Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Catfishing in high water.

Hello I am currently in Minnesota

The waters are way high.

I have struggled through the years in high water.

I also struggle in snaggy waters. I use a slider with 1 to 4 ounce weight. Snap swivel leader with the bait. Level wind line out click.

What’s your advice please.
Thanks
John

I'm not great in high water, myself, but as far as snaggy water goes, keep the bait close to the boat. The more line you let out, the better your odds of getting hung up are. The river I fish most of the time is loaded with snags, but I've learned keeping the rig within 10ish yards of the boat helps mitigate a lot of hangups, and the fish don't care if the bait is near the boat.

I don’t have a boat!

I’m spanking on da bank!

Thinking about a steel head type rig with a slip bobber/ float.

[quote=Angus1895]I don’t have a boat!

I’m spanking on da bank!

Thinking about a steel head type rig with a slip bobber/ float.[/quote.

I use a slip bobber mostly shallow & deep and catch plenty catfish.

How far off the bottom?

What do you use 4 bait?

Thanks
John

That all depends sometimes a foot off bottom sometimes 5' off bottom i keep adjusting till I catch one then fish that depth and most times catch more.

Bait I use all kinds fresh cut bream. nightcrawlers, raw shrimp, hotdogs, raw chicken, shiners and stink bait.

I am liking using hot dogs in some areas.

Thanks for the reply.

U mostly white channel cat?

Mostly Channels & Blue Catfish.

Angus,

I don't know what waters your targeting, but I just got back from the upper Owyhee river above the lake. The best bait has been fresh cut smallie filets chunks.

The guys had their best action with enough lead to get it to the bottom and the bait suspended about 10" or so above that - then the whole thing has a sliding float (think steelhead) to keep everything pretty much straight up and down, but not drifting.... Make sense??

Me: Personally I can't sit and wait so I run the banks. I like to wade to places others won't go and toss a 1/8th oz black and gold Panther Martin... that's right - a Panther Martin. I catch WAY MORE cats than they do. My best was last years 11# @ 30.5" long.

Those channel cats, when aggressively feeding are along the current edges and eating baitfish, crayfish and anything else they can fit in their mouths. Cast across and down a little and let it sink a bit as you tighten up your line. Then let it naturally sweep down through the current and across the hole.

Reel only enough to be sure the blade is turning properly - you'll see the rod tip vibrating when it's working properly.

If your bouncing off of the bottom, reel slightly to keep from snagging.... your lure is right where you want it to be.... in their face! If you do get snagged, let out several feet of line and let it float down stream, then give a big jerk! Most of the time the down stream pull will pop the lure right out of the rocks.

I like to replace the treble hooks with a single siwash - it makes releasing the catch much easier.

In the last hole I fished before we broke camp, I caught and released 13 cats, a trout and I don't know how many smallies - all in an hour and a half! It was ridiculous fun!


11# cat



Reel is rigged with 30# yellow power pro braid, uni to uni knotted to 10 or 15# leader as long as my rod, but without the knot reeling onto the spool when the lure is at the tip. The cats and small mouth aren't leader shy and this aids in not losing my gear. Yellow line makes seeing it simple - and it floats.

Our biggest cat this year came on a commercial stink bait of some sort, by one of the othet guys... 33" and 15# - a darned nice cat! But, I caught way more fish than anyone in camp on my PM. Good luck

Awesome thanks!

Got this one yesterday morning

Can't imagine cutting up smallmouth bass for catfish bait.

That's some quality fishing.

That's a nice catfish those size are fun to reel in.

I prefer cat fish over bass.

Just braying

Would u put a swivel terminal and then the panther Martin?

Yes. I usually run a snap swivel to the PM so I can change lures and keep line twist down.

I lost a big cat after a good full minute fight when my snap apparently came open.
Whether I was putting too much pressure on it or if I just screwed up and didn't get it closed properly (most likely) I don't know....

The best setup is to put a small split ring and a swivel on the PM while changing the hook to a siwash - then just tie direct. It's more trouble, but a stronger and shorter setup.

Nice catfish, BTW. A perfect eater.
We always have a big fish fry one night during the trip.

On the John Day River, that'll usually mean small mouth bass fillets.
We do catch a cat from time to time on the JD - usually on a twistertail type jig setup. But they're more an incidental catch for us. We're floating and not spending much time in any given spot.

On the Owyhee, it's always cats and they're a much better meal, in my opinion...

I marinate
the filets in plain kiefer

Bread them in corn meal/ corn mesa

Fry in peanut oil


Where is the owayhee?

Owyhee reservoir is just west of Ontario, Oregon a few miles.
It feeds into the Snake. West of Boise....

We drive to Vale, Oregon and cross the desert mountains on it's north side to get to the river canyon above the reservoir itself.

A shot of camp.


Some of the gear being readied for the trail.


It's snaky country.... one of the guys killed a rattler that was just a few feet away from my tent. I saw a bunch of big bull snakes this year, which I like a lot.
Same fish different view.

I fished farewell bend before, thanks

What colors of Panther Martin are you using? Have you noticed a particular color of blade or body working best in your water?

I don’t know about the panther Martin I think his original post said black and yellow.

I have found catfish will bite on glow colors

I fish almost exclusively with the black body/yellow dots and a gold blade.
I've caught them on others and even used a Mepps spinner in nickel to dredge a deep hole and caught fish.

New update Minnesota river bull head 4 bait.

I need a bigger net

Crow river Minnesota


30.5 inches 4 am

Dang, nice fish. Congrats.

New spot on crow. These had craw dads in em. The river is low now.