When you’re learning how to catch catfish, it’s important to know where to find these babies. I’m going to give you a few excellent spots to catch catfish. We’re going to talk about the two best bodies of water to find them in — Rivers and Lakes.
Rivers:
Dam tailraces — These will be the areas below the dam where the water is flowing relatively healthy. The catfish here will usually be pretty significant because two reasons:
Smaller fish are disoriented by the rough waters below dams, making them easy prey for bigger catfish.
The fat cats can hang around since the more turbulent water doesn’t bother them like it bothers smaller cats and smaller fish.
River chutes — Chutes are upstream or downstream currents that split due to an obstruction in the center of the river. You can catch large catfish here. The change in the water current attracts big ones that are hungry for your bait. You’re not going to want to throw your line in the shallow water in chutes. Cast your line near the upstream part and let your line sink to the bottom.
Bridges — The supports for the bridges resist current and create pools where catfish love to group together. They’ll feed on fresh bait fish and mollusks here.
Lakes:
Bottom channels — The channels that connect the lake to another body of water are significant areas. These areas are home to natural catfish prey.
Wind battered lake shores — The wind will force plankton toward the lake’s bank which attracts smaller fish or bait fish. The catfish pick up on this and follow too!
Learning where catfish hang out is an important part of learning how to catch catfish, and I hope this section has helped you out.
Rivers:
Dam tailraces — These will be the areas below the dam where the water is flowing relatively healthy. The catfish here will usually be pretty significant because two reasons:
Smaller fish are disoriented by the rough waters below dams, making them easy prey for bigger catfish.
The fat cats can hang around since the more turbulent water doesn’t bother them like it bothers smaller cats and smaller fish.
River chutes — Chutes are upstream or downstream currents that split due to an obstruction in the center of the river. You can catch large catfish here. The change in the water current attracts big ones that are hungry for your bait. You’re not going to want to throw your line in the shallow water in chutes. Cast your line near the upstream part and let your line sink to the bottom.
Bridges — The supports for the bridges resist current and create pools where catfish love to group together. They’ll feed on fresh bait fish and mollusks here.
Lakes:
Bottom channels — The channels that connect the lake to another body of water are significant areas. These areas are home to natural catfish prey.
Wind battered lake shores — The wind will force plankton toward the lake’s bank which attracts smaller fish or bait fish. The catfish pick up on this and follow too!
Learning where catfish hang out is an important part of learning how to catch catfish, and I hope this section has helped you out.
