Location, Baits, And Riggings for Rivers

When rivers flow frigid through leafless landscapes, the world goes by slowly for channel cats and flatheads. While flatheads can be difficult to raise, channels cats can still be caught from large groups concentrating in wintering areas. Blue cats, meanwhile, are the mavericks of the family, snubbing the cold to see what the season has to offer.

It’s not that blues are immune to the cold, as aggressive hits and catches of big fish this season might make one believe. Like their cold-blooded counterparts, blues are biologically influenced by the chilly environment, making large-scale movements and shifts to seasonal habitats. While their metabolism and digestion rates slow, they continue to feed, making winter one of the best times of the year to catch big fish when you find them.

John Jamison of Spring Hill, Kansas, and Jim Moyer of Clarksville, Tennessee, often need no introduction among fellow catmen. Between the two, they’ve logged decades of experience zeroing in on blue cats in some of the most famous blue cat waters Uncle Sam has to offer. And they’re dialed into winter as much as in any other season.

Jamison on the Missouri

Jamison has racked up some catfishing honors, including as 2007 National Points Champion on the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail, and placing second in the 2006 Cabela’s King Kat Classic. In winter, he primarily fishes the Missouri River from the Nebraska line to Columbia, Missouri. “I cover such a large area because every year is different from the previous depending on winter migration, which is directly influenced by the amount of water we receive each year,” he says. “In low-water years, I don’t see a lot of fish far upriver.”

Jamison fishes for winter cats in water down into the 30ºF range, but he says winter patterns begin earlier when temperatures fall below about 50°F to 52ºF. “That’s when blues make a big shift, from swifter outside bends to deeper water with less current. The best spots are scour holes around wing dams. The Missouri has a lot of ****s and scour holes but few concentrate blue cats, so you have to search to find fish.

“Current in scour holes runs at about 2 mph compared to 3 to 5 mph in outside bend areas. Depth is important but not the only factor. I normally prefer scour holes that are 30 to 45 feet deep and seldom fish any that are shallower. A scour hole that’s immediately above a good summertime outside bend or channel swing holds more fish than one in a straight stretch of river.”

In winter on the Missouri, he primarily fishes from an anchored position, because he hasn’t been able to slow a drift enough to be effective in cold water. “I start by placing two rods at the front of a scour hole and two a little farther into the hole,” he says. “I continue to move baits towards the back of the hole until I locate fish. When they’re aggressive they tend to be toward the front side of the hole, but I also catch a lot of fish in the back or tailout. Fish in the core of the hole tend to be the least active.”

Downsized presentations are key to Jamison’s approach. “I believe that smaller is better in winter,” he says. “I use a 7/0 to 10/0 Daiichi Circle Wide (DZ85) hook in warm water, but down through the mid-30ºF range, I switch to a 5/0 size to better match the smaller baits I use then. My primary winter bait is shad. I cut the head off and use only that. The whole bait is about the size of a quarter to a 50-cent piece, compared to the rest of the year when I’m baiting with 6- to 8-inch sections of cut skipjack herring, shad, or carp.”