After a cold spring, a hot summer came almost immediately. Fat catfish that like heat have already begun to feed well. More and more anglers hunt them with a spinner, which gives great mobility and the ability to fish many interesting places on one trip. How to go about fishing catfish with spinning?
Catfish fishing – equipment
Catfish rod
Typical fishing rods for spinning catfish are 270 – 300 cm long and have a casting weight of 50 to 120/150 g. Such a rod has a lot of power to fight big fish. However, we do not always fish in a place where you can catch catfish with two in front.
If we expect medium-sized fish in the fishery, a simple spinning rod up to 30 – 45 g ww is enough. Zander and sometimes asp are by-catches when fishing for catfish, so a light rod will also be better for these fish. It is important that the rod bends into a deep parabola, thanks to which it will absorb the breaks of larger pieces better.
A rod specially designed for catfish fishing with spinning lures: DAM MADCAT BLACK SPIN 270/40-150g:
Catfish reel
You can choose a reel designed for catfish spinning or another sufficiently strong one, or even a ground model.
Catfish fishing braided line
For a more delicate rig, we recommend a braid of about 0.20 mm, and for a heavy one, 0.30 mm. For this, a leader made of thick braided leader 0.6 mm or thicker. Fluorocarbon can be used as an alternative.
MadCatSpliceable Leader Line 1mm 25m:
Lures for catfish
The most popular and probably the most catchy bait for catfish is the wobbler . Small, bulbous, with a large lip for the day or shallowly descending at night. Color doesn’t really matter. Just look at the catfish’s eyes. The wobbler should have a high vibration amplitude and be strong. Catfish wobblers have a frame made of one piece of wire and strong treble hooks. Polish models are, for example, Hornet or Alaska. The length is usually enough 6-10 cm.
Wobbler designed especially for catching the biggest catfish: Mikado Cat Territory Meanest Cat D06 floating 9 cm:
The second place in the effectiveness of attracting catfish is not so obvious. Many catfish are caught with gum , but this is often as by-catch when hunting zander. Catfish lures are rather larger (12-20 cm) and heavier. Classic pendulums, although currently not very popular, are recommended by many old-timers. Properly conducted, they can be very effective. I once learned a method for recalcitrant catfish: cast a large spoon near the catfish’s hiding place so that it visibly splashes when it hits the water. The bait then acts as a clonk , attracting the catfish. After dozens of such thuds over the head, the catfish hits it out of sheer annoyance 🙂
Where to look for catfish in the river?
During the day we fish for holes on the inflow and outflow of the head, and at night shallows, often with a rapid current. A classic place is also a ditch, exactly the edge where the water falls from the shallows to the depth (provided that the sand does not fall off it). Catfish also inhabit deep gutters by the bands and gutters along river meanders with a steeply sloping bank, often bristling with logs, branches, or having bushy banks.
Catfish in standing water
When it comes to reservoirs with permanent water, catfish mainly inhabit dams. Due to stocking, however, they end up in lakes, ponds, clay pits, etc. In such places, I look for them mainly near hiding places – sunken trees or, for example, machines, near water plants, an old river bed (dams), or in holes with deeper water. Unfortunately, not all such places are easy to track without a boat and an echo sounder.
Rafal Pokusinski
