I don't do it very often, but I have targeted channel cat a few times. I've caught several when blind casting with Wooly Buggers, but I have also selectively sight cast to a few successfully, using black Buggers or leech type streamers. When fishing clear water creeks, I have seen channel cats start from several feet away and aggressively chase down a streamer. As you discovered, they can be a lot of fun to catch, but they do tend to put in a lot of line twist.
Larry Compton
Up here in "trout-challenged" Manitoba, quite a few of us ffers target channel cats, especially in a fabulous tailwater fishery on the Red River, which is just about 75 miles north of the Canada/U.S. border. With decent conditions, we can reasonably expect to catch fish every time out and we regularly get channel cats over 30" and occasionally over 35 (that is not a typo). It goes without saying that it's mostly about sink-tips, clousers, drifts along the bottom (some of the guys have adapted west coast spey tactics very successfully) and the like, but, hey, it works and a monster kitty on the fly is always an event to remember...TIM
Hey Rick,
We have a shallow flats area on the lake
near my house. In spring, a stonefly nymph
drifted just off the bottom will produce
channel cats from 2 to 10 pounds. It's a
hoot.*G* Warm regards, Jim
JC-you crack me up man
If you'll check the early panfish column articles, you'll find one that I wrote about channel catfish.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote