Understanding The Seasonal Movements of Catfish

The 10 In-Fisherman Calendar Periods of fish response vary in length from year to year. Unusually warm or cool weather affects

Ten million or so anglers seeking catfish. And while even the best anglers puzzle over exactly how to catch catfish some days, many of the best anglers are steps ahead of the masses who wish to become the type of anglers who usually—not just occasionally—have an honest shot at catching catfish.

All of the process that is catching catfish probably can’t be taught. At least some of the best anglers must bear a gift as Richard Petty bears his gift to drive a race car at impossible speeds around an impossible track. What he does isn’t exactly human, but almost superhuman, a gift enhanced by calculated practice. Almost all of us, though, can be taught to drive, and most of us can be taught to drive better, even to drive exceptionally, should we so wish.

The need to learn to understand that catfish pass through different periods of response as the year progresses often strikes novice catfish anglers as, at best, an odd part of the fishing process. Boring. Perhaps even silly. They want to talk secret baits, secret riggings, secret this, and secret that. But only a few real overriding secrets to catching cats exist, and one is found in the seemingly mundane subject before you here.

The In-Fisherman Calendar includes 10 periods in an annual cycle. Dividing the annual continuum into 10 periods is arbitrary; indeed, the periods sometimes overlap—and we have further regrouped the 10 periods into 7 slightly broader categories that fit catfish.

Catfishing begins after waters stabilize during spring, as catfish move into a long Prespawn Period. After spawning, they settle into holding areas for summer. At some point during fall, cool water and rain move cats downriver to large deep holes where they spend winter. Catfish in lakes and reservoirs often move deep by late fall. Winter, which may include ice cover, reduces the activity level of most catfish species, except during extended periods of warm weather.

Understanding calendar periods is one basis for learning the patterns of catfish and developing the skill to find them. The calendar periods serve as a reference and thus a means of communication. Understanding that fish progress through distinct periods of activity that vary only in their length from year to year, based on changes in weather and water conditions, allows anglers to note similarities and difference in fish behavior from one activity period to the next.

One overriding factor in discussion among anglers, therefore, is the calendar period under (or surrounding) which the discussion takes place. It does little good, for example, for catfishermen to discuss the productivity of certain baits—say dipbaits—without also noting the calendar period in question. Dipbaits, they might note, are a classic bait for channel catfish beginning in late spring and peaking during summer. Often, though, they don’t perform so well as natural baits during colder-water periods.

So astute anglers don’t just sing praises of their favorite dipbait without defining the calendar period (or periods) in question. Occasionally, of course, anglers need to get more definitive in order to be accurately understood. A particular sour cheese dip, an angler might note, is the best dip option during prespawn, while a blood dip or a combination of cheese and blood is better than sour cheese during the Postsummer Period. So such qualifications do more than just spice up conversations among catfishermen. They’re absolutely vital to being accurately understood.

Year of the Channel Catfish

Channel cats remain the most widely studied catfish species, though when compared to bass, trout, and walleyes, biologists have paid the popular channel cat relatively little attention. Most of our knowledge of the seasonal movements and behavior of catfish is based on several rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that we’ve observed closely. Fortunately, blue cats and flatheads in many waters seem to follow similar seasonal patterns.