Ice fishing catfish

Who’s done it ?? What kind of set ups are you using and lures ??? Seen a few videos and the idea has hit me hard enough to try hard water fishing for the first time

I’ve done it but by no means a pro. Fish them like crappies. Some use minnows some use chicken liver. The horseshoe chain by Richmond/ cold spring is full of them. I like to deadstick one line and use one of them fancy pimples for the other.

Catfish through the ice are a blast. Most guys use standard walleye combo’s for setups. 6 -8 lb line works just fine. On my jigging setup I prefer to use some kind of a glow spoon usally a maynards slammer glow red has been my go to but any glow green or red spoon will usally ice a few. Sometimes they hit with vengeance other times you will need to hold the spoon still in order to get a strike. For deadsticks I prefer cut bait or chicken livers set on a ice buster or venom bobber rig. Key is no split shot trim the bobber to barely stay above the waters surface. Catfish bites can be very subtle and a slight twitch is all you may see for a bite. Your stand glow demons etc work fine for hook setups. I’m fortunate to live right on the Horseshoe chain so I fish them quite often throughout the hardwater period.

Never targeted them but catch quite a few of them on dead sticks on pokegama fishing for walleyes. With minnows and small hooks.

Thanks for the advice! I’m in south east MN so little ways from the horse shoe chain

When using spoons, do you guys just lay them on the bottom or suspend just off a bit on dead sticks?

Fish just like walleye. Set line and jig line.

You can do either I jig as stated just like walleye fishing snap pause. The catfish will usally tell you how they want your cadence Some guys I know just hang there spoon rigs on a deadstick or a ice buster venom combo. I do stress the use of a ice buster or venom float as the key to a lot of detection is trimming the bobber just so the tip is at water level or slightly above. Catfish are a lot of times suspended in water column similar to crappies so pretty easy to find schools.

Fish with same crappie and walleye tactics… smaller cats go crappie rigs…bigger cats go large walleye rigs.

Some meat on hooks seals the deal, since they like to feel with their whiskers.

Anyone have a lake closer to the metro with decent numbers?-thanks

Caught a large one through the ice. Biggest one I’ve ever caught including open water. I put back immediately without a measure or weight, so I don’t want to guess….but it was big one.

I fought that thing for 20 minutes on 6 lb suffix braid. Back and forth. Got it close to hole once near the beginning, and saw a white/gold flash before a long run. Thought for sure it was a once in a lifetime walleye. It was a great time, while being stressed beyond belief waiting for the break off. Heart pounding, and the whole nine yards.

When I saw a bunch of barbels come up through the whole, I was not happy. But, still maybe my favorite catch through the ice ever.

Was using a buck shot rattle spoon tipped with a piece of fathead inches from the bottom. Catch a few every year. Similar presentation targeting walleyes for all of them.