Wintertime is the best time to catch big catfish. The majority of people totally discount the winter as its cold outside and the impression is that the fishing is tougher. While this may be true if you don’t know how or where to fish, but for those take a little time to study up, this is one of the best times to be on the water. Here is how to catch winter catfish on the river.
During this time of the year, it’s cold and everything moves slower. However, all living creatures are also huddled together to stay warm. This means that catfish will be all stacked together in a hole. Just imagine the excitement of catching one huge catfish after another. So where are these catfish holes located? There are three areas where you can expect them to be during winter. The first one is a deep hole. If you are familiar with the area, locate the largest and deepest hole in your river and you will find an incredible amount of catfish. The next area you should consider is the various intersections of creeks and rivers. These formations create natural holes that the fish in the smaller creeks and rivers will migrate to in winter. The last location to find catfish in the winter is a dam. While it may not have the deepest water, there is so much live bait there that the fish won’t leave. A dam is particularly effective for southern states.
Now that we know where the catfish live in winter, how do we catch them? There are two simple methods. The first method is drifting through abundant areas. If you believe there are large quantities of catfish in an area you are sure to get some bite as you come through. This can also be used as a tool to search new locations and discover the best fishing holes. The second technique is requires anchoring every 20 to 40 yards and casting in several different spans. This method allows you to check a large stretch of river slowly over the course of a full day while catching fish that are inactive. This technique works well, but requires more effort.
In regards to the type of bait to use for catfish in the winter, use large bait to catch large catfish. The fish’s’ metabolisms have been lowered and won’t need to feed as much. Since big fish have larger bodies and still need to eat, they must feed on larger pieces of bait in order to sustain their bigger bodies. In addition, in winter they don’t want to spend any extra energy hunting for food or feeding. This means they want the largest possible meal with the least amount of work. Why not make it easy on them and catch a huge catfish?
Fishing in the winter can be the best time to catch big catfish. Bundle up, head out to the river and bring home some catfish to enjoy.
