SIX TIPS for Catching Spring Catfish from the Bank and Boat

whoa whoa whoa whoa well folks it's springtime man i'm starting to see uh some leaves popping out on some of the trees the uh birds are chirping they're starting to pair up to mate i'm hearing turkeys gobble uh even hearing some frogs in the morning uh and it's a time to get out and do some fishing especially chasing catfish like i do uh but there's a few things we're going to talk about during this video for you to keep in mind uh so that if you're trying to pick and choose when to go hopefully you can pick the right day to get out there and catch some fish yes guys there he is we are hooked up even in the mud not a monster but we'll take it happy to be here tell exactly what it is it was a little big for a channel swam off kind of weird almost like a flathead he's got a head shake like a blue we don't know what we got money's on the blair there's another rod right there it's got my camera on it [Laughter] i got one right here it's got my camera on it there goes that one yep fish on that one look at that look at that one guy we got him splashing we got rods going see my camera's shaking let me deal with this one let's see if that works there we go let's get this one we got some action baby action jackson that's a decent fish better than i thought he was i think i would have splashed and made him buy made the other one bite i can't believe it i did it again there he is got him damn good fish 14 pounds yes sir we'll take that all day long it's a good one good fish guys we got another one up here we got to get got pinky going this one went all over the place there we go boom digging this guys two of them back to back it's almost like there was a little wad of them came through there looks like it's around something maybe through another line we'll see probably got to go to the other side to land this one last time i put my camera on the rod i got bit on it some of these fish won't be on tv youtube oh pinky i gotta tell y'all something i did something stupid the bad part is this is the second time i've done it right there's where my net's at [Applause] i left my net at home again this is getting ridiculous another nice fish a little bit bigger got him on the water off i left my net at home again second time last time that happened was that one going away it's about 17 another good fish another one good blue rock and roll baby good fish get it back in the water pow there's two fish back to back two teeners uh really at the same time uh kind of in the same area that was shallow water guys that was up near the bank uh if you were fishing off the bank anywhere over here you could have caught those fish matter of fact you wouldn't have had to have casted far at all those were probably 30 30 feet off the bank and uh they're in here even with the muddy water and the big inflow of water now the lake is dropping so we got dropping water that's another thing to keep in mind in these flood stage conditions and stuff this spring is uh you know that water coming up is good when it starts dropping that's generally when the bike can go downhill where i'm at it hasn't totally started dropping a lot yet but we're kind of it's kind of crested and uh but i still got two uh these fish the good thing about springtime is it's that these fish are starting to stage up spawn we got 60 degree water it's warming up uh in spite of it being muddy and this cold and flow so uh these fish are starting to do some staging up the spawn starting to make some moving around they are active we are out of the wintertime water temperature so even with the bad conditions weather changes lots of rain uh it's still worth it to get out there and fish and those two fish proved it so got those released back in the water gonna sit back see if we can pop a couple more all right guys i think we got one going on this carolina rig on the bottom yes it is there it's funny i've got uh four baits out little shoulders to him got four baits out on santee rigs which you know i love to fish those things and i got two of mine on carolina rigs this is the second fish on the carolina rig so what does that tell me well it tells me i've only caught three fish but anyway some days it is the rig to have some days depending on what they're feeding and how they're feeding they are really oriented to the bottoms another decent fish but he is liftable he's liftable a little bit of mud action on that one looking up there we go pretty fish really fish good one pooping out some some mussel stuff i don't have that one back in the water look on that one that was actually that was actually the big perch head that was the actual head on that sucker that was the big hook big old hook from hooker's terminal tackle big adult and that was the big perch head so that little sucker tried to eat that well the first thing as you can tell by the way i'm dressed uh it's into april but it is still very cool on this morning generally where i'm at in the south uh we should we still get freezes up until you know mid-april i know for you guys in other parts of the country you laugh at us and go man we're still getting you know freezes in may and june but generally speaking mid-april we're still getting some temperatures down uh below freezing