Channel Cat

Not into the Flatheads yet but like to catch a few Channel Cats. When is the ” Prime Time ” to try below Guttenberg with cut bait?

Thanks
whip2

Welcome to IDA Whip.
There are a few things to consider when trying to pinpoint a Prime-time for Channels.
This is the time of year when the Channels start to bite pretty aggressively. (you want to start when water temps hit 40 or greater, the warmer the water the more active.) I’m guessing that your water temps could be above 50F already.

Time of day for channels doesn’t seem to matter, though my experience is the the larger ones seem to prefer the early evening hours, (could be that I’m trying for bigger flats and only the large channels would be able to take a shot at my bait).

Talk to some other fishermen in the area and see if you can’t find out some info on whats working for them. Also we have a lot of info if you look at previous posts, As you read through you will see that there are patterns but spots can dictate what times and techniques to use.
Good Luck Mate.

Hey Whip. We’ve been getting bites at all times of the day. I am starting to notice that as soon as the sun starts to slide down the horizon the bite is picking up just a bit.

Good luck!

The best hours for fishing are going to usually be from sunset to a couple hours after sunset, and the dawn light transition to generally about 8-9 a.m. The morning bite is often better than the evening bite, but who likes running for the river at 4 a.m. in July?

Channel cats are possible to catch in the daylight hours, often times you just need to focus on water a bit deeper. You wont aways catch the most fish, but bigger fish often come out of the deep holes. Bait choice is critical. Reasonably fresh shad, cut sucker, cut sunfish if its legal is very hard to beat. Try a variety of bait until the fish tell you what they want. Bait choice does make a huge difference. If you are usin what they want, its hard not to catch a fish.

Thanks for the info everyone. Would May a better month than June?

whip2