There are two things that contribute probably 80-90% of your catfishing success. And they are fishing in areas where catfish are, and using the right catfish bait. That may seem elementary, but it really is the most important thing. The gear that you use, the time of year, weather conditions, and other things play a role in your catfishing experience, but when it comes right down to it, if you aren’t using the right bait and fishing in an area where catfish are located, you just won’t catch fish.

Finding the Catfish

This is the hardest task when it comes to how to catch catfish. This is where seasonal changes and weather conditions play a role. Now catfish aren’t as seasonal as other fish, they feed continuously, and they grow to be enormous. But there are some things you can use to help you find the fish.

First, you need to find areas that have bottom structure changes, current breaks, and cover. Particularly useful are areas that have submerged trees (often called stumps, or a stump area). Deep or shallow really doesn’t matter much to the catfish, they just like to scavenge for food in areas where there are trees.

Another good location to find are channel areas, places where there is a shallow water, then a deep drop off. These are excellent points to drift fish or troll, working the edges of the drop off.

Points are another good location. Fish the points around the breaks. Use topographical maps to assist you in finding the specific points an drop off areas.

Last, use technology. Use fish finders to help you locate schools of fish. Once you find an area that is successful fishing, log it in your GPS along with the time of year and weather conditions. Build up a catalog with this information, then you’ll know exact spots to fish the next year.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned in to tomorrow as I take you through more details on how to catch catfish. In this next part, I am going to go over the baits that work for types of catfishing, and some gear recommendations. It will be a fun ride, and I am sure that it will help you to become a better catfish fisherman.

1. Crappie are Small Panfish

Because they range from just a few ounces up to a little over 2 pounds, these fish just aren’t big, so when you are looking for bait, concentrate on bait that is in the 1/2 to 2 inch size range. When you are jig fishing, use jig heads that are no larger than 1/8 ounce in size. Larger baits include larger hooks, and these small fish just can’t handle a big bait.

2. Crappie Have Paper Thin Mouths

Along with being a small panfish, crappie have delicate mouths. So when you feel the bump of a fish, don’t set the hook wildly like you see some fanatics on TV. You won’t do much more than ripping the hook right out of the fish’s mouth. A small, quick jerk of the rod is all it takes to hook this small game fish.

3. Crappie are a Schooling Fish

At times, you can find these fish in schools of the hundreds. They stay together, and even when there is a disturbance of anglers pulling them out of the water, they’ll still hang around. So when you catch one, stop the boat and fish the area thoroughly. If the action is slow, change up your colors and baits and see if you can get it going again. One trick I use is to add a crappie bite to my lure, to provide a little scent and taste to the fish for an extra enticement.

4. Crappie Like Warm Water

Following a similar pattern as bass, crappie prefer the warm water. They can handle the water a little bit cooler than bass, but you’ll find them in the shallows in early spring during the crappie spawn. When it gets too hot during the summer, crappie will find medium depth areas to congregate. In the fall, the water temperature is even, and crappie will look for areas of clear water and lots of oxygen. The winter months will force crappie deep, to escape the cold surface temperatures.

5. Crappie Need Lots of Oxygen

Again, like bass, these fish need lots of oxygen. You may already know that these fish don’t last long on a stringer. So during fall months where lake turnover limits oxygen, look for crappie in clearer patches of water and near the surface. In the summer months, look for the fish to be in the thermocline (the layer between the hot surface temperature water, and the deep, cooler water) where oxygen is the highest. In the spring time, as the surface water warms, you’ll find them in the shallows looking to spawn.

6. Crappie Like Small Baitfish and Grub-Like Worms

So if you’re looking to use live bait, get you some 1 to 2 inch minnows, hook them through the upper and lower lip, put a split shot or two on the line, and test the water. You can also put them under a bobber, if you have a good idea of the depth the crappie are schooling at.

If you prefer crappie lures (and I do) start out with some tube jigs like marabou jigs. Start with a 1/16 ounce size, and go to a 1/32 ounce size if needed. Focus on colors like yellow, white, and chartreuse/green to begin with. Use a vertical jigging motion to bounce the lure up and down in front of the fish.

7. Crappie Love Cover

Look for schools of crappie under docks, bridges, fallen tree limbs, stumps, bulrush and grass areas, and other cover that would offer some protection. This is where the food is, and likewise the crappie. A little bit of shade is good too, as the crappie can see a little better in the shade.

