Small ponds can yield big results—if you know how to find the best catfish hiding spots.
Catfish Basics #177, Where to Find Pond Catfish
Story and photo by Keith “Catfish” Sutton
If you want to catch more catfish in small lakes or farm ponds, it pays to understand how these whiskered fish use pond features throughout the year. Whether you’re casting from the bank or fishing from a small boat, pinpointing where catfish hole up, feed and move with changing conditions will put more fish on the stringer. Let’s take a look at five pond features that consistently hold catfish—and how to fish them effectively.
Deep Holes
In most ponds, the deepest water lies near the dam or levee. That’s where you’ll often find catfish—especially during the day or in cold weather. Cats may roam the shallows to feed, but they usually retreat to these deep-water zones for security and stable conditions. They only abandon them when oxygen levels drop, like during a summer stratification event.
Winter is prime time for fishing deep holes. Catfish gather in tight schools that can number in the hundreds, making it possible to catch a pile of fish from a single spot. For best results, fish vertically with a simple rig: a weight and a baited hook. Drop chicken liver or nightcrawlers straight down, reel up a foot or two and hang on.
Creek Coves
Coves where small creeks or ditches feed into a pond are hotspots during spring and early fall, when catfish move shallow to feed. During summer and winter, that inflowing water also moderates extreme temperatures, attracting baitfish—and catfish along with them.
Focus your efforts along the edge of the creek channel, especially where it snakes through the cove and exits near the main pond. Start at the mouth and work your way in, fan-casting to cover the entire inflow zone. If you locate the channel drop-off, you’ve found the highway catfish use to move in and out.
Aquatic Vegetation
Weed beds can be catfish magnets. They provide food, shade, oxygen and cover—not just for catfish but also the critters they like to eat. Watch for thick vegetation growing out from the shoreline. When it stops suddenly, there’s often a drop-off or depth change that’s worth fishing.
Isolated weed patches away from the bank are also high-value targets, especially if they have open pockets where you can drop a bait. Look for subtle contours—points, indentations and channels—along the edges of the vegetation. Catfish often patrol these edges and ambush prey in the cool, food-rich environment.
Woody Cover
Old stumps, brushpiles and downed trees hold catfish like magnets. They offer shade, shelter and ambush spots for feeding. Even a single log along the bank or a submerged snag in open water can be a prime fishing target.
Cast right up against the wood, let your bait sink beside it, and be ready. Whether shallow or deep, cats often hang tight to these structures—especially in warm months when they’re on the prowl.
Water-Control Structures
Don’t overlook pipes, culverts or springs that bring fresh water into a pond. These inflows create movement and oxygen, attracting baitfish—and the catfish that follow. Sometimes it’s a trickle from a pipe. Other times it’s a gushing boil from a spring or wellhead.
One productive tactic is to drift a bait beneath a float through the area. Let the current carry it naturally, just like real food would drift into the pond. Catfish in these zones are usually scattered but aggressive.
Conclusion
Understanding pond structure and how catfish relate to it gives you a big edge, especially when other anglers just cast and hope. Learn to read the water, target the right features in the right seasons, and keep your bait in the strike zone. That’s the plain and simple way to catch more cats, no matter the pond.
