Upper Willamette system catfish

[Wheredafishat?]

First post here on the forum, I see a lot of talk about channel catfish and how present they are in the upper willamette, recently found they are very present at my local fishing hole in good numbers, nothing giant but next summer I hope to tap into some bigger ones, they simply do not bite before sunset, and even if they do the squafish get to the bait before the catfish. If anyone has any bait suggestions for bigger catfish that would be much appreciated all I’ve caught so far have been on whole shrimp on a barbless circle hook, or pikeminnow cuts on barbless hooks. And all fish were caught within legal fishing hours per the regulations of waterbody species and zone.

 

[TerribleFisherman12]

Nice man. I moved here from georgia and my dad would fish for these and flat heads down there. They get big

 

[Wheredafishat?]

Nice man. I moved here from georgia and my dad would fish for these and flat heads down there. They get big

Yeah flatheads get big, not really any near where I live sadly

 

[DonF]

Thor are nice looking fish! Was getting them about that size innthe John Day River. But last couple years it's gone down hill really bad. But did get my biggest last year, 8 1/2 lbs. Really missing it this year. One cats all summer, 12"! Tell you what I do best with bait for them is Chicken breast soaked in strawberry jello and garlic. My kid uses worms and does alright normally but this year really bad. Did find a ranch irrigation pond with bullheads to 16" And that was all that kept me sane this year!

 

[Wheredafishat?]

Thor are nice looking fish! Was getting them about that size innthe John Day River. But last couple years it's gone down hill really bad. But did get my biggest last year, 8 1/2 lbs. Really missing it this year. One cats all summer, 12"! Tell you what I do best with bait for them is Chicken breast soaked in strawberry jello and garlic. My kid uses worms and does alright normally but this year really bad. Did find a ranch irrigation pond with bullheads to 16" And that was all that kept me sane this year!

16 inch bullheads is crazy for, I only ever catch little ones 5-10 inches,I usually just get the little bullheads as by catch when targeting carp or catfish , I’ll be sure to try the chicken/jello/garlic bait soon thanks for the tip!

 

[troutdude]

Welcome to off! Nice looking cats right there.

Don't know if you'll catch bigger ones--but we always used chicken bits that we let "age" on the counter. So they were very "stanky" by the time that we dropped them into the drink.

Tight lines,

TD

 

[bass]

Nice! I catch them on accident from time to time on Ned rigs in the upper river and I have caught them while sturgeon fishing on the lower river. I have not got any big ones in the upper river so I am not sure how to target the bigger ones. The few times I have tried for sturgeon on the upper river the pikieminnows definitely are a nuisance. My one buddy did catch one that he thought probably weighed 30lbs a few years back in Swan Island (while sturgeon fishing).

I would just assume to target bigger cats you will need a bigger bait. Probably have a chance at catching a sturgeon as well. I don't think that there is any bait that big fish eat that small fish don't. You either just have to wade through the small ones or use a large enough bait that the smaller ones can't eat it.

 

[plumbertom]

Nothing wrong with the size of those channels. They look to be about the right size for eaters.
Now, when I lived down near the lower Colorado River, when targeting larger size channel in spots that produced smaller cats in good numbers, I would use big pieces (4'' x 4'' or larger) of beef liver.
Channels will usually bite liver eagerly enough, and using beef liver makes it harder for smaller fish to tear pieces off and the larger pieces are harder for smaller cats to eat.
Once again, I will say that channel cats are apex predators as well as eager scavengers. They will pretty much eat anything that they can find, live or dead, but they do prefer fresher food.
So fresh dead cut bait is preferable if you can get it.
Also, if beef liver isn't producing the bite like you'd want, try to get your hands on fresh Bonito.
Those little tuna are almost like catfish candy. But even there, you want bigger bait chunks to keep the smaller fish from eating them.
Keep in mind that big hooks are okay for catfish as you don't need to try and hide it in the bait, Catfish don't care.
At any rate, that my take on trying to supply an answer to your question.

 

[Wheredafishat?]

