A GREAT SPORTFISH!
I remember spending hours as a boy staring at the hand painted fish in the Anglers Guide. I was studying the short captions, excited to consider what it would be like to catch an unfamiliar species. Words like cutthroat trout and channel catfish loomed foreign and enticing. In those early years, catching anything beyond pike and walleye made you a fishing god amongst family.
I’m not certain what keeps us from trying for unfamiliar species. But once we do, it is hard to stop.
Targeting channel catfish is no exception.
Seemingly out of place, the channel catfish lurks in decent numbers and grows to a surprisingly large size in the Qu’Appelle River system. Found in both the river and the Chain Lakes, these kitties concentrate in the Eastern drainage from Katepwa Lake to the Manitoba boarder. Arguably the northern most native habitat, it is a unique and underutilized fishery.
Channel cats are not the only species of catfish in Saskatchewan, but they are the largest. Madtoms, bullhead, and stonecats, like their big cousin, are very aggressive predators (and not the lethargic, bottom feeders they are often made out to be) but will never grow to be anywhere near the 30-plus inches of the Qu’Appelle River channel cat. One feller from Tantallon, who stopped to chat at one of our grid road fisheries, told of a catfish with “a mouth the size of an ice cream pail”. An intriguing lie, but part of me wants to believe it.
TECHNIQUE
Catfish do not need rotten chicken liver bait nor do they only bite at night. Our best and biggest catfish were on fresh cut bait (white sucker and cisco) and in the middle of the afternoon. They can be targeted all year (some anglers have even been successful ice fishing channel catfish in their wintering habitats such as Round Lake). Elements for success are appropriate gear, proper terminal tackle, and fresh bait.
RODS AND RIGGING
Medium heavy rods spooled with 40-60 lbs. braid is ideal to fight the fish and to have enough strength to battle sunken trees, rocks, and weeds. These fish like to bulldog your rig into all the sunken junk they can find. You must be able to dictate the fight by steering the fish whilst withstanding the abrasion and extra weight of any jumble it tries to thwart you with.
TERMINAL TACKLE
A bottom rig is key to success. Have I seen a young boy catch a catfish in front of us with a red devil spoon and a minnow while we watched fishless and armed with extravagant bait runner reel setups? Yep. But most of the time, a proper circle hook “catfish rig” with a heavy monofilament leader and 1-4 oz lead no roll weight is the answer. The flat, pear-shaped weight helps hold the bait at the bottom and stops the rig from being pushed by the current. The clear leader is not for concealment, catfish are not really line shy—they literally don’t get to see through the murky water they live in. Rather, the mono leader acts as a shock absorber during the fight and doubles as a spring to help set the hook. The circle hook is an ingenious design that successfully sets itself as the catfish turns and runs with the bait.
BAIT
Cut bait—a nice name for chunks of fish—works wonders for a few reasons. First, although you don’t need putrid bait to entice a bite, oily and strong-smelling cisco or sucker seems to aid the catfish in finding your lure. They rely on their barbels to sense food. Secondly, the tough skin of the cut bait provides holding power. In a pinch once, I used two or three large minnows skewered on my circle hook, only to have them slurped off. After being duped again, I put my remaining piece of white sucker belly on the hook and landed that thieving freeloader. For a big fish, cats tend to “peck” at the bait before they grab it and run. Without the holding power of a skin-on piece of cut bait, missed hooksets are likely.
FISH POPULATION
Although the population of channel catfish is strong, the recent Saskatchewan limit change to one catfish is a move in the right direction. Not many anglers retain these fish but reports of overharvesting are unfortunately all too common. Even a few acts of poaching can decimate the population. Please report any suspicious angling you observe to the TIPP hotline. That being said, we have encountered many juvenile catfish, which is a sign of a healthy and sustainable population. Our family has certainly enjoyed a few blackened catfish meals from our catches but released far more than we ever consumed.
Are these fish the same calibre as those in the world-class Red River cats? No. But like your favorite redneck cousin, they sure are fun as hell!
LOCATION
Channel catfish in this system tend to move a lot to locate two things: Baitfish and optimum water temperatures. They are usually where the water is in their ideal range—generally 18-25°C. In the spring, for example, they are often found in the first stretches of the inlet side of the chain lakes as the water is warmer there. Correspondingly, they will also be where there is a meal to be had. Frogs, crayfish, minnows, and even hatching insects are all potential fodder.
Like those wacky trout fishers, it pays to let the fish give away their location. On many occasions, I have observed catfish swimming in the shallows and often launching themselves out of the water or, if they are less playful, porpoising at the water surface. It is unclear if they were feeding on hatching insects or just playing around, but they will make themselves known from time to time. In early July, they can sometimes be seen patrolling a specific section of the river near an undercut bank. Likely, these are nesting fish protecting their fry or staking out ideal nesting sites.
Above all, if you do not know where to start, just start anywhere. If a catfish is nearby and it is feeding, it will bite. If you have no action within 20 minutes, move along to a new location.
End note: “See more catfish adventures in SK, including a catch and cook video, on the 28fish YouTube Channel.”