Some anglers perceive the river sections they fish as isolated entities, encapsulated between shorelines on both sides, with the upper and lower ends bounded by limits on their willingness to travel. But to envision smaller streams as spots for channel catfish, you have to consider such streams as part of a larger, open-drainage network. Bigger rivers are pipelines fed by smaller tributaries, with tributaries born of even smaller tributaries, which originate in the joining of the smallest rivulets at the uppermost reaches of the capillary-like system of watercourses. Getting personal with potential waters also can take a fair amount of legwork and a sense of exploration, to discover an overlooked hotspot you might come to call your own.

The connectedness of streams and rivers and the channel catfishes’ remarkable ability to move long distances are what make some streams, often far separated from a larger river, good spots in which to find catfish. In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange has written about his spring-through-summer catfish exploits in small Iowa streams, with some prime spots far up a watershed, 100 miles or more from a river the size most anglers would call good catfish water. One of his most productive streams was just 8 to 10 feet across and no deeper than 3 feet.

Small rivers and streams can support self-sustaining populations of channel catfish, if the right habitat exists for the fish’s year-round needs—food, cover, suitable flows, good water quality, and overwintering sites. Other streams provide a seasonal home to catfish from spring into summer. Catfish in some populations migrate long distances from larger rivers to smaller tributaries to reach ideal spawning habitat, which is often more available in tributaries than in larger rivers. Some catfish continue to hole up in smaller waters to feed until water levels drop too low in mid- to late summer, or until dropping water temperatures in fall send them downstream to more comfortable environments.

Stream Catfish Science

Greg Gelwicks, Interior Rivers and Streams Research Biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, has studied channel catfish in small rivers and streams extensively. He evaluated smaller flowing waters as habitats for several gamefish including channel catfish, which involved pinpointing movements using radiotelemetry. His findings on two small rivers in northeastern Iowa, the Turkey and the Wapsipinicon, reveal that habitat plays a key role in the seasonal use of these systems by channel catfish.

Turkey River: The Turkey River study focused on the lower reach of this system, between its confluence with the Mississippi and a dam 40 miles upstream. All of the catfish tagged in the Turkey moved 28 to 35 miles to the Mississippi each fall from September to November, where they stayed throughout the winter. Catfish returned to the smaller river each spring to spawn and remained in positions near their initial tagging locations throughout summer.

Spring movement into the Turkey coincided with warming periods. “Catfish returned…when water temperatures warmed from about the mid-40ºF to the 60ºF range,” Gelwicks says. “One year it warmed up early and catfish began moving up the Turkey in March. Then a cold snap hit and they moved back out to the Mississippi. In early to mid-April there was a sharp warming trend into the mid-50°F range, and catfish went up the Turkey again and stayed there.”

The Turkey River is an example of a stream in which catfishing can be good from spring through summer, but residence year-round is limited by the lack of overwintering habitat. “All depths recorded in the Turkey River study were less than 6 feet. A few deeper pools were found in the lowermost areas of the study reach, but the primary wintering location was the Mississippi River,” Gelwicks says.

Wapsipinicon River: Gelwicks also tracked catfish in the Wapsipinicon within a 15-mile stretch bounded by lowhead dams. These findings show that whether or not a stream section sustains channel catfish year-round—especially those isolated from a larger river—depends on the availability of wintering habitat. “In the Wapsi, all catfish overwintered in a single hole about 20 feet in depth. It’s an old sandpit that provides the only suitable wintering habitat in that stretch. In spring, catfish left that hole and spread throughout the 15-mile stretch,” he says. Gelwicks describes a good hole as being at least 10 feet deep, with enough current to keep the water oxygenated.

Gelwicks says that many small streams throughout Iowa hold substantial numbers of good-sized catfish in summer, an observation he based on electrofishing surveys. Many of these wadeable tributaries have maximum depths in pools of just a few feet. “Some streams, especially in the southern Iowa Drift Plain, contain a high density of catfish,” he says. “Where we see high densities, they’re typically slow-growing and run a bit smaller, likely because of competition.”

Gelwicks notes that, without barriers to fish passage, channel catfish in spring move up into smaller streams, where anglers can tangle with numbers of them through midsummer. “Typically by the end of July, flows decline, water levels start dropping, and the largest catfish vacate these areas,” he says. “These streams continue as good nursery areas for young-of-the-year catfish, because of good forage and lack of predators. We’ve sampled young-of-the-year flatheads in these streams, too, indicating that some adult flatheads use upper reaches of streams, as well.”

In Missouri, adult channel catfish have been found to inhabit smaller tributaries into early fall, suggesting that these environments provide suitable habitat throughout the growing season. While at the University of Missouri, Dr. Jason Vokoun sampled catfish with hoopnets in northeastern Missouri’s Grand River—a tributary of the Missouri River—as well as in two smaller tributaries of the Grand, Big Creek, and Yellow Creek rivers, with Yellow Creek about 15 feet wide and Big Creek about 30.

Adult channel catfish dispersed throughout the mainstem Grand and its tributaries in June. Samples showed adult catfish remaining in tributaries into October, after which they moved downstream again to overwinter in the mainstem Grand, primarily in scour holes that form around bridge support structures.

Identifying Potential Spots

Good maps can help narrow the search for streams that have potential for good catfishing. Starting at the main river, you can track streams up the drainage from the primary tributaries off a main river, then into secondary tributaries, and so on up the drainage.