Nice! I catch them on accident from time to time on Ned rigs in the upper river and I have caught them while sturgeon fishing on the lower river. I have not got any big ones in the upper river so I am not sure how to target the bigger ones. The few times I have tried for sturgeon on the upper river the pikieminnows definitely are a nuisance. My one buddy did catch one that he thought probably weighed 30lbs a few years back in Swan Island (while sturgeon fishing).

I would just assume to target bigger cats you will need a bigger bait. Probably have a chance at catching a sturgeon as well. I don't think that there is any bait that big fish eat that small fish don't. You either just have to wade through the small ones or use a large enough bait that the smaller ones can't eat it.

Yeah I figured I might need bigger baits, I figure I’ll check the regs and if I can I’ll start using pikeminnow as cut bait. I just gotta find the holes with the big cats in em.

 

[Wheredafishat?]

Nothing wrong with the size of those channels. They look to be about the right size for eaters.
Now, when I lived down near the lower Colorado River, when targeting larger size channel in spots that produced smaller cats in good numbers, I would use big pieces (4'' x 4'' or larger) of beef liver.
Channels will usually bite liver eagerly enough, and using beef liver makes it harder for smaller fish to tear pieces off and the larger pieces are harder for smaller cats to eat.
Once again, I will say that channel cats are apex predators as well as eager scavengers. They will pretty much eat anything that they can find, live or dead, but they do prefer fresher food.
So fresh dead cut bait is preferable if you can get it.
Also, if beef liver isn't producing the bite like you'd want, try to get your hands on fresh Bonito.
Those little tuna are almost like catfish candy. But even there, you want bigger bait chunks to keep the smaller fish from eating them.
Keep in mind that big hooks are okay for catfish as you don't need to try and hide it in the bait, Catfish don't care.
At any rate, that my take on trying to supply an answer to your question.

Yeah the hooks don’t seem to phase the catfish at all, I’ll look into some of those baits thanks!

 

[DonF]

Nothing wrong with the size of those channels. They look to be about the right size for eaters.
Now, when I lived down near the lower Colorado River, when targeting larger size channel in spots that produced smaller cats in good numbers, I would use big pieces (4'' x 4'' or larger) of beef liver.
Channels will usually bite liver eagerly enough, and using beef liver makes it harder for smaller fish to tear pieces off and the larger pieces are harder for smaller cats to eat.
Once again, I will say that channel cats are apex predators as well as eager scavengers. They will pretty much eat anything that they can find, live or dead, but they do prefer fresher food.
So fresh dead cut bait is preferable if you can get it.
Also, if beef liver isn't producing the bite like you'd want, try to get your hands on fresh Bonito.
Those little tuna are almost like catfish candy. But even there, you want bigger bait chunks to keep the smaller fish from eating them.
Keep in mind that big hooks are okay for catfish as you don't need to try and hide it in the bait, Catfish don't care.
At any rate, that my take on trying to supply an answer to your question.

I used beef liver in Colorado for cats. Chicken darn near impossible to keep on the hook and beef liver stayed on long enough for four or five fish! Tried it here in Oregon and might as well been using chicken liver. All I could find was calf liver and its about as bad as chicken liver,
.

 

[plumbertom]

I used beef liver in Colorado for cats. Chicken darn near impossible to keep on the hook and beef liver stayed on long enough for four or five fish! Tried it here in Oregon and might as well been using chicken liver. All I could find was calf liver and its about as bad as chicken liver,
.

Next time, try stuffing finger cotting (medical supplies) with the chicken or calve's liver, then stitching the ends of the cotting closed before hooking it.
The finger cotting will keep the liver from being torn apart but allow it to scent the water.
All the finger cotting I've been able to find comes in rolls instead of individual finger pieces, so both ends have to be stitched closed.

 

[DonF]

I think your talking about tube gauze? Got some a couple years aago and can't remember wat but stuff didn't work. Think it was for a leg if I remember. Anyway the beef liver I used to get in Colorado I haven't been able to find here. All I've found is that calf liver.

 

[plumbertom]

Yeah, I always called it finger cotting because the first time I got some was from a nurse that was splinting a finger for me and that's what she called it.