Author Topic: Catfish hits through the ice (Read 20826 times)

TroutFishingBear · « **on:** Jan 09, 2004, 04:52 PM »

Catfish, for me at least, seem to just sit on it and then start to leave. Its like they put all of there weight on it. Do they hit like that for you guys?
Also, if you get one on a tipup it can really take a lot of line, and sometimes if your really concentrating on jigging you might not see the tipup immediately. Do you guys think that tying a slip knot might at least help hook the fish and at least hinder it enough so it doesnt take all of your line? I will also post this on the tipup forum

Trophy Hunter · « **Reply #1 on:** Oct 29, 2004, 07:35 PM »

Cats have a very good sense of taste if you got gas on your hands from the auger i suspect they might taste it and thus drop er fast my guess is that they taste something unpleasent.I personally wouldn't target cats through the ice around here(manitoba)late fall when ice is forming on the banks and the water gets cold the cats basically shut er down and I have accidentally foul hooked big cats dragging ajig slowly across bottom fishing for walleyes and they came in like a log and took an extremely long time to revive.It's too hard on them and I would imagine a lot would die after being released.

iceintheveins · « **Reply #2 on:** Oct 29, 2004, 10:07 PM »

Around here catfish seem easier to catch than pike through the ice. I have caught the bulk of mine on deadbaits on tipups, but my brother caught one with a jigging rap and cutbait through the ice one day too. They seem to settle into the deepest areas of a lake and they really concentrate. Even if most aren't active, the sheer numbers would make for great fishing. But if they act like it's stressing them out, don't target them. Usually when they hit they grab a bait and run with it, but that is on tip ups and I haven't caught them on jigging lures, but I know that they will hit those. Open water fishing, they usually grab a natural bait and then eat it and swim off. Overall they do a similiar thing through the ice on tip ups.

Tyler

amazinmoose · « **Reply #3 on:** Dec 20, 2005, 12:44 PM »

everytime iv caught a cat though the ice they grab the bait and sit there, dont set the flag till you go and check the bait. -moose

PondPro · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 07:38 AM »

i have a under water camera and it shows the cat fish swim with its head in the mud and its tail is almost straight up.

vipercat64 · « **Reply #5 on:** Mar 02, 2006, 04:04 PM »

I caught one jigging this past weekend....there was no real bite...when I raised the rod to jig the jig(that sounds wierd) it set the hook. Fought pretty good too..

SNAGGER · « **Reply #6 on:** Mar 19, 2009, 10:10 PM »

I was on a school of walleye/white perch on oneida lake last tuesday when a mark come racing up to 4 feet and hit my pimple hard, I fought this fish for 3 minutes or so thinking it was a big walleye, only to see a giant 10-15lb cat that couldn't come close to getting it's head thru my six inch hole. Had to break him off, but what fun! The water was muddy from runnoff!

miket. · « **Reply #7 on:** Mar 20, 2009, 08:38 AM »

i think it depends on the cat fish species. i catch cats all the time and in fact i target them through the ice. a lot of times, i go and check my bait to find a channel cat just hanging out with my bait in his belly. now there are times that i have been spooled and my knot at the end of the tip-up spool was tested. i also catch channel cats on minnows while trying for large mouth bass.my dead minnows work the best. i put 2 dead minnows on and let them sit on the bottom which doesn:t take that long at all.i did see a brown bull head come up through the ice this year. if you ask me, catfish in the winter is a little odd, catfish through the ice is a little odd, and the catfish being active in the day time is a little odd!!

tench · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 17, 2009, 09:37 PM »

When and how do you catch your cats? I fish in VT, and I've never caught one. I get them through open water, but I'd like to get some through the ice.

pursuit · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 17, 2009, 09:53 PM »

Carmifisher you should head to the southern part of Champlain. Plenty of big hogs down there. Hunk of white perch or gill on the bottom. With 15 jacks out you can usually pick off some nice ones. 10inch hole is a must.

tench · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 19, 2009, 08:19 PM »

Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can make a trip down there this year.

wallydiven · « **Reply #11 on:** Nov 19, 2009, 08:38 PM »

caught many 10-20lbers in open water on small ponds. tried on same ponds on ice and nothing. would love to pull one up through the ice and think ive tried everything any suggestions??? ponds are full of them, but not one through ice.

Oldfart · « **Reply #12 on:** Nov 23, 2009, 04:34 PM »

In the winter the cats will pile up in the deepest hole you have. Once you drill there you will be into them. PLEASE note...you can wipe out a pond very fast this way. Take a few, have a fry, and leave some for next time. If you take 100 it may be years before it gets good again.

slipperybob · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 28, 2010, 04:03 PM »

I had my first channel catfish encounter this year...First catfish slammed my Salmo Chubby Darter. Came in like a crappie and I was expecting a ligth nibble or tap. Surprised me with the heavy chomp and loaded with weight as I hook set it. This one swam upwards and all I had to do was guide it through the ice hole. Second catfish chased my Dare Devle spoon and then went to nibble on the Fathead Minnow on the #2 Demon jig. It was nibbling on it, and I gave it a good hook set. This one fought hard and made several runs and some more as I got it close to the ice hole. Eventually I got it into the ice hole.

