Whether you prefer natural or artificial baits for channel cats, fishing them in the right spots is the key to success as the weather heats up. (Shutterstock image)
It was late February and the snow was falling when my wife Julie and I slipped our Aquapod skiffs into the river on the upstream side of the bridge and went to work cast-netting a short bucket of gizzard shad—a task that didn’t take long.
Tying off gunwale-to-gunwale to an old snag in two feet of frigid, murky water, we baited No. 4 Eagle Claws with fresh shad innards and made our first casts of the New Year.
Within 60 seconds, if that, Julie’s Lamiglas bent into an arc as a wide, silver-gray tail slapped the surface 20 feet away. It wasn’t long before a gorgeous 3-pound