When I was growing up, springtime was always catfish time. Every year, as soon as the ice had melted off the water and I heard the calls of spring peepers in the air, I’d grab my gear and head down to the river for an evening of kitty hunting. I never caught many fish in those days, but it always felt like the first wriggling bullhead or channel cat I managed to pull onto the muddy bank was the start of something great and that the fishing was only going to get better from here.
As I grew older, I refined my catfish fishing strategies and techniques and soon discovered that spring wasn’t just a time to break the seal on my catfish season—it was a legitimate opportunity. With the waters beginning to warm and every catfish species from bullheads to flatheads becoming more active and aggressive, springtime can provide some of the best catfish action of the entire year. And all it takes to capitalize on this early-season whiskery bounty is fishing at the right times and in the right places.
The Right Stuff
Early season catfishing is all about patience. The fish tend to move into and out of likely areas and will feed in flurries, meaning that your baits have to be there, ready and waiting for the time to be right. This may mean spending several hours with little to no action, but when the fish turn on, it can be fast and furious.
Unlike when you’re fishing in summer when catfish tend to crowd up and gather in deeper holes and can only be caught in the early morning or at night, spring catfish tend to hunt and feed in shallower water throughout the entire day, though their strikes will often be much more subtle. This means you may have to go after them with considerably lighter gear.
If you’re after bullheads or smaller channel cats, a light- to medium-action rod is all you need. For bigger channel cats, flatheads, or blues, you’re going to want a beefier, medium-heavy to heavy-action rod for handling the bigger fish. This is especially true if you’re fishing for spring cats in rivers where the heavy current can make larger fish extremely hard to handle. Pair your rod with a decent spinning or baitcasting reel, strung with six- to 15-pound braided line.
Since catfish tend to feed along the bottom and can rove a decent distance away from shore, bring a menagerie of split shot and egg sinkers. These will both help you cast a longer distance and keep your baits near the bottom in the strike zone. Finally, you’re going to want to use circle hooks for your bait. Choose hooks that are an appropriate size for your catfish quarry, with smaller size 4 to size 2 hooks for smaller fish and larger size 2 to 2/0 hooks for catfish over 10 pounds. Rig your setup by either sliding an egg sinker on your line with a small shot or bobber stop about 18 inches to 24 inches below the hook, and you’ll be ready to bait up.
Bait Up Right
While the classic catfish baits you use during the summer and fall will still work for spring catfish, I’ve found that on occasion there are less-common catfish baits with a bit more spunk that seem to produce more early season strikes. As most of the fish will either be in the pre-spawn or post-spawn stage, they’ll often be more territorial and aggressive than normal, making live baits with movement an effective option.
Often, during the spring I’ll fish with multiple rods, rigging one with a traditional catfish bait such as chicken livers or cut bait and the other with live bait and see which produces more strikes. Once I start getting into fish consistently on one bait or the other, I’ll rig my other rod accordingly to double my catch rate.
If you’re hunting smaller catfish, try baiting one of your rods with small live minnows, worms, or whole crayfish. For larger fish, bait up with whole live shad, suckers, or even a panfish like a bluegill (where legal). Often, these livelier baits will get more attention from spring cats, especially when you’re fishing in the early morning or late evening when the fish are on the hunt.
That Good Mud
In the earliest part of the season, spring catfish will be seeking out dark muddy bottoms in the shallowest water they can find. Areas like this will absorb heat from the sunlight, warming the water faster and keeping it at a consistent temperature throughout the day. However, not every muddy-bottomed spot is created equal, and you’ll often have to search around a bit to find the perfect area for catfish to gather.
Start your spring catfish hunt by looking for large muddy flats along the bank that are close to sharp drop-offs, paying particular attention to any areas that are between two and four feet deep. Once you’ve found a couple likely areas, bait up a couple rods and then cast one close along the edge of the bank and another out farther and closer to the drop-off. Depending on water temperature, species, and the time of day, these are the most likely areas for spring catfish to be cruising and usually the first areas that you’ll get a hook-up.
Rocks, Logs, and Inlets
In the later part of the spring when water temperatures have risen into the 70s and catfish are either fully engrossed in or completely finished spawning, it’s time to start fishing around structure. This can include anything from large logs in the middle of a river to rocky points leading out into a lake; anywhere that provides a ledge or hole for a catfish to cram itself into to spawn makes for an ideal late-spring spot. While catfish actually in the act of spawning may be tough to catch in these areas, both fish that are moving into and out of them can be voracious and aggressive and will find your waiting baits hard to resist.
It’s best to fish areas around structure from a boat or from across the river or lake where there’s open water between you and the structure and not directly above or next to it. This will allow you to put the wood to any hooked fish, preventing them from running back into cover and breaking off. Try to cast your baits and fish within a foot or two of your chosen area, and when a fish takes your bait, set the hook quickly and pull as hard as you can to keep the fight out in open water.
Inlet creeks and rivers off lakes and larger rivers can also make excellent spring catfish spots. These areas usually have warmer water and increased flow due to spring rain and snowmelt, which will spark catfish to migrate upstream to both spawn and feed. Concentrate your fishing in these areas in any spot where you find a “pinch point,” or an area where faster currents or flows moving in opposite directions meet, forming a pillow of slower or completely calm water.
Catfish migrating up these inlets will use these pinch points as a refuge from flow as well as routes to move and feed. Use heavier weights and sink your baits to the bottom in these areas, paying extra attention to any areas that are particularly muddy or churned up, as these spots will usually have the highest concentrations of fish. You may have to fish a few different spots, as catfish in these inlets are usually on the move, but once you find the right one, you’ll likely get into a lot of fish.
By a Whisker
For outdoorsfolk, there are a lot of wonderful and iconic moments of spring. From the gobbling of turkeys to the popping of morels to the first ripples of a rising trout, we look for these glorious little instants as the signs of a new beginning to a hopefully long and productive season.
However, if you’re looking for something new to add to your spring activity list, the squelching of mud, smell of stink bait, and sound of a screeching drag hooked to a spring catfish may very well rise to the top.
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