Should you’re questioning what catfish eat, the reply is absolutely anything. These fish are opportunists that feast on a wide selection of meals relying on what’s obtainable. They’re each scavengers and predators, though sure species will focus extra on stay prey than others.
Understanding what catfish eat and the way they feed will assist you dial in a correct bait for various situations. A number of the most tried-and-true choices for catching catfish are rooster livers, stinkbaits, nightcrawlers, stay perch, and reduce bait. These slimy bottom-dwellers aren’t recognized for his or her pickiness, nonetheless, and that’s excellent news for anglers trying to hook right into a hefty one.
What Do Totally different Catfish Species Eat?
The North American catfish household contains 45 completely different species, in line with the American Catfishing Association. These vary vastly in dimension from lower than a pound to properly over 100 kilos, however all of them have a couple of bodily traits in frequent. They’ve leathery pores and skin (with out scales) that’s outfitted with chemoreceptors, which give them a heightened sense of odor when searching for meals. Additionally they have barbels resembling a cat’s whiskers round their mouths which might be outfitted with style receptors. When used collectively, these sensory organs assist catfish discover meals in murky water and low-light circumstances.
There two major saltwater catfish species that inhabit inshore waters alongside the Atlantic and Gulf coasts–hardhead catfish and gafftop catfish—however these fish are usually seen as bycatch by many anglers.
For the aim of this information, we’ll concentrate on the 4 major freshwater catfish species which might be focused most ceaselessly by North American anglers: flatheads, blues, channels, and bullheads. These fish principally persist with the underside of water our bodies, however they’re not solely backside feeders, and every species has its personal most well-liked meals and feeding type.
Learn Subsequent: How to Catch Channel Catfish
Usually talking, flatheads catfish are predators that wish to ambush stay fish. Blue and channel catfish are principally scavengers that may even prey on different fish when given the chance. Bullheads are typically extra omnivorous and so they feed on all kinds of meals sources, together with plant matter.
“There’s a lot completely different meals that they’ll reap the benefits of,” Mike Jolley, fisheries biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Sources Company, tells Outside Life. “The place some fish are actually particular with their weight loss plan, [catfish] should not. Due to that, they provide a very good alternative for anglers.”
A catfish’s weight loss plan relies on what’s obtainable, in addition to the fish’s age and dimension. Youthful and smaller catfish eat extra invertebrates whereas grownup catfish goal extra fish, in line with Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Fee biologist Geoff Smith.
What Do Flathead Catfish Eat?
Flatheads are voracious meateaters that can hunt down stay prey. They’ll usually goal perch and different small panfish, however they’ll additionally swallow fish like bowfin which might be practically as massive as they’re. They’ll even assault and eat some non-fish species like frogs, mice, and even ducklings. Megan Schall is an assistant professor of biology at Penn State-Hazleton who research invasive flathead catfish within the Susquehanna River, and she or he says she as soon as discovered a child squirrel in a catfish’s abdomen.
In any other case, these fish are principally piscivorous, and can eat quite a lot of species relying on what’s obtainable in that watershed. A few of their major prey objects embrace:
- Bass
- Bluegill and different sunfish
- Carp and suckers
- Herring and skipjack
- Mudfish
- Different catfish, together with their very own kin
- Shad
- White perch
Flatheads are a favourite of many anglers as a result of they develop big and combat laborious. The largest flathead ever recorded within the U.S. weighed 123 kilos, in line with the IGFA.
In watersheds the place flatheads are nonnative, nonetheless, their presence may be trigger for alarm. Schall is presently researching flathead feeding behaviors in elements of Pennsylvania and the decrease Chesapeake, whereas wanting on the influence invasive flatheads have on native and leisure fish populations. In some areas, launched flatheads are focusing on threatened species. For instance, Tim Bonvechio, a fisheries biologist for the Georgia Division of Pure Sources, as soon as discovered a juvenile Atlantic sturgeon within the stomach of a flathead.
What Do Blue Catfish Eat?
