wild guide
NOCTURNALCATS
by Ryan Yaskiw
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Many of our Canadian rivers hold solid numbers of channel catfish . But most of the best fishing locations for them are also the busiest stretches of river bank . Combat fishing isn ’ t my thing . Elbow to elbow with a fellow angler is often a recipe for frustration , and even conflict in the most extreme circumstances . Add in the heat of a mid summers day and you ’ ve got a recipe for an uncomfortable day at your local river .
What if I told you there was a better way ? That there ’ s a time to fish these locations or other more isolated locations that offers comfortable fishing conditions with a much stronger bite ? It ’ s not as much a seasonal thing as it is the time of day . Fishing for nocturnal cats , it ’ s a blast that will have you coming back for more .
My first experience with fishing at night for catfish came over 20 years ago while I was still in high school . A good friend got his drivers licence , and we were keen on adventure . Around the same time a neighbour shared some pictures of their catfish adventures with me . After a bit of planning and pleading to our parents my friend and I were given the green light to go spend a night along the local river . We drove to our selected location , a well known and often busy fishing spot along a provincial highway . Once there we set a fire , mostly to combat the dusk influx of biting bugs and pitched some catfish rigs tipped with frozen minnows . Then we simply waited for the fish to bite . Things were slow until about midnight , that ’ s when my friends rod did the now tell-tale double over dance from a heavy catfish strike . The battle was hard and short , and a dandy 30 inch cat came to shore . We were ecstatic . A little bit of that was from the first taste of successful teenage independence , but mostly at the simple amazing nature of catching this beast . After that we celebrated loud and often as we landed multiple large catfish until we fell asleep around sunrise .
As an old and terrible marketing slogan goes , we ’ ve come a long ways baby ! Since that trip I ’ ve honed tactics and techniques that help me consistently score on night time cats . Like with most things , timing does play a role . Catfish feed heavier as the water temps warm up . I ’ ve always found hotter is better , day time temps into the 30 ’ s seem to trigger a heavy night
27 Wild Guide . Summer 2017