By understanding what catfish do in the winter, the author
has also increased his catch of fish during the summer.
What do Channel Catfish do in the Northern Winter?
Story and photos by Jeffrey Miller
The upper Midwest and eastern parts of the Great Plains form a land of contrasts. It seems like one day I’m sitting in my small boat on the river, listening to the current laughing through snags and around bends. Then the next thing I know, the river is frozen solid with a coating of snow. The catfish I so eagerly catch during the summer must do something under the ice, so I took some time to delve into where they go during the brutal winter months.
Catfish and Temperature
Like most people, I live a busy life. With three daughters and a significant other, and a full-time job, my schedule is packed. I’m also a fur trapper and hunter, spending each spring and fall pursuing a variety of fur and feathered game.
As a cat fisherman, this works great. When water temperatures hit the mid-70s, channel catfish begin to spawn. After that, they settle into summer routines, and it’s a rare day when I don’t boat at least a few nice fish.
The month of October sees a dramatic seasonal change. Though the air temperatures are still comfortable, the water temperatures are declining rapidly. Holes, snags and riffles where catfish lurked a few months prior seem to be devoid of fish. Though my friend Brad Durick, famed Red River catfish guide, still seems to catch fish in the fall, I have never boated one in October. They just seem to be gone.
According to Durick, in water temperatures less than 40 degrees a cat requires 1% to 2% of their body weight in forage, in one feeding, to survive for a week. Fish that ate like spring bears during the summer barely need a snack in the cold winter water. Though they don’t go into a semi-hibernation like flathead catfish, channel catfish undergo a dramatic change when the snow flies.
Winter Locations
Not only do channel catfish need less food in the winter, but they also need specific habitat locations.
Most anglers can remember catches when it seemed a trophy catfish was caught in water barely deep enough to cover its back. But during winter, depth plays an important role in catfish locations.
Steven W. Kelsch and Jamison L. Wendel completed a study on channel catfish in the Red River of the North called “Lotic Habitat Availability and Use by Channel Catfish in the Red River of the North.” Even though their study was mostly done during the open-water season, they found that both depth and debris are factors in the overwintering success of channel cats. Very few catfish are found in areas with a lack of deep holes and debris, and those that are found tend to be young fish.
So what do cats do in small tributary rivers in the North? Taking a cue from the wood ducks that spend the summer in the same spots, they migrate. There is no magic number on how far fish can migrate, although one study of radio-tagged cats in the Midwest showed some moved as much as 35 miles, while others barely moved at all.
My home water, the Sheyenne River, sees dramatic changes in water depths each year. During a major spring flood, the raging river can be 25 feet deep or more. After a dry summer, the deepest holes may only be 6 to 8 feet in depth. Downstream on the Red, the fluctuations are as severe, though the deep holes remain deep even during low water.
The movement of catfish is dependent on the availability of good wintering habitats. In small shallow tributaries, most if not all of the population of fish will move downstream, seeking deeper water and debris. In larger rivers, with more defined deep holes and consistent debris structure, fish will move much less. Of course, dams and other restrictions can impede this seasonal shift.
Can They Be Caught?
Of all outdoor activities that take place during the winter, ice fishing is last on my list. I’d much rather be busting brush for cottontail rabbits or setting snares for coyotes and foxes than sitting over a hole in the ice.
I have plenty of friends, however, who love ice fishing. Most ply their trade on frozen lakes, but there are a few who have decoded how to catch fish on winter rivers. A surprising variety of fish can be caught through the ice on the Red River, including walleye, northern pike, perch and goldeye. Not a single fisherman, however, can remember catching a channel cat through the ice.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, as anglers in the southern ice belt report catching big cats through the ice. I hope someone on the Red River can figure it out, as it would add a new angle to the world-class fishery. Currently, though, it seems like fishing cats through the ice on the river is a difficult proposition.
What Does it Mean?
Understanding what cats do under the ice is important to maintain critical habitat for the continued success of the fishery. Though it happens less than it did in the past, there are still instances when Water Resource Districts or other agencies will remove debris during the winter months with equipment. The justification is to reduce log jams during the spring thaw, though, as a natural resource professional, I question the success of the endeavor. What it does, however, is remove spawning and wintering habitat not only for channel catfish but for many other species of aquatic animals as well.
It will be interesting how the still-in-process Red River Diversion will affect winter catfish dispersing in the Fargo area.
Winter is the limiting factor in many areas of the country. Deep snow, cold temperatures and strong winds can be devastating to a wide variety of wildlife, and those that survive need to develop a strong survival strategy. We usually don’t think about what fish do during the winter, but understanding channel catfish and their reaction to the cold will go a long way in increasing catches during the open-water season. When I chip a hole in the ice to set a mink trap, it’s hard not to wonder if there is a catfish nearby in the dark water, patiently waiting for spring.
(North Dakotan Jeffrey Miller is an experienced freelance writer, covering such diverse topics as fishing, hunting, fur trapping and modern homesteading. He has written three books.)