Blue catfish are the undisputed heavyweights of the American catfish household, and so they may even outgrow flatheads. They will attain as much as a staggering 65 inches and tip the scales at 150 kilos. Though they’ll prey on stay fish, blues may even scavenge for invertebrates and useless fish, and so they’ll often decide up inanimate objects whereas feeling their approach alongside the underside. Bonvechio and his colleagues have discovered that blues favor mussels, mollusks, and asiatic clams in a number of watersheds. Different major meals objects embrace:
- Amphibians, snakes, and different small reptiles
- Birds
- Clams and mussels
- Crayfish and invertebrates
- Different catfish
- Shad
- Suckers
- Sunfish
What Do Channel Catfish Eat?
The common channel cat ideas the scales at a modest 2 to 4 kilos, however they’ll surpass 40 kilos beneath the suitable circumstances. They’re one of the in style species for younger and newbie anglers to focus on as a result of they’re plentiful and can eat all kinds of baits.
It’s because channel catfish are omnivorous and opportunistic by nature. Youthful channel cats will eat quite a lot of crops, together with small invertebrates, bugs, and mollusks. As they develop, they usually shift to a extra carnivorous weight loss plan and can add extra fish and crustaceans to their weight loss plan. A few of their favourite meals sources embrace:
- Aquatic bugs
- Aquatic crops
- Crayfish
- Invertebrates present in backside substrate
- Mollusks and snails
- Smaller fish
What Do Bullhead Catfish Eat?
Bullhead catfish are sometimes neglected by anglers as a result of they’re the smallest of the 4 major species, usually maxing out round 20 inches lengthy. However for anglers who care much less about dimension than they do catching fish, these fish are nice to focus on. Like channel cats, they’ve a status as being simpler to catch than an enormous blue or a large flathead. These fish are environment friendly scavengers that spend most of their lives rummaging across the backside. Their weight loss plan primarily consists of:
- Aquatic crops
- Crayfish
- Bugs and bug larvae
- Fish eggs
- Leeches
- Minnows
- Snails
What Do Catfish Eat in Totally different Waters?
Catfish will adapt their weight loss plan to numerous environments, and so they inhabit each rivers and stillwaters. They typically depend on their eager sense of odor to feed throughout muddy, high-water occasions in rivers, or when looking in murky lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and bayous.
Catfish are backside dwellers, however they don’t feed on backside one hundred pc of the time. They’ll floor feed often and may be caught all through the water column.
“A whole lot of instances at evening, they’ll come up into extra shallow areas extra towards the floor and feed,” Jolley says. “Through the daytime, they have an inclination to remain in these backside areas.”
Most catfish in rivers are migratory. They have an inclination to carry and feed in lengthy, deep swimming pools and slackwater eddies. Flatheads like to cover behind construction and boulders in massive rivers and reservoirs to ambush different fish. Channel catfish want open river channels, however additionally they do properly in stillwaters. Bullheads primarily inhabit lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, however they are often present in some rivers as properly.
River catfish will transfer out and in of currents to feed on something that swims or drifts by, typically utilizing high-water occasions to take pleasure in a feeding frenzy. In ponds and lakes, catfish usually hunt for his or her meals alongside the underside.
The Position of Water Temperatures in a Catfish’s Weight loss program
Similar to all different cold-blooded species, a catfish’s urge for food will change relying on temperatures. When water temps are hotter, their metabolism kicks into excessive gear and so they want loads of meals to remain fueled.
“The hotter they’re, the upper their metabolism, and the extra they’re going to eat,” Smith says. “They’re not very thermally harassed, in order that they’re gonna be consuming out extra ceaselessly on the higher finish of that temperature vary.”
Because the water temperatures drop, their feeding exercise tapers off as they’re unwilling to maneuver far to chase down a meal. When fishing in Tennessee, Jolley says he’s discovered piles of blue catfish inhabiting the identical swimming pools within the river, all searching for meals that comes by that they’ll snatch with out expending a lot power.
Should you’re questioning how to catch catfish in winter, Trone says he typically focuses on shallow water, which is warmed extra shortly by the solar. He caught his Georgia state-record blue in October and says he tends to catch extra large fish within the winter after they focus within the shallows.
