Catfish Prespawn and Spawn?

[hunt4fun1]

When do cats start the prespawn frenzy?
What is the water temp gonna be?
Does this happen before the bass spawn?
In my area, how will I know when all this takes place?

[hunt4fun1]

Also, what are the best baits gonna be for blues during this period?

[Shorthair]

The water needs to get up in the 60's here before you can do anything on catfish here. Usually in March.

[CatfishBilly]

Hey guys.
Here is a link to my site with an entire 2 page section on the seasonal patterns of catfish.

home.earthlink.net/~catfish_billy/id24.html

[CatfishBilly]

Hey guys.
Here is a link to my site with an entire 2 page section on the seasonal patterns of catfish.

home.earthlink.net/~catfish_billy/id24.html

In most areas of the US prespawn takes place around early April- Mid June. In Texas I would say around the first of April, though Im not that knowledgable about the weather there except its WARM....heh..heh..heh..unlike Ohio.

Water temp usually has to be in the mid 60's to low-mid 70's before prespawn starts.
Blue cat will more than likely be feeding alot on winter kill at this time of year. Especially dead skipjack and shad. Of course those two are usually always great blue cat bait.
Im not for sure but I think Bass spawn in a bit warmer water than cats.
Hope this helps.
Peace,
Bill

P.S. This is the entire post I meant to put up today but when I clicked to submit it, I got a message saying there were too many people connected to that server and to come back later, I didnt even know that part got posted.

[hunt4fun1]

Thanks billy.
Shoulda checked your site first.


So you think they are still feeding on winter kill? Maybe I need to get out and fish.
Like I said in an earlier post, the guy that caught the new record was fishin about 1 1/2 hours north of here the same day I was and with the same bait.
Of course, I didn't catch anything that day.

[CatfishBilly]

This time of year bues will be feeding more or less in groups. They are the only species of catfish that do this in "herds" If your out on the boat, find a large concentration of baitfish, hopefully near the ledge of a deeper drop off, and fish live baitfish straight down.
There will more than likely be blues feeding there.

Winter kill feeding starts right after ice out, when the ice melts and the fish float to the upper portions of water. In Texas Im not so sure you get ice on the water..heh..heh..heh.. I would attempt the first paragraph first considering your location.
If your fishing from bank, determine where the baitfish will be concentrated. Maybe near warm water discharge from a dam, but in deep water, and fish for blues there.

Hope this helps,
Best of luck!
Bill

[hunt4fun1]

Yeah the water temp never got below 41 this year.
I hear guys talking about the shad die off. Does this happen without ice?

[hunt4fun1]

I just checked my TPWD site. The last temp taken was on Wednesday(02.18.04) and it was 45-49 depending on the area of the lake it was taken in.

[senecabow]

Hunt4 --- Shad die off can and does happen without ice.
The magic number is 39 dagrees, give or take a degree or two. I have seen hunderds of thousands covering the shore of Lake Erie.
It seems certain species of shad are affected by water temperature. Studies on these fish, especially Gizzard
Shad, show that they cannot metabolize fat below a water temp of 39 degrees. The dead shad have fat reserves on their bodies but it is useless to them in that state. Like birds in migration that run out of fat reserves, their bodies look for energy in other areas such as muscle tissue and internal organs such as kidneys, livers, etc. The only way shad can make it through these periods is to utilize their organs for basal metabolism. Those shad washed up on the shore would show signs in these organs of emaciation but have fat layers on their bodies.