SUMMERTIME RIVER CATS
Large Rivers
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: Watermelon, iced tea, suntan lotion, sunglasses
and fishing for catfish comes to mind when the sun climbs
high in the sky, and the mercury heads for the 100-degree
mark. Many anglers believe that to catch catfish in
the summer you simply throw a stink bait out on the
bottom of any river. But to consistently catch more
cats on every outing, you need to know where the fish
most likely will occur, what they're most likely to
eat in these spots, and what conditions cause them to
feed most actively. Catfish like to eat almost anything.
To catch catfish, determine the natural baits in the
river you're fishing, and fish them first. Check with
local anglers and sporting-goods stores to learn what
baits catfish bite in that region at that time of the
year. Several other factors affect when and what catfish
eat. The temperature of the water governs how actively
catfish feed, because the enzyme action in a catfish's
stomach doubles with each 8-degree increase in water
temperature. The hotter the weather becomes, the more
catfish feed. Since most catfish prefer a dark habitat,
they eat mostly at night during the hottest, sunniest
weather.
John Hill, who fishes the Tennessee River near Town
Creek, Alabama, uses Asiatic clams for catfish. Hill
says, "Each summer these clams will have a die-off.
When you begin to see the clams on the surface, you
know you'll find a catfish hotspot. The catfish will
move in and feed on these mollusks as they begin to
die. All we have to do is pick up some of these clams
off the surface, put them on a No. 1 hook, add a piece
of shot lead 8 inches up the line and let the clams
float back down to the bottom." Hill went on to
explain that anytime you located a bed of freshwater
clams or river mussels, you generally could catch catfish
near it. These shelled creatures died off frequently,
which meant catfish often would hold and feed in these
areas.
If you don't have clams to bait with, spoiled shrimp
or worms also will produce catfish on large rivers in
the summer. Use your depth finder in a large river to
locate big, underwater boulders and underwater drop-offs
and ledges that only may drop from 3 to 5 feet. These
current breaks out in the middle of a river often will
hold numbers of catfish because they provide ambush
points for the catfish and current breaks where the
fish can hold. Catfish also will hold on the inside
bends of main rivers.
 Too,
you'll find river cats where small run-offs pour into
the main river. Often after a summer storm, little feeder
creeks and streams will bring mud-stained water into
a river. These clouds of mud will appear like giant
mushrooms out in the river and present a dining table
to catfish. The mud brings insects, worms and grubs
into the river as well as microorganisms that cause
baitfish to concentrate on the edges of the mud line.
In these kinds of spots, the catfish have the option
of feeding on the food brought in by the running water
or the baitfish that the stained water attracts. Often
within an hour after a run-off begins, catfish will
stack-up in these types of areas.
Also to take river cats, travel the middle of the river,
and watch your depth finder. You'll notice most of the
fish you see in the middle of the river will hold in
about the same depth of water. Anchor upstream of the
school. Use a slip bobber to set the depth at which
you'll fish. Then you can bait with either live or dead
bait and let the current carry your bait and your bobber
to the catfish.
Don't overlook little puddles as catfish hotspots. Often
a small funnel of water trickling from the main river
into a small pond, a drainage ditch or a side creek
will hold catfish that use these small channels to get
into these back-water regions. Because these areas seldom
have fishing pressure, from time to time, you can locate
high concentrations of catfish in these out-of-the-way
places.
Shallow-river flats that break off into the main river
channel also will produce catfish, especially after
dark in the summertime. The catfish often will move
up to the lip of the break or even into the shallow
water to feed when the stars come out. By fishing with
a float to keep your bait just off the bottom or by
using an egg-shaped slip sinker with a barrel swivel,
20 inches of leader and a No. 6 hook on the bottom,
you can catch the catfish as they move onto the flats.
TOMORROW: BELOW DAMS
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