Equipment you will need:

• Boat
• ship anchors
• Separate 12v battery to power the lights
• night lights
• submerged lighting
• Live Bait Keeper
• Fishing rod holders
• Heavy bait casting or turntable
• Insect repellent

Night fishing for catfish can be a very rewarding fishing trip. Trust me, if you do it right, you will catch fish, not only fish, but some will be lunkers! Catfish feed at night and are very active, and when they go into a feeding frenzy, the fishing action can be incredible! Catfish are attracted to submerged lighting and have a very keen sense of smell. So if you can locate their nocturnal haunts, you can lure them to your hook with a few simple methods that I’ll explain here. But first you need to be set up and ready for night fishing, it’s totally different at night than it is during the day. Things you take for granted during the day, don’t apply at night.

Boat setup for night fishing

Before you even think about going catfishing at night, you should have the following items: Interior boat lights, either Coleman fuel or battery powered lanterns with two mantles. Set your lights so they distribute light evenly within the boat. I personally fish from a 20 foot pontoon and have 3 battery powered halogen lights hanging 2 front left and right and one hanging from my awning in the back. (I have used my Colemans but they attract a lot of bugs)

You will also need a secondary light on your person. This light is used to re-mount fishing rods. Trust me, no matter how prepared you are before your trip, you will lose some gear, from line crossings, snagging, or fish breaking your line. (You can limit this by using heavy tackle and making sure your line is cool) I personally use an LED light that clips onto the brim of my baseball cap.

You will also need a light to illuminate the surface of the water. I recommend a 12v halogen light that can be directed to the outside of the boat. Mount it on the side of your boat, in the center. I personally use an adjustable halogen that I can clamp to the railing of my pontoon. Direct the light at a 60 degree angle from the boat towards the water. This will light up the surface.

You will need a submerged light source. You are probably wondering right now why do I need submerged lighting? The submerged lights will generate swirls of plankton that will attract baitfish. Once the bait fish start to school, the big cats will come. attract schools Underwater lighting fixtures come in a variety of sizes and shapes, the one I use is 36″ long and 4″ in diameter. Center the submerged light on the lighting pattern of the shallow water lighting you just set up. Set your submerged lighting approximately 12″ off the bottom (without an anchor, they will float on top of the water). Make sure the light is completely submerged under water. I recommend using a 5 pound weight as an anchor. If possible, anchor the light submerged about 2 to 3 feet from the boat.

You will need a secondary power source for the submerged light, water lighting light, and to operate your aeration pump for your live bait or live well. “Don’t use your ships power supply” This will drain your battery. you want to get stuck in the lake at night, right?

You will need all of your posts pre-assembled. If you have the tackle I would set up 3 poles per person before you get in the water. The reason I suggest this is because it’s a real pain to “blank” to remount at night. You’ll end up doing it anyway, but if you already have spare poles, use them first before you waste valuable time with the poles out of the water.

Location of the places frequented by the night of the cat.

In my experience, larger cats roam shorelines or stagnant waters in search of food at night. Every body of water will be different. I recommend that you do some research on the body of water in which you intend to fish for catfish at night. At a minimum Obtain a topographical map of the area before attempting your trip. These can be obtained at any of the local bait and tackle stores in the area. (I recommend you visit one of these shops to get the local scoop anyway, if you dig deep enough these guys can point out on the map where to start fishing. This will save you a lot of time.)

Attract cats to your boat.

Once you have your surface water lights and submerged lights set up and ready to go, you don’t even need to take the next step, you’re ready to start fishing. Underwater lighting will bring schools of bait fish closer, but I go one step further because if you play on the catfish’s extra sensitive sense of smell, you can drive the big cats into a feeding frenzy! OK, you say how?

Well, the answer is by introducing “chumming”. Chumming releases a taint of dead fish and fish gut odors that small bait fish and catfish feed on. There are many commercial chumming systems you can buy that work very well, but I use a simple and inexpensive method that anyone can set up. You will first need a nylon mesh bag that you can close tightly. (a good example would be the net bags you put golf balls in that have a drawstring closure adjustment) This is what I use, works perfect, very inexpensive. Next, get some good sized freezer bags, 3 should be enough for an overnight trip.

Next, buy about 2 dozen good sized chubs and slice them into 1-2 inch slices, making sure you do it in a pan that won’t drain all the juices. Fill freezer bags with chunks and juice, and let sit in the sun all day. Yes, it will stink to heaven at the end of the day, but that’s what you want! Now glue the freezer bag to the side of the resealable mesh bag. Close the bag tightly and tie a line to the bottom of the bag about 2 feet long. Attach an anchor of approximately 2 lbs. to bring the bag to the bottom. Now tie a line to the top of the bag with enough lead line to fit the bag to the bottom. Now, before you lower the bait bag all the way down, take an ice pick or something sharp that will pierce the bag, but don’t tear the plastic. Punch the freezer bag down a few times, then lower it to the bottom and tie it to the side of the boat.

Now is the time to fish! But before we go there, let’s revisit their catfish rigs. There are many catfish rigs you can use, and they all work in situations they are designed for. When you are fishing at night and have submerged a lighting setup, you want your line to be about 2 feet away from the light source, roughly at the outer edges of the source beam.

You will be fishing a short distance from the boat, so your tackle should be set to fish very close to the boat. You could fish tight with a basic catfish hook and a small sinker. Or use a sliding bobber system. I prefer to use the slip bobber system.

I use the single hook rig. Both rigs shown in the illustration work well, but I have a preference for the single hook rig. I use the double hook rig when fishing for other types of fish. I use all heavy duty, open face, spinning rods and reels with a 30 pound test. When you have a lunker on your line, you want the tackle to be prepared to handle the fight. You miss some smaller cats, but it’s worth it when you catch your first 10+ pound catfish.

baits to use

both channel and blue catfish will eat almost any small fish such as suckers, small tarpon, or bluegill, dead or alive. I use both live bait and dead bait. I’ll normally attach a post with a small live gill no more than 3 inches long. My other poles will be baited with cut bait, usually LARGE suckers 6″ or longer cut into 1″ to 2″ pieces.

Now bait your tackle, set up your boat and get ready for some exciting night fishing for Catfish Trip! Once you catch a 10+ pound lunker you’ll be hooked for life! So have fun and good luck!