Little-known Catfish Fishing Tips

Everywhere you look, you'll find great catfish fishing tips for various types of catfish that can be found in the United States.

In most areas of the country, the main species available are blue catfish, channel catfish, and flathead catfish, though you can also find white catfish and bullhead catfish in some areas. This article will concentrate on rounding up the best catfish fishing tips for the top three species you'll find in North America.

To start with, consider the flathead catfish. Few species of fish grow to be larger, with only the blue catfish, white sturgeon, and alligator gar being bigger, and these can be fighters. That is, if you can find them. The most important catfish fishing tip to employ in seeking out flathead catfish is to have patience.

You probably won't catch a trophy sized flathead on your first outing or even during your first few, and sometimes, it's difficult to find any at all. For the best chance of catching a whopper, fish during warm months, targeting waters between May and October. Focus on large rivers or lakes with moving water that doesn't have an extremely strong current.

Be sure to check out areas with fast-breaking structure because flatheads like to find cover here. Fish at night for best results, use live bait, and (perhaps the most important flathead catfish fishing tip of all) make sure to have good, strong tackle. These catfish are large and can put up quite a struggle when they do get hooked.

Channel cats, being smaller and much less picky, are less of a hassle to catch. Channel catfish fishing tips are virtually unnecessary. This breed can be found in almost any type of freshwater source - lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and any other formations - and is a scavenger in the true sense of the word.

Catfish are known for being opportunistic feeders, and channel cats are some of the most prominently so. You can use almost any type of bait, though night crawlers and bits of chicken liver tend to do the trick the best. Rigging options are a personal choice, with just about any type of rigging producing great results.

Channel cats like to gather near dams, where smaller fish and bait have been torn apart and are found in bits and pieces, and they also like hiding in brush and other underwater cover, so one important catfish fishing tip to follow in connection to this is to check out the shoreline where there is lots of shallow water with woodpile and brush cover.