channel cats

[bigcats.]

does anyone fish for channel cats? i m a guide here in pa. i fish for channel, flathead and big blue cats. i was thinking about trying to fish the st lawrence or tributaries for channel cats.

[Tomb]

We used to get a lot of decent sized cats in chippewa bay... It seemed like they would move out of the deeper water during the last couple hours of the day.. When they showed it wasn't one or 2, they seemed to come in schools.

Made for some really good catching...

There was also a spot we used to fish near Alexandria Bay. There was specific channel marker (I want to say it was #183, but it has been a while). it was deep water, 60 to 80 feet, but we used to get some really nice smallmouth and perch there... Ever once in a while we would get a BIG cat.. Never kept them or officially weighed them, but they were big and a great fight.

[jimski2]

Lake Erie has some huge catfish. I visited a commercial fisherman in Ontario one spring many years ago who had fyke nets set in the Grand River in the spring. He had caught that morning dozens of different species of catfish up to four foot long.

Fishing from shore on Lake Erie we caught lots of catfish at night using shrimp for bait.

[bigcats.]

thanks for the info guy. i fish the susquehanna river in pa for channel cats and flatheads. the flatheads we catch here go up to 40 lb. alot of 10-30 lb fish. channel cats average about 10 lb. i also fish the potomac river in md. near dc for blue cats. they are big. my biggest down there is 69 lb. i can almost always get a 40lb or 2. i m just looking to try something new. make a road trip north.

[panfisher]

You know, I have caught a couple of decent channel cats in the St. Lawrence just incidentally while targeting bass (smallies and largemouths) or pike. They were great. I'll bet a better than average dedicated cat man, with some homework like u r trying, could do fairly well there. There are large and numerous fish of all species there, even Lake trout, I've heard of! Nothing would surprise me. Try contacting some of the tackle shop owners or even better, guides....

[Kevin J Legg]

I've caught some in the 10 lb. range while fishing smallmouths and walleyes in the St Lawrence. Some in water as deep as 80 feet. The Black River in Dexter, Pillar Point and Chamount Bay have good fishable populations and there are guys that fish them and do very well. I've also heard of people targeting them in Eel Bay and Chippewa Bay around Memorial Day with good success. I know they get them upwards of 20 lbs. and they are a decent fight even though I'm usually disappointed when I get one as I think I have a trouphy walleye.

[kappy]

Genesee here in rochester has some big cats too, the old guys use cut up trout, just the meat, and they kill them with it.. never tried myself, nerver knew that, is it legal to use cut up game fish for bait? just wondering.. River has some monsters in there. good luck

[bigcats.]

Genesee here in rochester has some big cats too, the old guys use cut up trout, just the meat, and they kill them with it.. never tried myself, nerver knew that, is it legal to use cut up game fish for bait? just wondering.. River has some monsters in there. good luck

here in pa it is legel to use sport fish for bait as long as it s in season and of legal size.

[frm03064]

i just posted a thread in the Lake O tributary section about my channel cat exploits on the genesee..

The Genesee is full of em from end to end, and ones in the 10lb range are not uncommon... I fish for em just south of the mouth in the area of turning point park and the pattonwood bridge. The waters slow, muddy and gets nice and warm on a sunny day... My two preferred methods are either good old fashioned crawlers on hooks about 8" above a pyramid weight, or my best method overall is probably going to wegmans or tops and getting a pint of fresh chicken livers. You cut off some fatty chunks, wrap it up in spawn net material and tie it just like you would an egg sac. put it on a small baitholder hook with 2 heavy splitshots about 10" above the hook... just cast it will slowly go with the current but it should stay close to the bottom. this method produces best for me... and since the livers are wrapped in net they stay on the hook great.

[Stinky Finger]

Usually channel cats don't cross my mind much but your thread brought back some memories. I don't go out of my way to targets channel cats but I don't complain when I find one on my line either

They have saved the day a time or two when the walleye bite on Oneida was painfully slow, usually due to heavy rain. Leaving the lake and the canal behind and heading up fish creek to the deeper holes and outside bends (feeder trib close by always a big plus) with chicken livers fished on bottom with a slip sinker always produced a stringer of 2-5 lb cats. When it rained all day but cleared up after dark was a good time to head back out in the boat up the creek for that.

Have been quite surprised to have them strike spoons too. This was at Dunkirk harbor in winter while casting for steelies and browns around the warm water. My weapon of choice there is a 9' 5 weight fly rod with a light spinning reel and 6 lb test to cast trolling spoons. That setup will toss a pirate or an NK a good distance, provided the wind isn't in your face and gives good control to play light trolling spoons on a slow retrieve.

By chance happened to discover a nursery area for young of the year channel cats on Tonawanda creek near the reservation while getting crayfish for Niagara river smallie fishing. Would go to a spot that was wide and shallow, a long riffle where just about every rock overturned would reveal several 2" channel cats scurrying for cover. Definitely not bullheads. They were all silvery pearl in color with white bellies and tiny black spots on their sides.

[panfisher]

Stinky Finger.... That's a great observation on the baby channels under the rocks. That is very different from what I have noticed about baby bullheads. which were not under rocks, but close to shore in large schools, like pollywogs.....

[Chinook1981]

We've caught channel cats over 20 pounds in Oneida and Onondaga.

[ Post made via Android ]

[tcon]

Genesee here in rochester has some big cats too, the old guys use cut up trout, just the meat, and they kill them with it.. never tried myself, nerver knew that, is it legal to use cut up game fish for bait? just wondering.. River has some monsters in there. good luck

Kappy,

I asked the same question once about using cut bait...small sunfish in particular and was told as long as you catch them in the body of water you are fishing your legal...you may NOT transport though. I have a golf course in my back yard thats full of little sunfish...but no go .

Tom