Catch Catfish Under Cover

Currents washed logs, branches and other debris into a boulder-strewn pocket off the main channel, with slack spots behind obstructions.

In these slack spots, shad congregated in huge numbers to avoid the rushing currents. Unseen below the shad, hungry predators waited for an opportunity to slurp any injured or unsuspecting morsels.

An angler tossed a weedless chrome spoon into the slack spot, causing baitfish to jump and scatter in multiple directions. A lurking predator noticed that activity and lined up for a strike. As the shiny spoon fluttered down toward the rocky bottom, the hungry beast inhaled the offering, mistaking it for a wounded shad.

Propelled by the powerful current, the monster ripped line from the reel as the fish raced for entangling rocks. Finally, the big-mouthed brute succumbed after a grueling fight.

"That's the biggest catfish anyone has ever caught on my boat with a spoon," remarked guide Brian Barton of Brian Barton Outdoors. "Spoon fishing is usually more of a numbers technique, but it can produce big fish. You would never have caught that fish with just a regular hook-and-sinker rig with all the snags in the water."

Barton was correct, as a conventional hook, bait and sinker rig would have remained hopelessly snagged. In its place, the anglers threw spoons sweetened with fish strips.

According to Glenn Flowers, professional catfish angler and guide (cathunters.net), lots of folks have caught 60- to 70-pound catfish on lures.

"In bass tournaments, we often hear about people catching big catfish on jigs, crankbaits, spoons or soft-plastic lures," said Flowers. "Anglers bouncing jigs, spoons, worms or other soft plastics off the bottom have the best chance of connecting with catfish, particularly flatheads."

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Considered scavengers, catfish scour bottoms looking for anything they can swallow. However, they will prey upon live creatures if given an opportunity. Large blue cats and flatheads frequently devour shad, sunfish, skipjack herring and even smaller catfish. Flatheads almost exclusively eat live fish.

"A flathead is a predator," Flowers explained. "It likes things alive. I've seen big flatheads swimming after a crankbait all the way to the boat."

Catfish can detect minute food or scent particles in the water from considerable distances. In addition, catfish use electro-sensors to detect prey at night or in muddy water. Opportunistic catfish seldom miss a chance to swallow tempting morsels, whether squirming or not.

"All catfish have predatory instincts," Barton said. "Some of my best sources for finding catfish are bass fishermen who catch them by accident. I hear about half a dozen flathead catfish topping 40 pounds caught by bass fishermen every spring. I've caught all three species on spoons. Typically, I'll catch channels around shallow shoreline structure and blues in deeper slack water near dams."

Taking a tip from bassing friends, Barton uses spoons to cover large tracts of water, and to penetrate places where conventional rigs would snag constantly. Barton uses two different kinds of spoons for diverse applications. He throws flutter spoons at thick, shallow cover, but in deeper, more open water, he prefers a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce Dardevle spoon.

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"When I'm fishing shallow cover, like flooded timber or blowdowns along the bank, I'll use a BoJoLe flutter spoon," Barton said. "I pitch it up into the cover and fish it really slowly. I raise it up off the bottom and let it fall, almost like fishing a Texas-rigged worm for bass."

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"In stained or muddy water, I use a gold spoon. At other times, I use white with some red. In deeper water, I let a Dardevle spoon sink to the bottom and then rip it up about 2 feet off the bottom. If fish are more lethargic, I just crawl it along the bottom, sometimes only twitching the rod tip a bit. Most of the time, fish hit on the drop."

With either spoon, Barton offers catfish a bribe, by tipping the lure with a strip of skipjack or shad, or threading a piece of shrimp on the hook. The shiny, wobbling spoon gives off vibrations and flash, which trigger predatory instincts in catfish. The bait strip undulates through the water, giving the impression of a fish swimming and giving off natural scent and oils for added enticement.

"I hook cut bait on the spoon with just the tip of the hook sticking through the meat," Barton said. "I leave the skin on the skipjack and rig it so that the skin is to the outside so it looks more like a fish. With the combination of the spoon and the bait, it's a one-two punch. The fish sees the flashing spoon and feels the vibration. It also smells the meat. I've fished with just spoons and have caught catfish, but I catch more with the bait trailer added."

The metal and meat combo works particularly well at tempting spawning cats in the spring. When spawning, catfish seek woody or weedy cover along the banks. After the females lay their eggs, males guard the nests and may stay shallow for months.

When cats go deeper in summer or winter, anglers can vertically jig for them with chrome slab spoons. Many anglers scan with electronics and drop spoons directly to specific fish. On a graph, catfish make very distinctive arches right at or slightly above the bottom, usually near some type of cover.

"The best time to catch flatheads on spoons is in the winter," Flowers observed. "Many anglers don't think they can catch flatheads in the winter, but people just need to fish different places. In the winter, flatheads usually hold around current breaks on long straight stretches, usually in 20 to 25 feet of water. When we find a good hole, we drop down a spoon tipped with a minnow or other piece of bait and bounce it across the bottom."

When fishing tailraces behind dams, Flowers casts diamond jigs because they are heavier and sail farther than traditional spoons. Also, the heavier lure works better when fishing strong currents that can sweep away lighter conventional spoons.

"When we fish a tailrace, we cast up as close to the turbines as possible," Flowers explained. "We let the spoon or jig hit the bottom. Then, we bounce it off the bottom and let it fall again. We just keep working it along the bottom with the current. I've caught some 30-pounders with diamond jigs."

While lures will never replace traditional catfish baits among whiskerfish enthusiasts, they can produce big results under the right conditions. When trying to tempt those hard-to-reach fish, try spoon-feeding cats.

Cats Hit It All

Few people intentionally fish for catfish with artificials not tipped with bait, but the predators may hit almost anything that could tempt a bass. Crappie anglers sometimes catch cats on tiny tube jigs and many bass fishermen have set the hook on spinnerbait, crankbait or even topwater strikes thinking they won a tournament or set a new state record only to see whiskers.

Texas- or Carolina-rigged worms catch cats, but a snagless jighead tipped with a crawfish imitation or other soft-plastic creature probably works best. Bass anglers flip jigs into thick cover that might also hold a big cat. Adding a little scent to the lure greatly increases the odds of tangling with a big cat.

If specifically targeting catfish, attach a pork rind or shad strip instead of a plastic temptation and work it through cover. Drag it slowly along the bottom, pausing occasionally to let catfish find it.