catfishing

   Far down in the southeastern corner of Washington State, there’s a river that is surrounded by millions of years of geological wonders. The journey begins at its headwaters in the Bitterroot Mountain Range of Northern Idaho. It meanders southwest and cuts through a landscape of grassy hills, formed by millions of years of wind-driven sediment that lay atop Pleistocene-era lava flows. For miles, it flows through a steep canyon carved out by the great Missoula flood that occurred during the rupture of an ice dam during our last glacial maximum. Finally, in Southeast Washington, it ends its solo journey at its confluence with the Snake River.

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    Historically, the waters at the confluence of the Snake and the Palouse were turbulent, characterized by rapids and fast-moving water. When Lewis and Clark reached the confluence of these two rivers during their expedition, they wrote about the ferocity of the water and how members of the group who didn’t know how to swim opted to go ashore and lug supplies on foot. Today, the waters here run much slower due to the construction of the Monumental Dam about 14 miles downstream on the Snake.

    The slow-moving water near the confluence makes great habitat for a variety of fish like walleye, channel catfish, yellow perch, bluegill, smallmouth bass, and northern pikeminnow. What’s more, the fertile wheat land surrounding the Palouse offers a specific advantage for anglers targeting catfish. Peppered up and down the river are shoreline grain elevators where grain is transferred from barge to land, and during harvest season, these spots attract large numbers of Channel Catfish. Anglers can boat to these grain elevators and target fish that feed on grain spillover.

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    Catfish can also be targeted near shore in shallow, calm flats and deep holes with rocky bottoms. Channel catfish can be caught with night crawlers, bread dough balls, chicken livers, crawfish, shrimp, and stink baits, but the most consistent bait for me remains cut fish. Typically, a 1-2 inch chunk of yellow perch will do the trick.

    Another method to deploy during the channel catfish spawning season (late spring-early summer) is running a small jig past a male catfish who sits guard over a nest. This often triggers a defensive strike from the male. This is a sight-fishing type of method, so to be successful, you’ll want a decent pair of polarized sunglasses and will need to be accurate with your casting.

    Fishing the Palouse after June 16th in Washington State means 2 pole fishing is permitted. Since fishing for Channel catfish can often be a long waiting game, the two-pole endorsement offers up a great opportunity for rigging one rod up for the more passive catfishing while then using a second rod for something more active, like casting swim baits for walleye or smallmouth. It's good to equip your catfish rod with a bell at the tip to indicate a strike that you may not have noticed otherwise.

If you’re interested in catching a variety of fish and don’t want to deal with the hassle of switching from one setup to another, no need to worry; there is a simple solution. A nightcrawler, a hook, and a worm tied together on a simple drop rig is a setup that I use for shore fishing on the Palouse, and I have caught walleye, panfish, pike minnow, and large catfish on it. It's a one-size-fits-all set-up and works wonders in the calm waters of the Palouse. It’s also a great setup for kids, so long as they have the patience to sit and wait for a bite.  

    I’ve seen some pretty nasty winds at the Palouse, and each time I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the lack of effect the wind had on the water. This could be because of a sheltering effect from the canyon walls surrounding the water, the lack of depth in the river itself, or a combination of both. Either way, the lower Palouse is a safe and excellent spot to launch a kayak or any other type of boat for a day of fishing.

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There are multiple boat launches on or near the lower Palouse. Lyons Ferry State Park offers a boat ramp and shore fishing opportunities. Riparia boat ramp on the Snake River is just east of the confluence of the Snake and the Palouse. Ayer Boat Basin is on the Snake River and about 7 miles west of the confluence. It has two boat ramps, a large parking lot to accommodate vehicles and trailers, and a campground for visitors,  

So, if you’re looking to get out and explore some of the most beautiful and geologically rich lands that our state has to offer, and you wouldn’t mind coming home with a cooler full of a variety of fish, then the Palouse is where you should be heading on your next trip!

By Josh DeBruler

It was November 6th of 1902 at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, where the great explorer, Meriwether Lewis, recorded in his journal that a prominent fisherman within their expedition had brought in a Goliath of a catfish that measured over 4 ft long and weighed in at 128 lbs.

