Fishing the Spawn with Cody Chambers
Fishing the Coosa River and Tennessee River during the spawn is not much different than fishing other bodies of water while the whiskered fish are getting ready for their annual ritual. When the water temperature reaches about 68 to 70 degrees the catfish start migrating to their nesting areas and the bite gets tough.
The best tip that I have for this time of year is to fish with fresh natural baits. Use things like bluegills and other finfish that are natural to the river system that you are fishing.
Personally, I like to fish in the evening hours and nighttime hours. I go out and try to find lots of structure that I think might have a big catfish nesting in it. I look first for downed trees, but if I find rocks or anything that makes structure I will fish it!
They just aren’t real active during this time. I will also try to fish around creeks that run into the rivers and coves that have developed over time. I target them with a mix of top water fishing and fishing on the bottom. When I say top water, I use a big float with about a 3-foot long leader line and bait with live bluegills. When I am fishing the bottom I just use a regular Carolina rig.
Mainly, just try to be active and cover as much water as you can during the spawn.