so big thing is temperature keep an eye on what the weather is doing springtime like fall is a time when you've got to really keep an eye on what's happening with the weather we're going through that transition period into warmer temperatures but we haven't totally left behind the cold temperatures and those temperatures can have an impact on whether the bite's on fire or whether it's not now if you're like me you're going fishing no matter what you're going whenever you can but if you've got to pick and choose your days those days where things are trending warmer it's going to be a little bit better for you especially if there's a lot of sunlight that sunlight really adds to bringing up those water temperatures and that really helps move the fish up shallower especially for you guys that are bank fishing it's a lot harder on you guys to fish you have a lot les more you have limited access to where you can go so having uh you know some warmer water up near the bank really helps sunlight big big factor in that so slightly warming trend and look for a lot of sunlight a lot of bluebird skies like we got today because that will really help heat up that shallow water nice nice nice got one on my spinning rod getting put these ripping lips to work a little bit i got my pc fun it's a viper x reel on here got a bunch of videos on this one these are these new super cat from rip and lips trying those out i've been wanting a lighter weight spinning rod this is a medium action perfect rod for this kind of fish it's a channel kit channel kit lift him in here pow there we go mr channel we got some blues and we got a channel we just need a flathead don't we pretty fish pooping some stuff out looking like some grass or something that get him back in the water is that looks like grass nice put grass on my hook for bait came on one of the sand t rigs a small piece of perch on there let's get that bag in the water we've caught them in about every depth range now there you go a little fast and furious action uh a couple of fish back to back there um that one came on just a medium-sized piece of bait as i was saying i've caught these fish in every depth range now i've caught them up toward the bank and caught them over toward the river channel actually that last blue probably came from the river channel out there in the deeper part so they're kind of scattered they're kind of all around one of the cool things out here another piece of advice for you for trying to get out this spring is try to go early uh and try to go deer or during the week i'm out here during the week i don't have a lot of boat traffic i've seen a lot go by me i haven't seen a light go by me uh obviously not everybody can do that so uh but if you can getting out during the week but here's what's gonna happen guys as it gets warmer well people are gonna start fishing people are also gonna start being on pleasure boats you're gonna have to deal with that kind of traffic so being out here at 12 o'clock on a saturday when it's going to be 80 degrees well you're going to get aggravated so if you get out here early get out here right at daylight uh i know it's probably your weekend off you don't want to get up early but get out do it it will be a benefit to you especially as boat traffic starts picking up here in the spring um it's a bigger deal for guys in the boat for you guys that are fishing on the bank especially if you're fishing publicly accessible areas well you're going to have a lot more people showing up too so if you can get out early especially on these warmer days on the weekends a little piece of advice for you there something to be aware of uh it's going to make your springtime fishing a little bit more enjoyable and usually the bike's pretty good early a lot of times boat traffic will uh we'll put a damper on the bike not always but sometimes it does so get out there early i think you'll enjoy your time out there on the water i swear something's swimming off of that bait i do not think that no that is not boat movement and there it goes there he goes there he goes there he goes got it if i was ever gonna bank and bet on a fish being a species i would say this is a flathead but it feels really little that's the bad part that bit like a flathead but dang there is oh there he goes there he goes there he goes it's like he was swimming at the boat which that came out of the river channel it's awake now it's awake now i was ever gonna bank on one being a flatty this would be it take a little bit of line didn't see him he came up oh it's a blue good blue cleaner blue i hate my big bait i hate my big bait semi semi summer summer summer summer summer summer come here i got my float twisted oh there we go there we go that's funny i would have bet that was a flat head ain't my big bait too that's not a good big bait oh yeah a little fat thing a little fat blue cat i can fish there that little blue got some mud probably becoming active look at that football belly that's a nice fish there you go guys that's what i was saying earlier about bigger baits this is a good time of the year to use bigger baits springtime is the time i like using the bigger baits and that one even though it wasn't a super huge fish it tried to eat a very large bait and uh that's uh that's