Looking for catfish....

[Steely-Head]

This spring/summer, I am looking to catch some catfish, I just dont catch enough of those. Does anybody have any hot spots for bigger sized fish they would be willing to share? PM me if you dont want to post. Thanks in advance.

[jigworm]

Steely,

Haven't done a lot of catfishing around here but have caught them in Kent lake and Bellville Lake while walleye fishing. The channels get pretty nice in Bellville. Talked to a guy last year that goes up to Holloway res and does pretty good.
Let me know when you want to go and we'll take the boat and chum up a few holes.

Pete

[ice fishin nut]

Art,

I know of an area right by us,,,, when the dogwoods let there "fluff" go, thats the time to get out and get them,,,,, Let me know if ya wanna go!!!

[ESOX]

Right at the park where you do your Silver Bass fishing. Get a couple of 6-8" Silvers and rig them up on a slip sinker setup. A couple nice gashes down the sides to make a nice scent trail. Toss them out and kick back for a short while. (hopefully very short). Make sure you have stout enough tackle, there are some Hawgs around there.

[Steely-Head]

Yeah, where I fish there are some big uns. One time about two years ago, I was down there in the middle of summer looking for anything that would bite. This guy walks out with a stiff 8 foot rod, a massive spinning reel, a two ounce weight and a treble big enough to snag a whale. I didnt think much of it, until he pulled out his nightcrawler container and gobbed about 5 or 6 whole worms on the hook. He then proceded to hurl it out a good 30 or 40 yards, into the stronger current. I was positive he wouldnt catch anything, but he ended up landing a nearly 20 pound channel cat and one that was smaller, around 8 or so. To date those are the only two cats i have seen come out of that park, both on the same night. Whenever I try fishing for cats there all I get are sheephead. Perhaps i need to upgrage to a bigger bait like you are suggesting Esox.

[fishing addict]

I,hear the,Grand River,from,Lyons to Ionia,is good for big cats.Also,the Maple River,near where it empty's into the,Grand River. Been told to fish it at night with lanterns. When,I,was young,my dad and a buddy,used to use doughballs,similer to carp bait,for big cats,at the mouth of the,Maple River,at night.A friend of mine said he caught alot of,8-25pounders,in that area,a few years ago.I,was told,between,Ionia and Lowell,and near the mouths of the Flat River,and Thornapple River,as well.Grand Haven,at the warm water discharge(power plant),and around the bayou's.

[robin]

I caught 2 master angler cats while trolling for walleye on Saginaw Bay. During one of the nice sewage spills 4 or 5 years ago I motored along the southeast side of the bay and saw dozens of HUGE cats floating dead along with carp and walleye. I was told that they can be caught in the shallows in the spring. The 2 m.a. fish I caught looked like little bullheads compared to the monsters I saw floating dead.

[Chad]

Try using chicken liver on a treble hook for channel cats. I freeze the liver and then let it defrost about half way, then push the treble up through the middle and clip it back onto the line. This worked better for me than trying to hook thawed liver on, otherwise it is much like trying to put snot on your hook. All of my bigger ones came after dark with little or no light from the lantern.
Chad

[outnabout0]

i just bought some property neat saranac. they say that they catch alot of cats that are pretty big on 8-10'' minnows. ive seen alot of guys trolling and catching nice walleyes. i own 30 acres and camp out there all summer. 1\2 mile of river frontage. if you get time email and ill give directions. can launch a boat from property or boat launch is 100 ft down river. have 2 artisian wells we use for water.

[cireofmi]

There are sheephead in the Grand at Ionia. Since I have my own car I plan on going fishing alot more this summer. Which may include some evening trips to the grand to fish for some catfish.

[djkimmel]

I've caught a fair amount of catfish while bass fishing on the Grand in Lansing. I think a high percentage area would be near the BWL cooling towers above Moores Dam in the spring. It's a little deeper, slower current and you have a warm water discharge. Below the dam along the BWL side, their are big cats too although a lot of them get right under the BWL walkway.

I've caught a few big ones near and under the I-496 bridge in the deep run and hole there. I saw a monster caught from Elm Street bridge in the evening a couple years ago. There is a small boat ramp downtown. I prefer not to be there after dark though, but I've never had a problem in all these years during the day.

Another Grand River place is just below the Weber Dam out past Portland. There's some runs below the fish ladder down from the DNR parking lot that I've seen night-time catfish anglers fishing. The one I talked to had saltwater gear and said he's caught some huge cats that tested his tackle there. I used to catch a lot of small walleyes during the day from the same spot.

I caught a huge flathead along the bank of the Grand River just downstream from the Eastmanville Bridge. There's some big walleyes and catfish in that area. The deeper holes around the bridge are key.

Some exciting news I've seen is the latest report of the state of St. Clair fisheries that shows a huge population of BIG channel cats in Anchor Bay, especially in the spring. This is an underfished and healthy population. You can read the report at this link and see a picture of SE Michigan DNR fish biologist Gary Towns holding a big Anchor Bay cat at: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Mt_Clemens_status2002_59852_7.pdf

[Steely-Head]

Thanks for the tips and locations everyone. Here kitty kitty kitty...

[slowpoke]

I understand that Mott Lake has to many Channel cats in it and I was going to try there for some this year. If I do I will give a report.