Spinning for Catfish!
European catfish - wels is our biggest and most powerfull freshwater fish.
It grows up to 9ft lenght and 400lb weight. Of course that size of fish is extremly rare, but catfishes between 100lb and 200lb are quite common. Wels feeds mainly on fishes, worms, small birds (young ducks) and rodents. Wels lives in all bigger rivers, dam reservoirs and lakes. It is very common fish mainly in Big rivers like Odra Vistula, Warta and Bug.
Most common methods for catfish in Poland are spinning/casting, live baits (carp, bream, crucian, roach, tench or eel) or groundbaits (liver, worms or halibut pellet). Some people try with flyfishing also. It's hard to say wich method is more effective but for sure spinning/casting is my favourite. There is nothing better than hunting for catfish in the middle of warm summer night in one of big polish rivers (Odra or Vistula).
There are 2 ways to catch catfish with artifical lure:
1) Fishing at night, when catfish is active and feeds in shallow spots on small fishes. In this case I use shallow running podgy crankbaits sometimes with a rattle. Perfect example of night catfish lure are Salmo Boxer 7, Dorado Lake, Manns Baby, Rapala Shad Rap Shallow, Rapala DT4 or old Shakespeare Big S.
2) Second strategy for fishing at day is trolling or spinning in the deepest spots where fishes hide from sun. In this case I use very similar lures, but i choose their deep diving versions - like Rapala DT20, DT16, DT14, Ralpala Risto Rap, Salmo Boxer Deep Runner, Rapala Shad Rap, Rapala Glass Fat Rap, Salmo Hornet 6, 5.
In both cases it is important to use very strong rod, reel, line, snap and trebles. Every single element must be ready for heavy fight with 100lb or bigger predator. I use Shimano technium 2,7m (9ft), 50-100g (2-4oz) and Penn Slammer 360 with 30LB Power Pro Braid. This is very strong set, but it also allows me to spinning for many hours without getting tired.
