese bait. He said most of the fish he catches around his baited holes are channel cat in the 1-4 pound range along with few blues.

Occasionally, bigger blue cats in the 20-40 pound range will show up. Bentley’s baited hole record is a 68-pounder his wife caught a few years ago.

“It doesn’t happen very often, but it gets pretty exciting when it does,” Bentley said.

Chum: Making Your Own

Making catfish chum from grains like milo, chicken scratch or maize is easy. A five-gallon plastic bucket should hold enough grain to last several trips.

Fill the bucket about 3/4 full with grain. Add enough water to cover the grain, seal the lid tight and let heat do the rest. Add in a couple of beers and the grain will really get ripe.

The souring process usually takes a few days. You may need to add more water as the grain swells and absorbs water. Stored properly and kept wet, soured grain will get riper with time.

Throwing a Change-up

Channel cat are generally pretty cooperative once fired up, but sometimes it may be necessary to throw them a change up. One trick the late Ricky Vandergriff told me about is soaking shrimp or chicken hearts in chartreuse Dip-N-Dye.

“It almost makes the bait glow beneath the surface, plus it gives it a garlic flavor and scent,” Vandergriff said.

Prior to dying the shrimp, Vandergriff would remove the shell and soak the soft bodies in salt water for 2-3 days. He said this makes the shrimp firmer and makes it harder to steal off the hook.

Making Wind Work for You

Wind churns up waves that press zooplankton and other microorganisms against the shoreline. This attracts bream, shad, minnows and other forage, which in turn attract larger predators.

Any windy shoreline can be good for catfish, but windblown points can be particularly attractive to channel cats. Points cluttered with log jams, stumps or scattered vegetation can be especially good.

Cedar Creek fishing guide Jason Barber says the there is strong bite currently happening on windy points and shorelines at his home lake. He capitalizes on the action using a Carolina style rig matched with a 1/2 egg sinker, 18 inch leader, 3/0 circle hook and fresh piece of cut shad for bait.

Barber says there is an equally good bite for bigger cats in the 20-30 pound range drifting over deeper water. He does his drifting using Santee style rig, 7/0-9/0 hook and large chunk of shad for bait. A small Comal float is placed about 10 inches above the hook to keep the bait floating off bottom.

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.