That’s the seven crappie tips that will shotgun you to successful crappie fishing. Remember to check back here as often as you can, as I reveal more and more secrets to fishing effectively, and bringing home the “bacon”.

What is Jug Fishing?

Jug fishing is method of fishing geared toward folks that really want to catch a lot of fish. The typical jug fisherman will set many jugs, and therefore has many hooks and baits in the water at one time. When we go jug fishing, we typical set about 24 jug lines in the water. This means we have 24 pieces of bait and hooks in the water to catch fish.

A jug line is simply a large float with a piece of fishing line or twine attached to it with a hook (and potentially other gear) that runs below it. When a fish hits the bait and gets hooked, the float will bob or bounce, indicating that there is a fish on the line.

Most of the time, when fisherman use this style of fishing, they are going catfish jug fishing. Catfish is what they’re after, and if they do it right, they’ll get just what they came for.

Jug Fishing Methods

There are two basics methods to fishing with jugs. The first is my preferred method, which is the anchored (or secured) jug line. In this scenario, the jug is fixed to a position in the water, either by being tied off to a stump, branch or other fixed object in the water, or by including a large, 1 to 2 pound or greater weight to the bottom of the rig.

The second is called “free floating jugs”. This method is used for folks wanted to do some drift fishing, to wit they will forgo tying off to any fixed object, and will not use any large weights, but will simply attach a line and hook rig to a jug, set the jug somewhere out in the middle of the water, and let the current take it, thus canvasing an area to find fish.

These two methods do a good job of keeping currents, wind, and fish from moving the jugs very far from their original location. This will help you to keep your sanity when fishing a lot of jugs…

Within the two basic methods of jug fishing, you also have some variations. For example, we like to fish my jugs shallow most of the time. We will secure a jug to a stump, and only run about 3 feet of line underneath it with my bait. You may think this is crazy, but we will typically average somewhere between 20 and 50 pounds of catfish each day when fishing 24 jugs. And the added advantage to this method is that the fish will still have a good supply of oxygen, and will be fresh when you come by to pull them off the hook.

Probably the more popular jug fishing method is running your lines deep. Many juggers like to place their catfish bait right on the bottom. This does work well, but the disadvantage is that there is a lot of line, and thus a lot of room for the fish to play and possible get off the hook, as well as a lower supply of oxygen, which will often kill the fish if you aren’t on top of checking your jug lines every couple of hours.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’ post, where I go into how to rig up for jug fishing…

The Basics of the Spoon Lure

The spoon lure was invented around 1848 by Julio T. Buel. The basic style of the spoon is a simple, elongated, ovular, concave piece of metal with a single treble hook on the end. Over time, the use of silicone skirts, and wire or bristle weed guards have increased the effectiveness of spoon fishing.

The spoon lure is heavy, and made to enable anglers to cast very long distances, and be able to retrieve the lure through a give strike zone, from well behind it. This gives the angler the chance to land the lure, without spooking the fish. Later on, fisherman adapted the use of the spoon for trolling, and created a lighter version of the spoon, giving it the ability to suspend (when combined with a specific amount of weights) at certain depths and trolling speeds to cover a wide fishing area.

Some Spoon Fishing Tips

One of the more widely known methods of spoon fishing is jigging it up and down. In this scenario, the fisherman locates a school of fish, and trolls in and around the school, working the spoon. You’ll want to drop the spoon straight down to the suspected depth of the fish, and then use a vertical “jerking” motion to cause the spoon to bob up and down in the water. Usually the strike will come as the lure is sinking.

Another method of fishing spoons is trolling. Often, striper anglers will use their fish finder to locate fish in a particular area, and then set several poles at different depths, and work the area until the find the fish. Using different lengths of slack in the line combined with weights, the angler can achieve precision depths for a given speed during the troll.

The main downside to fishing with spoons is getting tangled. Because the lure is good at dropping to the bottom very quickly, and because fisherman will often bounce the lure off the bottom, this lure is prone to getting stuck on the bottom. I can’t tell you how many of these lures I have lost in the past. But sometimes, if you troll around the area where the spoon is snagged, you can jerk it off from behind or the side. I have been able to save a few spoons using this method.