WHATS THE "BEST" CONDITONS TO CATCH CATFISH.

[LoveDaSmellofFish]

Weve been fishing the canals in Central Valley, Ca with great luck. 20-50 + each night we went out. Last few trips the moon has been out bright and the bite has been dead. The weather has cooled a little bit also  and the currents have died down a bunch. Were using a stink bait and no cut bait lately with great success. It seemed before that the cat would hit the bait and come back harder and harder. Now its 1 lil bite and they're gone , not coming back for 2nd hit.

What would be the biggest obstacle in catching cats? Moon, temperature, wind, combination of all???

I'm sure there are many variables to "best" conditions, but dummied down, what would it be?

Thx in advance.

[snagger]

Im not A pro but I would say with colder ,lower water levels the fish may head to deeper water.some conditions may be better than others but cats are always feeding in my opinion you just need to find them.

[BJC]

  You said that the current died down "a bunch". Are you talking about channel cats in a large concrete canal like the Delta Mendota/California Aquaduct or like brown bullheads in a road-side dirt irigation canal?  When they were hitting good were you fishing right behind a flood gate or other obstruction in the water?

[LoveDaSmellofFish]

  You said that the current died down "a bunch". Are you talking about channel cats in a large concrete canal like the Delta Mendota/California Aquaduct or like brown bullheads in a road-side dirt irigation canal?  When they were hitting good were you fishing right behind a flood gate or other obstruction in the water?

We were fishing in some dirt/concrete canals that run along side/ out of  d.mendota/C.aquaduct. We catch just about all Channel cats.

We just fish on the side, not by any gates, or any obstructions at all. There are no trees, obstacles anywhere in the canal where we fish. I went Wed night and caught 10, 2 were 5-6 lbs and rest were smaller. Not a bad night for a few hours, but the bite is less aggressive and size of fish is much smaller now that the current has died and cooled off.

We pass 2 rivers San Joaquin..., tuolumne , Delta Mendota and the Cal aquaduct because the fishing there is so good usually.

[BJC]

  Wish I could help you but you've got me stumped. You must've been fishing right above where they were holding when the current was stronger...  5 or 6 pounds sounds awful big for a canal the size of the one you describe.  I never had that kind of luck in the Delta-Mendota or Cal. Aquaduct but I've only tried them in a couple of places.  Sounds like you've got the right place but something has changed.

  Just out of curiosity, is your canal one of those that is empty during the winter but then fills during the summer when most crops need the irrigation?

[LoveDaSmellofFish]

  Wish I could help you but you've got me stumped. You must've been fishing right above where they were holding when the current was stronger...  5 or 6 pounds sounds awful big for a canal the size of the one you describe.  I never had that kind of luck in the Delta-Mendota or Cal. Aquaduct but I've only tried them in a couple of places.  Sounds like you've got the right place but something has changed.

  Just out of curiosity, is your canal one of those that is empty during the winter but then fills during the summer when most crops need the irrigation?

This one stays full year round, but it is the same looking as the ones I believe your speaking of. Ive been fishing in the delta mendota/ Cali aquaduct for approx 20 years. We've always had decent luck with cat there with chicken livers. Strippers will kill the liver, so you got to tie it down. Chovies work great by most gates for nice strippers. The last 3-4 times Ive been to delta mendota, the current was moving so fast, we couldnt fish.

As for the fish weve caught just this year in the canal, avg is 5-6 lbs with biggest of 16 lbs. Weve caught a bunch of 10-11 lbs as well. On 1 great night , I would guess we caught 40 over 5lbs and at 1 time all 4 of us had a 5 lb or above hooked at same time.