As many anglers know, the spawn is among us making catfish more difficult (and in some cases impossible) to catch! If you’re lucky enough to catch their pre-spawn patterns, you’ll notice they like to gorge themselves, eating everything in sight before they hunker down to protect their nests.
Channel Catfish spawn at water temperatures of 70*F to 85*F, with 80* being optimal. Spawning temperature appears to be slightly lower for Blue Catfish at 70*F to 75*F, and Flatheads between 68*F and 75*F.
Once optimal water temperatures have been reached, male catfish seek out the perfect breeding ground to lure in the females to spawn. Channels, Flatheads, and Blues are what we call “cavity spawners.” They seek a formation or hole they can hide in/under to protect their nest. Caverns in banks, hollow logs, washouts, under large rocks or boulders, deep crevices, logjams, etc. If you’ve taken the time to build up your baited holes with sunken structures such as drums, crates, or large pipes, there is a good chance your honey hole has become a temporary dwelling for their savagely guarded nests.
Male catfish seek out the perfect breeding ground and lure in the females to spawn. Once the female lays her eggs (anywhere from 4,000 to 100,000!!) the nest is ferociously guarded by the male. During this time the male is unlikely to hunt, as his sole purpose is to provide protections for the eggs from numerous threats who’d love to have a taste of some catfish caviar. Eggs can take 5-10 days to reach maturity, depending on the water temperature. The male will stick around for a few more days to guard the fry (tiny baby catfish). In all, you can expect male catfish to be scarce for around 2 weeks during the spawn.
Female catfish will typically resume their regular feeding patterns shortly after laying eggs. I like to encourage every angler to release fish they believe to be full of eggs in order to maintain a healthy population in the years to come. Unfortunately it is difficult to tell which is which. Male catfish will go into a near feeding frenzy to make up for lost time.
So, if your fishing trips have been slow recently, rest assured it will all pick back up very very soon!
