Why cant I catch any channels?

[gunther274]

I thought the river(s) around here were full of them? I have been out like 5 evenings out of the last 7 and cant catch any? Fished the le sueur, blue earth, and the minnesota. from shore, as much deep and slow water as i can find. Cut suckers, livers, and the cheapest hot dogs money can buy. stink bait, worms you name it. what am i doing wrong?

[Brad B]

it could be a combination of things. the weather may be effecting the fish right now. one thing I noticed you posted was you were fishing deep holes and slow water. you might want to look for were fast water and slow water meet and form a current seam. fish on either side of the seam. another area to check out is eddies. don't over look tail race areas of dams. try creek mouths also if you can get to them from shore(there are some that you can only get to with a boat).

[BEEFEATER]

cuz u aint fishin down at the st anthony lock and dam behind the guthrie in downtown mpls.... channel heaven. Cant eat em down there tho. the waters are tanted in that particular area...

[gunther274]

Anyone care to explain a tailrace area below a dam is? Im new to this river fishing thing, so all these terms are going right over my head. Explain eddies while your at it.

THANKS!

[Brad B]

tail races are the areas at the bottom of dams. the water is turbulant in this area and full of oxygen and food for the cats as bait fish come over the dam. when fishing these areas use caution and don't get to close to the dam. eddies are area where the water turns around and flows against the main current. the water will just sit there and circle. these are good for bobber fishing for cats because you would cast to the edge of the main channel where the fast water is and then let the bobber work back around and make the full circle. it is hard to explain them but if you see the water flowing 180 degree to the main river you are most likely looking at a eddie. may be others could explain it differently.

[gunther274]

When fishingthese areas is it best to bobber fish close to the bottom, or more in the middle of the water colum? Any places around dams good for bottom fishing? Using cut baits or livers, or are live baits better? Im more after some channels.

[Brad B]

Channels will suspend over the whole water column, so try at all depths until you find them. you can bottom fish them along the edges of these areas also. areas at the bottom of dams are best fished on the bottom just leave a long enough leader from the sinker to the hook so the bait can move around in the water. Cut bait is the best bait for channels especially if you are looking for the larger cats. livers will work in slower water but you end up catching more smaller fish with them plus they can be hard to keep on the hook. live baits would be more used for flat head fishing. channels will bite them but they seem to prefer cut bait.

check out some of Dtro's you tube videos. he has a couple videos that explain the basics. search for dtrofishon when you are on you tube.

[Carp-fisher]

I guarantee you will catch a channel cat if you try this next time.

1. Get a very sturdy rod holder.

2. Go to any spot on any river around here that even looks remotely fishy (time of day doesn't matter)

3. Rig up say a 4/0 circle hook with a 3 oz sliding sinker of any kind and rig with any sort of sliding setup you want.

4. Put glob of fresh chicken liver on said hook, cast to spot, and put rod in rod holder.

5. Don't touch the rod until its obvious that a fish is hooked, no cheating, you will miss the fish.

Most of the channels you will get using this technique will be between 1 and 5 pounds (although I caught a #13 yesterday using it).

Good luck.

[PurpleFloyd]

Try the smaller creeks that feed the river.

[PurpleFloyd]

I would like to edit that last post. Went to a creek that has been producing nice channels but the level dropped so low this past week that it is time to wait for rain.