Mr. Whiskers

[Duck Nitz]

I was curious if anyone had ever tried to target big catfish (channels/blues with a fly...I have some ideas that may work, but I would like to try to land a big one (on purpose) on a hand-tied fly. By big cats I mean the SANtee-Cooper variety. Do your worst!

[JABIII]

You could pull it off when the mayflies are swarming.

[smallwater]

We used to target gars with a streamer on a fly rod, but that was sight fishing. If you could pull the fly right between two of them, they would sometimes race each other for it.

[BOGSTER]

You would need pretty solid Intel about where the big cats were and when to target them.
Late summer on the shallow sandy flats is a start.

[Mergie Master]

I've caught a butt load of carp on a fly rod when they were rutting. That is some serious fun.

[Mergie Master]

You could pull it off when the mayflies are swarming.

This ↑

Everything feeds when the mayflies hatch. I've seen squirrels out on the willows picking them off many times. Along with flocks of birds.

I've caught several big catfish on top water when bass fishing a mayfly hatch. I think they are there for the same reason the bass are, to feed on the bream that are after mayflies. I've caught some of my biggest bass fishing top water on a mayfly hatch and most of them I kept had beam in their guts. Also caught some big ass crappies along with the catfish and bass.

[Mergie Master]

We used to target gars with a streamer on a fly rod, but that was sight fishing. If you could pull the fly right between two of them, they would sometimes race each other for it.

This too. We used to do it up the Saluda above Lake Greenwood. We didn't use hooks though. We spray painted doubled 5" strips of panty hose silver and used those. Sight fishing like you say. Cast past them and strip it back fast in front of them like you would a tarpon. Their teeth tangle up in the nylon mesh. Cheaper that way.

You can add a ball lead for a head on the strips of panty hose and use them with spinning or bait casting reels also.

[tman]

I've caught a lot of catfish on artificial lures but unless you condition cats to feeding on the surface Like with floating food on a pond. I really don't think you're going to get good results. Catfish anatomy and physiology isn't really "set up" for quickly identifying and striking surface foods. good luck, YMMV, especially when the mayflies hatch as mentioned earlier

[Mergie Master]

Catfish anatomy and physiology isn't really "set up" for quickly identifying and striking surface foods. good luck, YMMV

You obviously haven't seen them schooling on shad at Santee. A big cat feeds just like a big bass. He doesn't always pick the prey/lure/food up with his mouth. In most cases he flairs his gills and sucks it in like a vacuum. I've read that a 5lb bass can take around a quart of water through when he does this. That's what makes the commode flushing "gloop" sound when they hit a big top water lure. It's also why if you don't pause a second after the strike before you try to set the hook you will take a top water away from a bass and never feel him.

[Mergie Master]

Any more questions?

[Duck Nitz]

This guy is after the giant Wels catfish, but I don't see why you couldn't duplicate the success in still water. Thanks for the info guys

[Hoggin]

I think it could be done with a streamer type fly and some sinking line.

[reeltight]

You could pull it off when the mayflies are swarming.

one of the largest cats I've ever seen caught on rod and reel was using a mayfly as bait.

[tman]

A big cat feeds just like a big bass. He doesn't always pick the prey/lure/food up with his mouth. In most cases he flairs his gills and sucks it in like a vacuum. .

In what way is catfish feeding on shad, relevant to fly fishing? Im talking about top water feeding. Have you ever seen a bass do this:

[tman]

I think it could be done with a streamer type fly and some sinking line.

That might would work but I really think overall this is not going to work or it would have caught on by now and a few people would be doing it. Not knocking anybody for trying something new but I just don't see this endeavor as being successful with any amount of repeatability of success.

[Ring King]

I used to catch big channel cats all the time in the spring when fishing Russelville Flats and over around Angels for crappie. We caught them on minnows under cords in 4ft of water or less. This would be a perfect scenario for a streamer and sinking line.

[Duck Nitz]

I imagine there would be a lot of different scenarios where you could apply a flyrod, but the toughest would be down deep, say 25' of water. If you had a 12 weight, sinking line and a Hang time Optical Fly tied on a jig hook like an 8/0 and the proper leader/tippet setup you could hook and land a big one. The fly I tied most recently is this:

[Highstrung]

I've caught and have seen channel cats doing funky things. They're pretty active in the early morning and night. The few I've watched in my aquariums get wild and come up top when the lights go out, and I've caught a couple in late afternoon on smaller jigs around the cedar creek dam on Wateree. When the shad are running, schooled up on the banks, i have a large Sandy beach on Wateree. It's not uncommon to see one or two in the mix, above five pounds, chasing shad.

[Calibogue]

I imagine there would be a lot of different scenarios where you could apply a flyrod, but the toughest would be down deep, say 25' of water. If you had a 12 weight, sinking line and a Hang time Optical Fly tied on a jig hook like an 8/0 and the proper leader/tippet setup you could hook and land a big one. The fly I tied most recently is this:

At 12 feet with little current, a clear sink tip and weighted fly will get it done.
Hell, I've fished a flowing river water that deep with the same setup.

[Duck Nitz]

Thanks all!

Calibogue- what weight rod and leader/tippet configuration, if'n you don't mind.