one of the things about spring another thing about spring uh another tip for you guys um one of the downfalls of spring fishing is something to keep aware of is rain especially this year so much a lot of rain this year these fluctuations and water levels can be a pain in the butt to be perfectly honest the rising water the inflow it's great usually sparks a bite but when you get to conditions like we're in and that's what we're in today is some flood stage level um you know conditions i know some of you guys in the midwest have been in some really dangerous flood conditions uh there were some people lost their lives in nashville uh just recently from some flooding uh that's kind of out of control and uh it's not the best fishing in those conditions uh that's slightly rising great but uh you know the big significant inflows of water can really not be good for fishing so if you can pick and choose uh when you go that initial rise right after the rain good once that water gets high and starts to drop that dropping water generally bad fishing so keep an eye on that this spring if you're able to pick and choose when you go and if you can avoid that falling water and avoid the really just you know flood stage you know rip roaring current it can be tough that sustained water flow even through these reservoirs that are controlled by dam releases again when it starts it's great but after it's been going for a couple days it's it can mean a bad bite swimming off with a bait right here this rod right here that bait was back over this way and it's getting swam off with it hasn't folded the rod over yet but i'm getting ready to pick it up reel the hook into its mouth boom he's hooked a lot of times give you a little tip there a lot of times you're better off reeling with that thing in the rod holder biggest thing is when you pick it up don't let that fish feel you pick it up get this around this rod sometimes they will drop the bait another decent fish that is around whoa jack better fish i think oh yeah there we go there we go we need a flathead we need a flathead to get a slam again i don't have my land in that let's see how big this sucker is all right let's see if we get this bad boy in here see how big he is what i'm dealing with it's a blue he's not super huge all right feel better now [Applause] pooping the black stuff up in my boat very nice of him and there and that one from a smaller bait about 12 pounds oh he's a mess ah oh man it's pretty fish so he's got the duke all in the boat all right guys there's uh fish number six and interesting observation fish number three on the carolina rigs those are the baits are laying flat on the bottom versus the uh red rods that i've got out that have them on santee rigs or suspended a little bit off the bottom so i've only got two out that are carolina rigs uh the other four are the santee rigs so little interesting observation their disproportionate number of the fish are on baits on the bottom but uh an interesting note on that one and something to keep in mind this spring to not do and that is don't cast past your fish that is the another fish that's right up on the bank uh most people would be casting past that fish and uh especially if you're fishing on the bank you've heard me say it before that when you're on the bank you just want to cast out there deeper and deeper and deeper as far as you can and people are so focused on casting a long way and springtime especially if you're doing that you can be throwing your baits past the fish a lot of times a lot of times us guys fishing from boats in the spring are anchored up halfway close to the bank like i am we're putting baits up there close to it so uh don't throw your baits past the fish in the spring nothing wrong with putting some rods out deep if you can fish multiple rods off the bank uh that's great but don't uh overlook that first you know 20 or 30 feet off the bank because fish can be in there especially as these water temperatures start to warm up bluegills start to move up crappies start to move up put your baits up there uh you'll definitely be throwing past fish if you're not fishing that area so that's one of the things i'm trying to do today is you know i've got water covered here and today i've caught fish from deep to shallow so you know cover some water don't throw your baits past them all right guys i think i got one going on my rip and lips rod again not a monster but we'll take it this is the one i caught actually it's exact same rod in the same place that i caught the fish on earlier this is kind of before it drops into the channel this is kind of on the mid range so again catching them in the river channel on the bank and then in that mid-range just goes to show you you've got to cover some water and this one is a medium size that that's a blue i thought it was a decent channel for a second that is a smaller blue man we are catching all different sizes today good eater size fish there that one's back alive and that one came on santee rig back to cnt it's kind of equal here between them again this is one of the super cat rods from ripping lips went for their 756 medium action 10 to 40 pound line one to six ounces of weight it's a good rod it's uh these 5000 series viper x reels that i've got are