Hard Water Cats

You can hear the coffee pot talking on a Saturday morning as you pour your first mug. Coffee always did hit the spot on a frigid winter day.You flip on the TV and are immediately greeted by an image of an angler flipping a fish in the boat. You look out the window on the frozen tundra that is your yard and wish it wasn’t too cold to catch catfish. The funny part is, it isn’t too cold to catch a catfish. Ice fishing for catfish is not only extremely fun, but it can be extremely effective!

Rivers can be ice fished, and ice fished safely in many areas, but the non-moving water of lakes, ponds, and small reservoirs freezes the most consistently. These bodies of water freeze sooner, thaw later, and offer you the longest ice season. We will focus on them.

Finding the cats is the most important part. Typically, they relate best to deep water, but not always the deepest water. According to Ken Miller, one of the first people I’ve ever heard of catching catfish through the ice, the sweet spot tends to be somewhere in the 20 to 35 foot zone. If you’re fishing a reservoir, the majority of the fish will be in or near the main river channel.

Once you find the cats, they usually aren’t alone. The frustrating part is even though the catfish are often heavily concentrated, they can still be difficult to catch due to low metabolic rates as a result of the frigid water temperatures. It's a great idea to experiment with different baits and techniques, and lots of days, the bait experiment is a necessity. Minnows, wax worms, shad, shad guts - on any given day, one of these can outproduce all others. The only way to figure it out is to bring a large variety of bait.

Something that has surprised me over the last few years is that the jigging rod often catches the most fish. When it comes to the actual “jigging” motion, less is definitely more. Move your bait to get the fish’s attention, but slow it down or quit moving it all together once the fish gets close and is wanting to investigate.

Tackle requirements vary based on the size of fish you have in the body of water you’re fishing. For a jigging rod, a medium to heavy power spinning rod works great. My current favorite is the Eyeconic 32” Med Light. It has a light tip for bite detection and a lot of backbone for setting the hook. The most important thing is to use a sensitive rod that allows you to detect light bites.

Mono ranging from 6-20 lb test strength and braided fishing line from 10-35 lb both get the job done, so go with what you prefer. While sometimes catfish will hit a bait hard, especially during early ice, more often than not they gingerly pick up a bait and you must be able to quickly react. This season, I plan on experimenting with longer ice rods, and will have more information and recommendations come Spring of 2022.

Set rods still catch fish, and often lots of fish. The more bait you have in the water, the better your odds are. To set up your stationary baits, I’m a fan of automatic hook setting devices. Tip ups will catch catfish, but so often catfish pick up a bait, move a short distance, and drop it before you have a chance to hook them. Baits set up on automatic hook setters lead to many more fish hooked. The best rods to use are generally ones with lots of backbone to set the hook effectively once a fish grabs the bait. The Whisker Seeker Whisker Stick, either a bait caster or spinning rod, meets all of these criteria and will help you ice more cats.

There’s a lot to learn about catching catfish through the ice. There have been anglers catching catfish through the ice for decades, but it’s still a relatively new activity for the majority of ice fishermen. We’re at the “tip of the iceberg” if you will. The best way to catch cats is to get out on the water, give it a try, and learn something new. There is no better way to learn than first hand experience. Ice catfishing can vary from terribly slow to fast and extremely furious, and everything in between. The only way to find out is to go. Good luck when you do!