Channel Catfish Update, Sunday June 8th

Fish em All

Fish em All

Well-Known Member
Finally got the chance to get out a couple times this past week to fish Erie tributaries for some big channel catfish......Fishing from boat and shore, we caught a lot of cats using shrimp, cut-bait and live crawlers. We fished slip sinker and slip float rigs on 3/0 to 5/0 hooks with 30-50 lb braided line..... Most of the fish were in the 6 -14 lb range, with the two biggest cats weighing in at 16 and 17 lbs........



 
Nice catch! I've been out a few times. Caught some nice ones but the numbers don't seem to be there yet. TC
 
That's exactly how we target them. Man these fish, like most everything else this year is over a month late. Charlie Wray did a show with Steve Hardcastle, @Fishmasters, on the Grand a few years back that aired as a rerun Saturday. They did that show in April I believe or early May.

@steven, the new guy, no one is going to give you an exact location, find a trib and fish it. More rewarding when you find them yourself anyway.
 
steven said:
I ment like what lake port burwell port Bruce or where ever
Click to expand...

Most all of the muddy creeks and rivers running into Erie hold cats, some more than others. These creeks are usually small or narrow. The big lake most everyone will give you a general idea, some even may PM you GPS. The small creeks not usually. I've seen threads that have 1500 or more reads here, usually reports, we haven't that many members I believe. These guys just troll sites waiting for someone to screw up and give a hot spot for all to invade. Can you imagine what would happen if a few hundred guys showed up on a 20 foot wide trib because the fishing is hot? Now that guys favorite spot he's been fishing for years isn't so private, don't want to say secret, anylonger. It's common knowledge the Grand River below the Dunnville dam is a hot spot for big cats. But it's a big river and I nor most anyone is going to tell you on the internet where the best holes are. Now just to prove I'm not a complete asshole I'm going to PM you with a good spot for cats on an Erie trib. Just don't tell anyone we'll keep it our little secret. Actually I'll tell you now, the Grand below the Dunnville dam. Just kidding I'll send you a PM.
 
Went to Caledonia yesterday drove over the bridge and talked to some guys fishing off
the bridge in york this is the grand river for those that don't know
i fish in some spots along that stretch of river but i have my quit spots
but they were saying they were catching big cats off the bridge but they keep loosing
them they cant lift them up don't know why they would fish off the bridge for such a big fish
but there are big cat's in there.
 
Gunner_1 said:
Went to Caledonia yesterday drove over the bridge and talked to some guys fishing off
the bridge in york this is the grand river for those that don't know
i fish in some spots along that stretch of river but i have my quit spots
but they were saying they were catching big cats off the bridge but they keep loosing
them they cant lift them up don't know why they would fish off the bridge for such a big fish
but there are big cat's in there.
Click to expand...

Gunner, no one said fishermen, oops persons, are the sharpest Crayons in the box. Colourful maybe but not too sharp sometimes. They wouldn't think about walking it to the shore would they?

Down south we use a round weighted net that collapses around a fish when you pull on the rope, then you can haul it up to the pier. Have never seen one here though.
 
Everything does seem to be behind a month or so this year, usually by now the creeks and rivers are full of hungry pre spawn channel cats.....We normally fish the Grand River every year early to mid April, and it seems the largest females are caught during this time frame......Fishing seemed very slow for cats on the Grand this year, with a lot of high water from run off and colder temperatures than normal, this is the first time in 5 years we never made the trek down to Dunnville in April...Couldn't agree with you more WhatsthePoint, the Lake Erie creeks and Tribs we fish are smaller and more susceptible to increased fishing pressure and have experienced it first hand when internet fisherman or "lurkers" find out the locations you are fishing!!!! Get out there Steven and put in some time and pay your dues, any tribs flowing into Lake Erie will hold some giant hungry cats!!!
 
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