a good mid-range reel and uh they pair up great with this this thing isn't too heavy matter of fact it's actually a really lightweight rod and uh really happy with it working out good but it's number seven in the boat and we're catching them let's see if we can get that flat head to get that slam there he goes there he goes there he goes there he goes with it he's gone again i think he may have dropped it nope he's there same rod i had a hit on earlier that swam off with it take it off the off the bank basically and went deep bad part is he swam across three other lines so i've got it could be a mess out there he's there out he's on into one of them see if we can get out of that boom got that cleared man dancing around the rods here i think he's still in that line that's okay we can deal with that splash on the surface back there laying down i'm playing these fish a little bit more because i'm having to use the mega grip to get them in stupid forgot the net again easy guy take some line if you need to it's a better fish that is a better fish see if he's ready it's another one in the teens come on sucka a little more angry looks like he may have been caught before look we got a wound on his mouth there it's a good fish another around 16 pounds semi semi good one good fish there nice blue we own them all right guys another thing uh that may bite you in the springtime is it's just the the weather fronts that are coming through um it's something to keep an eye on if you've got to pick and choose when you're going um generally speaking bluebird skies post frontal it's not really the best time to be fishing but in the springtime they can be a little bit different especially as fish are starting to stage up pre-spawn uh catfish become very aggressive during that time period they feed a lot during that time period and they seem to be generally speaking less effective by those fronts especially as this water temperature start to get warmer and get up into the 60s so pay attention to what the weather is doing in the springtime when you get some of these warmer days even after post firm frontal bluebird conditions like we got today it's still a good time to get out there and fish if you can nothing wrong with going when it's raining we all know uh you can catch them and that's the good thing about spring is um you know it it there's very few bad times to be out in the spring there are days you'll go and you won't catch fish don't get me wrong but uh this these brighter days a lot more sunlight you get a lot more sunlight penetration water temperature starts to go up for you guys especially the ones that are stuck along the bank it's great for you guys because it warms up that shallow water uh and not only do the catfish move into that shallow water but they're moving up there because blue gill and crappie and everything else are going up in there so uh pay attention to the weather uh not just for to avoid the thunderstorms but uh you start looking at two or three days in a row of stuff trending up higher it's a good time to get out on the water guys i think i got one going on this black reel here red rod like there's a fish on it i'm gonna reel down on it yep boom there he is boom there he is drag's good oh i seen it going off man these fish these fish are active today um i'm just saying normally we had a front come through last night dumped some of this rain had another front before that typically post frontal conditions not my favorite time to be out there but springtime it's worth being on the water it's been worth it today too i don't know if i'm just parked in a good spot hit the right time whoa whoa whoa got the magic bait or what this one is either a good blue but he made that bulldog down like a flathead i want to get my slam nurse him up here this is a bigger fish and yes i don't have a net i'll let him play himself he's better fish let him wear down a little bit i'm gonna wish i had a net on this one oh big swirl big swirl i didn't see what he was if he's a flathead i'm gonna hand grab him he's a blue he's a blue he's a blue i wish i had a net let me get him with the boga i think i can do it oh yeah good fish good fish good fish good fish i missed him missed it god ain't got him got him got him got him [Applause] he's in the 20s that's a good one oh yeah oh yes good fish good fish heck yeah nice one it's a good one guys gonna get you released alive great fish great fish all right guys i've been here about two hours and 15 minutes and i put 10 fish in the boat uh several in the teams one in the 20s that's an excellent bite anywhere anytime any time of the year uh and i've only been in one place now with that said one mistake that you can make in the spring it's putting too much time in one place now i'm lucky i'm parked in a place and i'm catching fish i'm getting bit i'm putting fish in a boat i'm putting them well i'm not putting them in the net today but i'm catching fish uh you know if you're in a place like that yeah sit it out ride it you know what have you got to lose you're getting bit something's right but if you're in a place and you're not catching fish in 30 minutes or an hour it's time to move especially in the spring a lot of variables come into play on why fish are where they're at it can be bait