channel cats in lakes

whats the best way to target channel cats in lakes? the lake I am looking to fish doesn’t really get any deeper then 8 fow and is mostly shaped like a bowl. I hear there are nice cats in there , but I have nevr cought one. hopefully I can start targeting them a little better here soon. but I have no clue where to start looking for them at

any help would be nice, thanks, Mike

fell free to PM me if you would prefer, thanks again

Mike, if I were to blindly fish a lake, I would get some Sonny’s Super Sticky and work the weed edges with it. Move every 5 minutes if there wasn’t a nibble.

We have some expert lake cat guys on IDA…and they’ll chime in when they get going this morning I’m sure.

I fish a small lake near me for channels and find that during they day hit any kind of a hole–even if only a bit deeper than the rest of the lake–structure near by is even better. At night go shallow–they should be feeding in the weed beds and shallow rocks or wood.

–Whitey

Theres a lake here in a small town just outside CR here, its called pleasant creek thats known for really nice channels. I know alot of guys fish for them with fresh chicken livers so they stay on the hook better.

Theres been some really nice ones caught over the years going over the 20 pound mark. The fishings better for them at night when they come into shallower water to feed on bluegills and crawfish. Like Braink said sonnys stink bait is a good way to find them fast and any of the other baits work good for channels.

During the day you can drift with cutbait on three way rigs you want to stay slow. .8 to 1.2 mph. I use a pretty long leader and a small float between my cutbait or use a floating jig and shorten up. Use whatever panfish are there for your cutbait. This is a circle hook rig usually. As soon as the sun goes behind the trees, throw sonnys or cutbait at the weeds. I use lit bobbers. Go with whatever works. Here Sonny’s outproduces cutbait 5 to 1. I try to look for main lake features like points where the weeds meet the base. midlake humps are also good spots. If there is a pocket on your lake that has wind on it for a few days this is also a good spot. Think about where the dead fish would collect and the cats will be there afore ye.

Mike, you wouldn’t happen to be talking about Fish or Ann lake, would you? I got your PM and sent a reply.

Keep moving till you make contact. Watch the wind; if it blows from the same direction for more than a couple of days fish the structure on the lee shore. Latly I have been expeirmenting with using to fathead minnows on one hook one dead with head ripped off and juices flowing and other alive. I think that that cats in lake become accustomed to eating live bait. And thus zone in on the the stuggling minnow. Shallow fish seemed to be more scatterd. If you find a school deeper the tend to be in a tighter school and can provide a whole evening of action.