San Antonio Fishing Spots
- Calaveras Lake: Only half an hour away from the city center, you’ll find this fishing haven with plenty of Largemouth Bass, Catfish, and Striped Bass to chase.
- Victor Braunig Lake: The (much) bigger of the two powerplant lakes, you’ll find Braunig only 17 miles from downtown San Antonio.
Where can I fish for big catfish in Texas?
Must-Fish Catfish Lakes
- Lake Texoma. A vast impoundment of the Red River, Lake Texoma spans more than 74,000 acres on the Texas-Oklahoma border.
- Lake Livingston.
- Lake Tawakoni.
- Choke Canyon Reservoir.
- Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
- Toledo Bend Reservoir.
- Lake Palestine.
- Lake Conroe.
Where are big catfish located?
While they aren’t nearly as widespread as channel cats, blues are usually the biggest fish in any lake they call home. Take San Vicente Reservoir as a prime example. This 1,500-acre reservoir near San Diego is home to California’s record blue catfish, a hulking 113-pound, 5-ounce monster that was caught in 2008.
Where is the best place to catch catfish right now?
During the day, look for catfish in muddy water areas, such as a tributary and its outflow. Also good are deep structures, like river bends, the base of drop-offs, deep holes, and humps. Catfish will also hold around cover, like standing timber and deep weed edges.
What is the best bait for giant catfish?
10 Best Catfish Baits – Both Live and Artificial
- Chicken Livers. Chicken livers are traditionally the best way to catch catfish if you’re fishing in deeper waters.
- Asian Carp.
- Crawfish.
- Nightcrawlers.
- Stink Bait.
- Punch Bait.
- Blood Bait.
- Shrimp.
How do you catch a giant catfish?
Use large chunks of native fish or entire fish for bait.
Using bait like chicken livers or other species of fish may work, but they are not as consistent. Two types of freshwater fish that are good at luring catfish are shad or skipjack, as they are natural to most catfish habitats.
What is the biggest catfish ever caught in Texas?
Lake Texoma Texas, 121.5 Pounds, Cody Mullenix
The blue catfish caught by Mullenix weighed in at 121.5 lbs, which was not only a Texas state record but also a world record.
How deep should you fish for catfish?
Conclusion. The best depth for catching catfish is between 15 and 20 feet deep in lakes. This is known as the catfish zone because they reside within such depths in most lakes. However, depending on the time of the year and the temperature of the water, they can also reside in shallow areas.
Do catfish like deep or shallow water?
Catfish will hold on any kind of bottom, from rocks to mud, but seem to have a preference for hard bottoms, including those of clay or gravel. The depth of water can be critical. In winter and summer, catfish hold in the deepest water that has enough oxygen to support them, searching for temperatures in the mid-70s.
How do you attract catfish?
Catfish are bottom feeders and are attracted to food by both sight and smell. They like bright colors such as orange or red. One of the best lures are Cheetos puffs. The bright orange color attracts their attention and the cheesy corn smell encourages them to bite.
How do you target big catfish?
Cut bait is one of the most effective baits for blue catfish
Large live shiners, herring, and shad are deadly, especially on flathead and channel catfish. But it’s hard to top a section of cut bait from a herring, shad, or mullet for both of those species and blue catfish as well. Cut them into steaks ¾-1 inch wide.
Where is catfish most popular?
Missouri encompasses some of the nation’s best catfishing waters, a fact that accounts for it being our number-two catfishing state (behind Texas) with half a million anglers. Top-flight rivers, all with the potential to produce record-class cats, include the Mississippi, Grand, Osage and Missouri.
What is it called when you catch catfish with your hands?
Noodling is fishing for catfish using one’s bare hands, and is practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places their hand inside a discovered catfish hole in order to catch the fish.
Why do catfish like Kool-Aid?
The Kool-Aid will soak into the chunks and some of the liquid will come out of the meat to form a marinade that helps the flavor soak into the meat. This makes the flavor and sweet smell permeate the chunk and means the bait will keep its flavor and smell for a long time in the water.
Are hotdogs good catfish bait?
Hot dogs are a common food taken along on fishing excursions and double as excellent catfish bait. Points to remember when using hot dogs as catfish bait include: Cheaper hot dogs seem to catch more fish.
What’s catfish favorite food?
Channel catfish are very good to eat. Fresh baits such as peeler or soft crab, shrimp, squid, chicken liver, processed catfish bait, hot dogs and cut fish are good baits and popular angling methods include bait casting and bottom fishing.
What’s the best catfish bait?
Best Catfish Baits
- #1. Nightcrawler. First on the list is the ubiquitous nightcrawler, favored food for all fish species.
- #2. Gizzard Shad.
- #3. White Suckers.
- #4. Skipjack Herring.
- #5. Stinkbait.
- #7. Bluegills.
- #8. Punchbait.
- #9. Chicken Livers.
What is the largest catfish ever caught?
The Mekong giant catfish
The Mekong giant catfish is the official freshwater heavyweight champion of the world. According to the Guinness Book of Records, a nine-foot-long individual caught in northern Thailand in 2005 weighted an astounding 646 pounds, making it the largest exclusively freshwater fish ever recorded.
Has a catfish ever eaten a human?
No, despite what you may have heard, there aren’t. This is a myth, along with age-old claims that giant anacondas or piranhas eat men. People, especially the Caboclos in Amazonia and natives of other parts of South America and in Asia, love to tell these blood-curdling stories!
What’s the biggest fish in Texas?
Alligator gar are the second-largest freshwater fish in North America, second only to the white sturgeon. The Texas state record for rod and reel is 279 pounds, and the current world record is 327 pounds.
How much does a 30 inch catfish weigh?
10.88 pounds
Recommended
20 in | 2.86 pounds |
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29 in | 9.73 pounds |
30 in | 10.88 pounds |
31 in | 12.12 pounds |
32 in | 13.46 pounds |