water temperature current all those things vary uh if you have the ability to move i know it's tough for you guys bank fishing it may be a matter of going a couple hundred yards up the bank to a point or steep drop of bluff trying that uh if you're a boat obviously you got a lot more freedom to do what you want to but if you're not getting bit quickly especially in the springtime you need to move now granted if you're out there trophy wiper hunting and you just got out a couple of big baits you're waiting on a monster you can sit it out and wait those fish don't generally come through in schools and massive packs uh but if you're trying to catch fish trying to get on something fairly consistent a decent bite like we've had today don't make the mistake of sitting too long in one place especially in the springtime do some moving guys i got another one right there swimming under the boat that fish is taking the bait from the bank there he goes boom he's hooked it's exactly what it did a minute ago it took uh hopefully he stays out of the anchor was up on the bank that way i just looked up and that is the line was slowly coming this way weird weird weird fight weird bite not a big fish but a fish nonetheless own the bank guys and that's what i'm telling you if you out here spring fishing mistake you can make is throwing past the fish that cast in the country mile you don't need to do it a lot of times don't overthrow your fish there you go whoo i think he just grew he may be boga-grippable all of a sudden don't overthrow your fish a lot of them on carolina rigs today i know you guys ask about rigs yes i do like the santee rig but carolina rig's working good today maybe the muddy water those fish may be scavenging on the bottom more come here gotcha gotcha gotcha you pretty little blue right off the bank eating that bait on the bank okay a big one not a big one better blue happy to have it i'll tell you this has been one amazing bite today uh 11 fish in three hours of fishing that is a tremendous catch rate i've been parked in one spot and uh it doesn't always work that way most of the time you've got to do some hopping do some moving around but we've been lucky to pick off a good variety of fish here from a small channel cat up to a blue in the 20s i feel confident that you know at any time a 30 40 or 50 could pull a rod over but uh it hasn't happened but something to keep in mind guys uh spring don't make the mistake of sitting in one place too long uh if it's working and it's on do some hopping around and the other tips uh it's just stuff to keep in mind this is the time to be on the water this is the time to be fishing uh everything's coming alive fish are active fish are staging up the spawn they are spawning fish are feeding on spawning fish it's the time to be out chasing catfish for sure so uh get out on the water see if you can put some fish in the boat put them up on the bank uh and just try some stuff there's you know that's the beautiful thing about fishing for catfish there's no really wrong wrong thing to do you know fishing under a cork fishing on the bottom fishing with santee rig there's no magic combination you've seen it if you've watched enough of my videos that uh you know a lot of times i catch a lot of fish on santee rigs today i've caught a lot of them on the two rods that i've had out with carolina riggs so you have to play around uh sometimes it works for you sometimes it doesn't i was just talking with a buddy that is out here fishing today he's caught one fish you know it's one of them situations where he may be in the wrong spot he may move a few hundred yards and it blow up on him so if you can make the moves move around try some different stuff the fish uh if you've got them in the area where you're at this is the time of the year they really start to buy bite and feed consistently and uh it's a good time to try some different stuff especially when you get on these feeding patterns where fish are halfway active try some different baits try some different rigs experiment it's better to experiment when you're catching fish than when you're not catching fish because uh if you're not catching fish and you experiment with something you really don't know if it's working uh not working or if it's just the fish aren't biting so get out this spring catch some fish and we'll catch out on the water well folks if you made it this far thank you for watching here are a couple more videos that i think you're gonna like i'd watch that one and then that one no no do do that one first and then that one i don't just watch them both they're both good

Channel: Dieter Melhorn Fishing

Views: 11,224

Rating: 4.8910084 out of 5

Keywords: Catching Spring Catfish from the Bank, Catching Spring Catfish from the Bank and From the Boat, big catfish bait in the spring, dieter melhorn, Tips for Catching Spring Catfish, Catfish from the Bank, fishing for catfish in the spring, tips for catching catfish, how to catch catfish, catfishing tips, best catfish bait, catching catfish from the bank, how to catch big catfish from the bank, catfish bank fishing, fishing for catfish, Catfishing, fishing from the bank

Id: kAA2umfq4js

Length: 37min 18sec (2238 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 14 2021