Whether this accounting is of historical fact, or just generally accepted as American lore, the fact remains that Catfish get BIG. The record size catfish for the same river that Lewis and Clark’s men were dropping their lines in is currently a 104 lb.

blue catfish, and though we wont likely see those types of numbers coming out of our Pacific Northwest waterways anytime soon, we certainly do see some formidable sized cats here in Washington State. In 2019 a 15 year old boy hauled a 37 lb. state-record channel catfish out of Lake Terrell in northwest Washington, beating the previous record by 1.5 lbs.

If you’re looking to hook into a big catfish here in Washington State, chances are you’ll be fishing for channel catfish. Channel catfish are native to much of North America, but they didn’t make their debut here in Washington till 1892, when a load of them were dropped off in Skagit county’s clear lake.

From that point forward, these fish were distributed throughout Washington State for both recreational angling opportunities, and more recently, for management of problematic forage fish. Although, they can be found throughout the state, most anglers familiar with the fishery would agree, your best bet for harvesting some of these fish would be to head to the Columbia river to fish it and its tributaries that head north from the Bonneville Damn, and meander up and across the eastern portions of the state.

Rivers like the Columbia, Yakima, Snake, and Walla Walla, all provide reasonably suitable habitat for these fish to spawn and maintain self sustaining populations. Conversely, lowland lakes that are stocked with channel cats, will only provide anglers with fishing opportunities that reflect both the frequency of the WDFW stocking programs and the pressure the lake receives from anglers. Channel catfish are not known to reproduce in most Washington lakes.  

Where to fish in Eastern Washington (Eastside of cascades ) 

-Lake Umatilla

-Lake Wallula

-Lower Yakima River 

-Lower Walla Walla

-Lake Sacajawea 

-Lyons Ferry State Park (confluence of Snake and Palouse rivers)

-Roses Lake  

Where to Fish in Western Washington

• Green Lake 
• Clear Lake
• Silver Lake 
• Lake Terrace 
• Swofford Pond 
• Lake St. Claire 

When to fish 

Fishing is most productive when catfish are spawning. This typically peaks around June and you can expect the bite to taper off as we move into fall. The spawning season also causes catfish to move out of the larger Columbia river and into its tributaries where the shallow waters provide better spawning grounds. Take advantage of this time to target catfish in these smaller waters, and if you can fish the confluences of the Columbia and said tributaries at this time, a bottleneck opportunity occurs, and this is where the fishing can become excellent.   

How to fish them 

Being that most techniques are fairly straight forward, fishing for channel catfish should be suitable for anglers of all different experience levels. You’ll likely find that the most challenging part will be getting on top of the fish in the first place. If you are fishing at night, you’ll find catfish feeding in the shallow waters near the shore, and though night fishing is excellent for channel cats, it’s also not a very suitable time for the typical angler.

For this reason, many anglers fish throughout the day, and do-so successfully. During the day, you’ll find most of your channel catfish in deeper waters beneath the column of warm water known as the thermocline. Typically, 15-20 ft down will get you past the thermocline and into the cooler waters.

Since these fish are bottom feeders, the goal should be to get your bait at the bottom where it can be detected by the catfish’s keen since of smell. There’s a wide variety of baits you can use. Many anglers opt for chicken livers, oily cut baits, earthworms, chicken skins, hot dogs, shrimp, corn, or dough balls made specifically for catfish.  These fish don’t seem to be extremely particular about their food as long as it’s in front of them. 

As far as rigging goes: a slip sinker rig is both simple and productive. From your main line, add your preferred slip sinker, a stop bead, barrel swivel, about 5-20” of leader, and a 2/0 to 3/0 hook. You can get the hook suspended a bit off the bottom by adding a poly ball or foam peg float a few inches back from the hook if desired (note this becomes ineffective if a substantial amount of current is present)

A slip bobber rig is also a popular and effective method to get your bait suspended off the bottom while being able to detect bites visually. Just add a stop knot to your mainline, then a bead, a slip bobber, slide sinker, barrel swivel, and 10-20 inches of leader before your hook.

There are plenty of other methods available for catching channel cats, but these should be all you need to  get started.