How to catch catfish in a river. River catfishing. Fishing creeks for catfish.
Hey Luke here with cats and carp calm, and I’m, going to show you how to catch catfish from a river, and I’m, doing it using a bobber and a circle hook and a little bit of fish. That’s. All you need fishing from rivers is really different, especially these small little tiny rivers with lots of current it’s, a lot more like fly fishing and less like the catfishing.
You’re used to you. Do a lot more waiting around and casting and prowling around and a lot less sitting around and waiting it’s, a much more exciting it’s. It’s, beautiful it’s fun! You generally don’t catch as big a fish, but it’s, really engaging and it’s, something I really love to do every once in a while.
Now, unfortunately, I don’t live near a really good River, so I’ve had to come a little bit of a ways to get to this spot and consequently I only have about an hour hour 15 minutes to fish. So it’s, going to be quick and dirty, and hopefully I can pull out something before I call it quits.
Catfishing Reel
So let me show you what I’m using I’ve, got a dialogue, regal 3,500 bite and run real. This is my go-to catfishing carp fishing reel, and I use this. Whenever I’m, doing kind of smaller fish and by smaller I mean under 20 pounds.
I’ve got some 20 pound spider wire braid on it. I’ve got a basic float, one of the weighted ones and I ‘ Ve got a circle hook with a piece of shad on it. I had a bunch of shad in my freezer, so that’s.
What I decided to use as bait, I’ve, got it on the Cabela’s. Seven-Foot mag touch rod. It’s; a carbon fiber rod. They don’t make these anymore, but I love them to death. I only like five of them and I’d, buy more if they still made them, but seven foot rod really sensitive one-piece rod a lot of backbone to it.
Bass Rods
A bass rod is a really good match for this. So if you’ve got like a bass fishing rod that will work too, but kind of a medium light. Action is really good for this, and I like a 7-footer fishing in small rivers and creeks, is all about current.
The fish want to be close to the current, but not in the current. They want to be able to gobble up food that’s washed downstream, without fighting the flow so places like underneath spillways or We are really great. There’s, these deep pools that have relatively little current and the food’s washing straight into these pools. So take your bobber drop it in. Let it drift into the pool and if nothing hits, move it down a few feet and just work your way across the entire bottom of the spillway and just work that bobber through all the different nooks and crannies in the pool it doesn’t Have to be in there long if there’s fish, they’ll, hit it right away and just watch out that these spillways don’t get wash you away there.
They can get a little nasty. Sometimes here’s, another great spot. You have a deep pool with a little creek coming in and you can see how the water slows down, because it’s widening out and it’s getting deeper.
So just cast your bobber in there and work the deep spots and start close to you and work further away. That way. If you catch a fish, you’re, not as likely to scare the other fish in the pool. So fish close to you and then slowly work away and you can see another great spot.
This is where the current gets a little slows down, because the water gets deeper, start really close to shore and then fish gradually further away and work. Your way, through the pool and here’s, a really great another good, an image of a good spot.
You have this deep pool and the water is flowing into it. You can see how the current slows down when it hits the deep spot. That’s, where the fish are going to be. They’re, going to be close to where that water is dumping in the pool, but in the deeper water, and they’re, going to be waiting for a little fish to get washed downstream and to gobble them up.
So I get out and position myself and I’m going to cast into the current and then let it drift my bobber into the deeper spots of the pool, so that bait is floating naturally, just like a chum. The shed that was washed downstream.
Would would float if a fish were there, they’ll hit quickly there, the nice old channel cat look at him and he’s got some battle scars, but look how quickly they hit it and how aggressively they hit it.
That food floats over the top of them and just POW they’re gonna get it quick. You don’t have to sit there and let your bobber soak for long periods of time. You put that bait in front of a fish. He’s, going to nail it it’s just getting into the pools and being in the right place that matters so work.
The spots don’t, let your body, your bobber, sit in one place for long and unfortunately I had I had to move on, because these young men decided that they would go swimming right where I was fishing yeah that happens so any rate.
If you liked this video check out some other great videos, including some great Bank fishing tips and a video from a nice overnight trip with tommy fishing from the shore, you like what you see don’t forget to click subscribe.
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Bart Humes, our editor, is a seasoned camping and survival enthusiast from Colorado. With expert knowledge in orienteering, fire-starting, and wilderness first aid, Bart’s passion and skills make him a master of the great outdoors.