Moose-51 · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 31, 2010, 10:54 PM »

Don't just assume they are at the deepest location. They can be all over the place.

Caught them in 15' this weekend.

DakotaElkSlayer · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 31, 2010, 11:40 PM »

The eight we took on Friday all hit just like crappies...just kinda' sucked the bait in. When setting the hook, you felt the weight, and then could feel the fish roll, and then you knew that was no crappie.

Jim

doublehaul · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 09:13 AM »

Quote from: MooseJuice on Jan 31, 2010, 10:54 PM

Don't just assume they are at the deepest location. They can be all over the place.

Caught them in 15' this weekend.

Hey Moose- So, Whatdya think about that cold water cattin'? Pound for pound the hardest fighting fish in freshwater for sure.

slipperybob · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 12:39 PM »

Sturgeon or lake trout would be my opinion...for hardest ice fishing fighting. I can personally attest to the sturgeon from experience.

Moose-51 · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 01:39 PM »

Yeah I don't know about hardest fighting pound for pound. But they do fight @%#@ good

Those that i caught out of glendo were my first catfish through the ice. I've caught 1000s of them on soft water though. Can't decide if i think they fight harder this time of year or in dead heat of summer.

I like how you are just as obessed with the whisker fish as I am DH. We will need to tag-team glendo sometime. But just so you know, I don't release them until I get my limit of eaters

I know you like to release them and I respect that, but I just can't pass up fried catfish. Besides, harvesting the smaller fish (5lb - 10lb) means there is more food for those 15-20lbers out there

I'll PM you later and we can get into a more detailed conversation, share some tips, strategies, ect all that good stuff.

doublehaul · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 02:42 PM »

Selective Harvest Moose, that's the name of the game. I keep a few for the frying pan too. It's all about educating those who just don't know.

trogdor · « **Reply #20 on:** Feb 08, 2010, 03:54 PM »

I figured you two would be on this thread.

To add to the info I never would have thought that channel cats would be very active in winter. WOW was I wrong. The reservoir doublehaul and moosejuice are speaking of has plenty of hungry cats chasing baitfish. Most of the cats I hooked were suspended 5-15 feet off the bottom chasing shad

slipperybob · « **Reply #21 on:** Feb 15, 2010, 07:26 PM »

Fished for a few more catfish, only this time I specifically targetted them. Caught a few on garaged fairy wing buckshots. The double kicker tail got some nibbles but no hook ups. So I will be switching over that lure into a fairy wing type as well.

upstate bass2 · « **Reply #22 on:** Mar 10, 2010, 07:37 AM »

Pursuit is correct with location and hole size . We where catching these while pike fishing , I got two
@ 12# and a bunch more over 6# all released.

upstate bass2 · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 09, 2011, 06:09 PM »

Biggest one this year so far and I don't target them!!! 12lb 6oz

Wyofarmer · « **Reply #24 on:** Mar 08, 2011, 02:28 PM »

Quote from: Moose-51 on Jan 31, 2010, 10:54 PM

Don't just assume they are at the deepest location. They can be all over the place.

Caught them in 15' this weekend.

I caught that 16.5lber in 9fow at Boysen this winter..

Icefishur03 · « **Reply #25 on:** Feb 22, 2012, 11:56 PM »

Looks like wyoming is the place to ice cats this year. Can anyone prove me wrong this year!

jumbo chaser · « **Reply #26 on:** Mar 23, 2012, 10:37 PM »

My biggest on ice was this year 42" barely fit threw the hole

LOL

widenhard01 · « **Reply #27 on:** Nov 21, 2012, 09:05 AM »

i just found this site its great now im hoping to try some of the catfish tips that i have read on here ,now im hpping there is plenty of ice this year to try them out. what time of day do cat bite better through the ice

panfishman13 · « **Reply #28 on:** Oct 06, 2013, 01:32 PM »

as far as catfish go, i've only really gotten into them a couple times on ice. once it was a bunch of 1# and smaller fish hitting a blue northland buck-shot spoon tipped with a wax worm. i got lucky and dropped my camera down a hole next to a big sunken tree in 10 FOW, it was absolutely stacked with them. the second time i was fishing tiny jigs for panfish, and i hooked what i thought was a nice bass. looking back, it pulled off around 50 yards of line before spitting the hook, and i've never heard of bass doing that, especially without shaking their head or really doing much of anything except pull.
my rule for selective harvest is to keep a maximum of four of the smaller fish, 1# or less. the fillets are much more tender and flavorful, and they aren't as necessary as the bigger cats are for the spawn.

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Author Topic: Catfish hits through the ice (Read 20826 times)