Fishing for catfish through the wintertime is way more durable the additional north you go. In northeastern states, their metabolism will shut down virtually solely through the winter months as they depend on fats reserves constructed up over the remainder of the yr.
The Greatest Baits and Lures for Catfish
The choices for catfish bait are as various as their diets, nevertheless it’s at all times greatest to consider what the primary meals sources are within the water physique you’re fishing. What you set in your hook can even decide what sort of catfish you’ll catch.
When focusing on bullheads, a nightcrawler fished on the underside is typically all you want. Channel cats may be caught on easy baits like white bread, cheese, or rooster gizzards, however as a rule of thumb, the smellier the bait the higher. Particularly in hotter water, the place smells disperse extra shortly. There are all kinds of various stinkbaits that may be purchased at a bait store or made at house. One of many easiest and efficient selfmade recipes consists of hotdogs soaked in Kool-Support.
Learn Subsequent: Hotdogs are the Best Bait for Catching Summertime Channel Catfish
Should you’re trying to tangle with the bigger catfish species, utilizing stay or reduce bait is commonly a greater approach to go. Some anglers want stay bluegills, whereas others, like Florida angler Tim Trone, swear by recent reduce bait for the largest flatheads and blues.
Trone holds a number of catfish information, together with the Georgia state document for blue catfish, which weighed 111 kilos. His technique is easy however efficient: Use what the catfish are feeding on of their habitat. He additionally says freshness is essential. When prepping for tournaments, Trone shares up on shellcrackers, bluegills, and different small sunfish. He additionally tries to solely use bait caught from the identical water he’s focusing on catfish in.
“I’ve observed they’re not as sizzling concerning the bait you convey because the bait that’s recent,” Trone says. “Chances are you’ll catch a bluegill in one other stretch of water and catch a bluegill on that water and so they’ll like that bluegill from their water higher than those you introduced with you.”
Getting your baits down deep is vital it doesn’t matter what species you’re focusing on. Sliding sinker rigs are straightforward to make use of and really efficient on each flatheads and blues, although Trone says he typically runs a santee rig. It additionally helps to have one of many best catfish rods in your arsenal. Or, for a real hands-on expertise, you may attempt noodling for catfish. This includes feeling alongside the underside together with your naked fingers and utilizing your wiggling fingers as bait.
On the finish of the day, Trone says, catching catfish is all about trial and error.
“You’ve bought to exit and check out. If it ain’t working, attempt one thing completely different.”
What Do Catfish Eat: FAQs
Components like location and time of yr will have an effect on how a lot catfish eat. However typically, the bigger the catfish, the bigger its urge for food.
Catfish are opportunists, so the timing of after they eat typically revolves round each time the prospect arises. In line with Jolley, these whiskered fish don’t essentially must chow down day by day. In the event that they’ve had a hearty meal, they could skip a day or two. Nevertheless, Jolley says it’s secure to say most catfish are most likely actively feeding most days, particularly the bigger fish that require extra power daily, or when the water heats up and their metabolism shifts into excessive gear.
Catfish depend on their sense of odor to eat, in order that they’re naturally drawn to smellier issues. Eyesight performs a secondary position, particularly for flatheads in pursuit of fish. However primarily, it’s the scent of the meals supply that lures catfish in.
Remaining Ideas on What Catfish Eat
Understanding what catfish eat is about tapping into their adaptable and opportunistic feeding habits. Seasonal modifications, various aquatic environments and obtainable forage all play a big position in shaping a catfish’s weight loss plan. With their superior sense of odor, catfish navigate and forage in murky waters, typically utilizing high-water occasions in rivers or scavenging the pond bottoms for a meal.
Whether or not it’s the predatory flatheads ready to ambush stay prey, adaptable blues feasting on something from small invertebrates to different fish, or bullheads scavenging the bottoms of ponds and lakes, catfish are masters of benefiting from their environment.
For anglers trying to land a large catfish, success hinges on understanding their dietary habits and mimicking what they’re inclined to eat of their habitat. The subsequent time you’re on the water, embrace the catfish’s method: Adapt to your environment and don’t be afraid to attempt one thing completely different.