Maps don’t replace on-the-ground reconnaissance or word-of-mouth from reliable sources, but they can provide clues as to which locations are accessible and likely worth a visit. U.S.G.S. topographic maps, moreover, are a great resource, showing streams and rivers, unimproved roads, dams, elevation, and more—things you might not find on a typical roadmap.

In the search for small-stream catfish, Gelwicks highlights the importance of connectivity. If there are no barriers to catfish movement and enough water, channel cats can continue up the tributaries in search of spawning sites and later for summer habitats. In some systems they may travel only as far as the lower reaches of primary tributaries; but where connectivity and habitat allow, or where a source population exists farther up in the drainage, catfish may be found well up into these systems.

Just as important as connectivity is habitat, particularly at the scale of a stream “reach”—the dominant characteristics over a longer stretch of stream. You might identify a potentially productive reach on a map, but a visit reveals poor habitat and far less chance for good catfishing. In a study of catfish populations in Iowa rivers and streams, biologist Vaughn Paragamian noted that catfish abundance was keyed to habitat quality. He found the best stream reaches for both numbers and sizes of catfish offered a variety of depths, sufficient cover, and variations in current.

In Paragamian’s study, woody cover in the form of brushpiles, fallen trees, rootwads, and logjams were most important in streams that lacked rocky substrates, but woody cover was beneficial in all catfish streams. Catfish abundance was lower in channelized reaches, which lack habitat diversity and cover. Search instead for reaches that contain a good mix of deeper pools and riffles, which provide a broad spectrum of habitats and variations in current.

Cover Water

Whether you’re floating a navigable stream or wading, plan on fishing a fairly lengthy reach to find the best spots. You might get the urge to park yourself in a lawn chair under a shady bridge where you’ll likely catch a couple of cats, but more could be had elsewhere.

Cover a mile or two of water and fish from spot to spot, as you evaluate the different kinds of habitats the stream reach provides. If it’s not panning out, you might retreat to another stream or continue fishing another mile, perhaps at another access point. Sooner or later you develop a sense of a stream’s overall potential.

Pools that contain woody cover are good spots to find stream cats in summer. Current deflects against outside bends and scours sediments, especially when flow is high in spring, creating some of the best spots to find catfish. As flows recede in summer, these pools are quiet spots that attract both resting and feeding catfish. Pools can also form below riffles or around bridge pilings, and some exist as former sandpits.

Deeper pools that hold cats in winter might not necessarily be best in summer, but they often do hold fish and are worth scouting. A productive summer pool might be of only moderate depth. In the Turkey River that Gelwicks studied, channel cats were found most frequently in 2 to 4 feet of water in summer, areas substantially shallower than wintering spots. So, in many smaller catfish streams, a good pool might be only waist-deep.

Certain types of woody cover can be better than others, as can the amount and location of wood. Snags made up of several large logs are generally preferred over a single log or treetop with a few wispy branches. Cover in the faster current near the head of a hole is typically a good place to find feeding cats, while cover in quiet water at the lower end of a hole is mostly resting territory. Cover spots located at the heads and cores of holes are often the best places to fish.

Although channel catfish can live in areas of zero current, the best pools tend to have some flow. Catfish tend to avoid more isolated and stagnant pools, which can suffer localized dissolved-oxygen deficits.

Because outside bends bear the brunt of current in high water, they’re also zones of high erosion, often leading to sloughing, where banks aren’t stabilized by terrestrial vegetation. Erosion is more prominent around areas with bank disturbance, such as where livestock can access streams or where banks have been cleared. Holes in these areas tend to be less defined with more unstable sediments. Although logjams can accumulate along these bends, they typically don’t hold as many catfish as logjams found on an outside bend with a healthy bank.

Root systems of trees, brush, and other forms of vegetation help bind soils on stream banks and can lead to the formation of undercut areas. Water scours soil underneath root systems, carving out secluded habitats with overhead cover. Cutbanks that house log complexes can be some of the best catfish spots of all.

Rigging Up

Small-water catfishing is a simple operation, requiring minimal tackle and just a few supplies. Most stream cat duty can be accomplished with a 6- to 7-foot light- to medium-action spinning rod and a medium spinning reel spooled with 8- to 12-pound-test monofilament. When wading, a small shoulder bag is helpful for carrying supplies: extra hooks, floats, weights, pliers, sunscreen, a bait knife, bug repellent, bait, a stringer, and maybe lunch. Because of briars, ticks, and poison ivy, long pants are a good idea for trailblazing on stream banks.

A splitshot rig, with one or two shot pinched onto the line about a foot above the hook, is great for slowly drifting baits along and under snags and cutbanks. A sliprig with a slightly larger bell sinker holds baits on bottom—a good choice when you want to keep your bait pinned to likely catfish locations.

Streams are dandy places to fish float rigs, too, where you can slowly drift baits off bottom along logjams, cutbanks, through runs and mid-channel pools. For baits, you usually can’t go wrong with small chunks of cutbait or small, freshly killed baitfish. The same goes for a gob of worms. Crickets, grasshoppers, and frogs are other good options, particularly when they’re seasonally abundant.

In the end, there’s something therapeutic about getting up close and personal with small rivers and streams. Most times you’re fortunate to have the solitude—watching, listening, and feeling these waters as they roll by, sand and gravel shifting underfoot, all the while figuring out the intricacies of flow. A twig floats along, ever so often twisting in a micro-eddy then gliding on its way, turning again before it lands. Could be a catfish there.