Here Kitty, Kitty
Mark Romanack
 |
| Because I show cats the love, they follow me everywhere I travel. |
Ever meet a
fishing snob? I’ve met plenty in my 30 plus years of professional fishing. Most
of these people are good enough citizens, they just have a tendency to hate on
certain species of fish.
The Declaration
of Independence says “all men are created equal”. Apparently fish don’t inherit
these rights because a lot of fish species get little or no love from anglers.
Here in Michigan there are lots of fish species anglers love to talk dirt
about. Apparently from what I’m hearing lake trout are too greasy, sheepshead
are too bony, carp destroy bass habitat, white perch bite before walleye can
get a chance and the list of grievances goes on and on and on.
If one fish in
particular gets “no respect” as Rodney Dangerfield used to say, it would have
to be the lowly channel catfish. With a face only a blind mother could love,
the channel cat isn’t going to win any beauty or popularity contests. What
channel cats lack in good looks, they make up for in abundance and raw muscle.
Pound for pound
I’ve never fought any fish in fresh water that pulls harder than a channel
catfish. A fisherman might imagine that because cats fight like bull dogs they
would have at least a modest list of admirers. Nope, catfish will have to be
content with being “bench warmers” in the dugout of life.
It appears that
I might be the only angler who publicly admires the channel catfish. Admittedly
these fish are long on slime and short on rugged good looks. What I like most
about these catfish is they live in rivers and they are not shy about slurping
up leadhead jigs.
Everyone thinks
of me as troller because I’m so deeply involved with the Precision Trolling
Data apps and have worked for trolling companies like Off Shore Tackle most of
my life. The truth is, I love all kinds of fishing and jigging is right at the
top of my “personal favorites” list.
Every year since
Jake was old enough to share my passion
for fishing, we have traveled to the Saginaw River in May/June to target the seemingly
endless supply of channel catfish the lower river attracts. During late spring
these fish are spawning and hordes of fish from nearby Saginaw Bay pile into
the river in mind boggling numbers.
The rest of the
year you can still catch all the channel cats you want in the Saginaw River.
You see, cats love slow moving rivers with lots of forage species to pick from
including alewives, gizzard shad, emerald shiners, crayfish and young of the
year sheepshead. All of these critters and more are abundant in the Saginaw
River. The lower Grand River and the St. Joe River are also channel catfish hot
spots in Michigan.
 |
| Cats like this one are a dime a dozen at the mouth of the Saginaw River from early May through summer. |
Cats are level
one predators who obviously love to eat fish. Ironically, my favorite bait for
targeting cats is half a night crawler threaded onto a leadhead jig. I’m not
sure that cats naturally eat a lot of night crawlers but I’m here to tell you
if you put one on a hook and drop it to the bottom of the Saginaw River, a
catfish will eat it.
Over the years
I’ve become a pretty good jig fisherman and much of that skill set has come
from catching countless “non-target” species like cats, sheepshead, white bass,
etc. I always tell people that to get good at anything requires practice and
the best way to become a good jig fisherman is to spend lots of time on the
water.
Because our
spring walleye runs are brutally short, the most practical way to refine your
jig fishing skills is to spend time targeting those fish other anglers work at
avoiding. At the top of my hit parade are channel cats because they stick close
to the bottom like walleye, they bite with similar aggression to the walleye
and the rods, reels and fishing lines I normally use for walleye fishing are
perfectly matched to targeting cats.
The truth to all
this is that when it comes to fishing, I like catching fish and it’s not always
easy to accomplish that goal with the glamour species like walleye, smallmouth
and the like. Honing my personal jigging skills on unsuspecting catfish, makes
it easier for me to get even when I do have the opportunity to jig up a few
walleye.
The gear is
super simple. I use a six to six foot, six inch medium/light action graphite
rod, married to a 25 series spinning reel, 10 pound test Maxima Braid 8 line
terminated to a 24 inch leader of 12 pound test Maxima fluorocarbon line. At
the terminal end a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce jig and half a nightcrawler.
 |
The same rods and reels the author uses for vertical jigging
walleye are ideal for targeting channel catfish.
By practicing on cats, the author refines his jigging
skills so he can make the most of those brief
spring walleye runs.
|
That set up
produces more catfish (and occasionally walleye) than a guy could want. So the
next time you’re bored and want to catch a lot of fish, try a visit to the
lower Saginaw River and take along a half a flat of nightcrawlers. You’re going
to need them.
