Fishing Techniques Of Channel, Flathead And Blue

If you want to try your hand at cat fishing or if you already enjoy cat fishing but are looking for ways that you can improve your technique and experience with fishing cat, then it helps to know as much as possible about the types of catfish you are fishing for and the different techniques for each one.

Because there are different types of cat which respond in different ways when feeding, you need to know different ways to fish for them. Other factors such as the weather that day, the location and the season can also affect how you fish for your catfish. Three of the most famous types of catfish to fish for are the channel, the flathead and the blue. Below are some more details about each of these types of fish and how you can fish for them yourself.

Channel Catfish

Channel catfish are well known and easily distinguishable from the other types of catfish, except maybe the blue. Channel catfish are recognizable by their forked tail fins. They also have an upper jaw that projects out below the lower jaw. Their colors can vary from olive-brown to deep-blue on the back and sides, grey and silver white on the abdomen and sometimes shaded. They often have small black spots in their coloration but the larger, older channel fish may not have these spots or they may be harder to notice. The anal fin usually has about 24-29 rays on it. Channel cats are often found in large, warm and fertile bodies of water. They are found in lakes, ponds and even reservoirs.

When fishing for channel, one good tactic is the right bait. Cut bait works great for most sized channel cats and you can base the size of your cut bait on the general size of the types of fish you are fishing for. The next factor is where you will fish. Good hotspots are usually upstream around brush, fallen trees and other areas. You should also try eddies, boulders, low-head dams, logjams and channels to backwaters for finding channel cats.

Flathead Catfish

Another popular type of catfish is the flathead. As the name suggests, they are well known for their flat heads. They are also characteristically colored in pastel yellow which is why they are sometimes called the yellow cat. Their colors can vary from light brown on the back and sides to highly spotted with black or brown spots and the abdomen is usually a pale yellow or cream colored. As stated, their heads are flattened and they have a projected lower jaw.

The tail fin of the flathead catfish is only partly notches and has a straight-edged appearance which is opposite the forked tailfin on the channel catfish and also the blue catfish. In some cases the flathead is actually very dark all over. Flathead catfish can lay over 100,000 eggs in an egg mass during spawning season and the males guard them. This makes them easy prey for noodling in the right time of year, however.