Catfishing with a FlyRod

I'm just curious if anybody else has attempted to target catfish, while using their flyrods. So far, I have managed to catch a few small Channel Cats, while I was fishing for Bluegill and or Bass. To be honest, I don't remember what they hit though. :(

I have 2 rods, both in the 5/6 wt size, with one rigged with a DT6, and one rigged with a WF4. I'm using regular 8# mono as a leader on the DT6, and a tapered leader on the WF4, with a 7X tippet.

I normally use various sized and colored wooley buggers, while targeting the BG and Bass, and also use a couple of different poppers, and some flies I found that look like grasshoppers.

The Channel Cats in the lake I live on, are starting to move shallow now, and I was wondering if anybody else likes to try cattin on a flyrod, and what they use. What size rods, hooks, leaders, etc. Any particular patterns the Cats might like. That kind of thing. I catch em all the time, using spinning gear, with just about any and all baits channels favor, but I'd like to figure out how to target and catch them using a FlyRod and Flies.

I have been thinking of starting to learn to tie, and now maybe I'll have a good reason to learn. :D

Thanks for looking and helping with any ideas.

I started targeting Cats last summer in the eddy's above and below the rip-rap dikes on the Mississippi river. Used a 9' 8wt, sink tip line, 6-8 ft of 20lb flurocarbon for a tippet and leader. Flies were big wolly boogers sz 4 to 2/0 in Black, Brown and Olive. Caught several Blues and Flathead in the 5 to 10 lb range, but broke off lots more than I caught.

i don't target catfish, but have caught several on the fly rod. woolly buggers, black leech patterns work well. biggest catfish was on a #10 red squirrel nymph. i have even caught a few on a popper when fishing for bass.

Last summer I was fishing for bluegills in a farm pond I frequent using a 4 wt flyrod and a small nymph. I noticed a huge channel cat, must have run at least 10 pounds, up in the shallow arm I was fishing. He was just cruising in and back out so I tossed the fly about 5 feet in front of him. I could actually saw him swim up and take it. I set the hook and all He*% broke lose. After about 10 minutes I got him in and released him.

They put up quite a fight on a flyrod. I was just lucky there was no logs or brush for him to get into, so I just let him run.

Dave

Fly Fish TV has a DVD about fishing for catfish in the Red River up in Canada. The river was at a flood stage and the cats were close to shore. If memory serves me right they were using streamers and woolly buggers. They actually had very good success.

Larry :D ---sagefisher---

I like targeting catfish with fly rod. Large wooly buggers and leech patterns are good. I've also caught them on deceivers and crayfish patterns. Sight fishing in clear waters can be productive. On bright sunny days I'll fish underwater shadow areas behind submerged logs or rocks.

This one took a purple and black articulated rabbit fur leech in size 2:

http://69.13.183.73/pics/catfish_me.jpg

There was a good discussion in this forum few months earlier about flathead catfish on a fly....TIM

PS. Up here in Manitoba, we do have a fabulous fly-fishing opportunity for channel cats, just as Sagefisher pointed out. The Red River has 20# + fish that are eminently fishable with a fly. What you fish with is somewhat important but, like many other fishing situations, reading the river and presentation are more important.

I've caught catfish on dark woolly bugger patterns, mostly, and bass-sized topwater flies fished close to shore in the evenings or after dark are a close 2nd. I've also had them hit white Clouser deep minnows and crayfish patterns.

Thanks guys, for the replies and ideas. I just knew that somebody had to have tried to catch catfish with a fly rod !!

I'll do a search on the fly pages, to see what a leech should look like. I'd appreciate a pic of one, if it wouldn't be a problem to post one.

I've been thinking of getting an 8 wt rod to use for some of the Stripers that hang out below the dam spillway on my lake. Now I have another reason to get one, lol. A 9 ft 8wt with a sinking tip line, and that 20# fluro sounds close to the set up I've been thinking of. It should work just fine for both the Stripers and the Cats.

Mark K, what type of reel are you using on your set up ?? I've seen some reasonably priced adjustable drag reels locally. Would that be a reasonable purchase ??

Again, thanks so much for the replies and ideas.

I'm using Cabela's Prestige Two, it's an older one, wide arbor, about 150 yds of backing, decent drag. Not a bad reel for the money.

The only thing I would add to the above would be clouser minnows and crayfish patterns fished around riprap near deep water. Clousers also make a good spillway fly for cats. IN rivers, they act a bit trout-like in that they'll hold in current seams, eddies and under the edges of undercut banks. At night they will cruise the upper levels of the water column and can be taken on poppers and shallow running streamers fished much the same way you would for bass during the day.

There is a pond where I used to work that has lots of channel cats. I had the most luck there with a muddler minnow. Like anything else, I think it depends more on what the local forage is. Other fish and dog food were the menu on this pond.

Kirk

In my local lake channel cats have proven rather eager to take a fly. They take virtually any fly I happen to be using at the time, but I think they have a soft spot for big, buggy patterns. I haven't specifically targeted them, but I get them when they are about. They certainly put a bend in my 3-weight.

I get on a small creek by my house. when I moved into the area several years ago I began fishing it for the SMB but the channel cats soon became very good sport and quite tasty from time to time.

I target them all the time in the tailraces. My best flies are in two catagories. The first is anything that resembles shad. Next choices are crawfish, fathead minnows and Wooley Buggers.

The next catagory is simply a medium-sized Pom-Pom (available at Hobby Lobby) glued on a hook a la Glo-Bug style, soaked in 'catfish' flavored Smelly Jelly. I just cast upstream and let it drift. Red seems to be the best color. I have also put frozen chicken liver chunks wrapped in panty hose pieces on a hook (unweighted), and nightcrawlers, and casted upstream. They all work well.

I have been tempted to try it at feeding time at our local lake. One of the rangers feeds the catfish. I thought something little and brown in with the food would do the trick. I have seen some 20+ lb fish come to eat!

Waynep--

The cats usually hang pretty close to those feeding areas even between feedings. A small brown popper with the tail trimmed off can be deadly around feeders or any area they are used to getting fed regularly. You may have to slap the water with the fly a few times to get them to come up, but once you get their attention, hold on tight. You can also chum a little first, but there may be issues both legal and ethical to deal with depending on how the laws in your area read.

I can tie up some pellet flies any time you want to try it, wayne...

Wayne,

I'll be down to BV in a few weeks visiting my family over Easter. MAybe we can get together and harass a cat or two.

Kevin

When I look back at it, the biggest cats I've caught were on poppers. Early AM dark or night time popper action.

But off of rocks or rip rap with streamers has been good also.

ive never caught a catfish on the flyrod before, but my fishing partner, FLY4IT rountinley catches them while we're targeting crappie in the Occoquan. generally using a size 8 or 10 minnow imitation.

I was using a white wooly bugger one day when they were chasing shad at the surface and landed about 30 channel cats in about 4 hours up to 4 pounds.