Quite some time back I was at Cabela’s in Fort Worth Texas picking up some catfish tackle with my kids and we took a trip by their massive walk through fish tank that they have on site. This is a cheap way of babysitting for me because my kids will sit inside the fish tank and watch all of the different fish swim around for hours (and dad gets to kick back).
I took my video camera and shot several different segments of the blue, channel and flathead catfish while I was there and have been meaning to do something with them for quite some time, but just hadn’t gotten around to it, so here it is, finally.
This is not some fast paced action packed catfishing video in fact I edited all of the sound from it and added some music (sorry I couldn’t find any soothing music). It also has absolutely no narration at all in it from me, it is simply catfish living their lives in the tanks.
There is a second video that I will be posting later that is focused primarily on the flathead catfish in the tank.
I am not going to add any lengthy articles or information to these right now, but am rather looking for comments on what people observe about these videos when you really watch them and notice the movement and patterns of the fish, and how that relates to catfishing, especially when watched in contrast with the flathead catfish behavior insights video I will be posting.
After watching the video, comment in the section below and tell me what you think, what observations do you make from watching how these fish move in the tank etc.
About Chad
Hi Chad and everybody at learntocatchcatfish.com!
The first thing I noticed was that in the beginning of the video, one blue was feeding on the bottom?? The rest of the time the blues were fairly tightly grouped together and suspended in the water. I’d say they were staying in the last 4 foot of water the whole time, rarely, if at all, going to the top of the tank. I also noticed that they liked the structure a lot. Specifically the tree stump and the boat, and they weren’t very camera shy. >:)
All in all, their just like most other fish like the largemouth bass. They love cover! The more the better. Guess I need to start fishing underwater structure more often.
I’d also guess and assume that in the wild open waters of a lake or pond that they would feed mainly on bottom, but travel and play in the lower 1/3 of the water column close to structure, and only go into open unstructured water when traveling from place to place like hunting food. That’s gust an educated guess though.
Interesting video Chad. Glad you posted it.
Your friend in Mesquite TX,
James Greene
Interesting observations. I am going to write an article soon. Keep an eye out. There is another video coming up also.
Chad;
James and I made the same observations, but I believe that the fish don’t really hang around each other as much as they do the cover. As you and James stated, they are not always on the bottom and it may be the thermocline, but I think they let the carp hit the bottom and wait for something smelly and tasty to pop over. They are built like building blocks, full to the tail and wil likely fight well. I will need to get a kitchen pass and take a field trip to Cabela’s or BPS soon. I will send you some Ozark music to sooth the fisherman and bird watchers. Great job of filming in the tank. Bob
Yea, I fully expected some ribbing on the music but I have to use what’s free!
Chad;
Chad;
This was a very interesting video for me. In all my visits to Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shop, I was usually with family w/kids, and it was a hurry up thing to go watch the fish. I really never took that much time to observe each specific fish, just a general look see. This video, concentrating on Mr. Blue, showed me some things.
As James wrote in the above comment, I noticed how the Blue Catfish roamed/swam, more less together. I also noticed a competitive behavior in the Blue with the Carp. I don’t know enough about the species to tell if this is one of their traits, or an isolated incident. It goes to show, you must know, have some knowledge of the species that you are going to fish for if you are going to succeed in scoring. The more knowledge, the better you chances of a full stringer.
Thanks for the work you did in providing this to us.
Stan
Chad,
Nice video, I too have watched behavior of many catfish, blues. My questions that I have is do these fish act the same way in the wild? Do blues move around this much with more space? And, it would be interesting to shot this same video when all of the lights are out. I do believe that they do stay mostly on the bottom. Also something that would be nice to know is “how do these fish get feed, and how do they respond to feeding time? Good obsorvations and great video!
I, we, do alot of paylaking here in Ohio, and have learned that like any other kind of fishing, you just have to spend some time, testing the waters, from what kind of bait are they feeding on, to depthe, weather, different seasons. I spend countless hours on different ponds and rivers..And still feel that these fish are still the biggest mystery, that’s why I love catfishing the most..Its like a good chess match, and it will test your patients…Thanks again…Team-Payne Catfish Hunters.
I am going to have to do a full article and respond to all the questions at once and add some observations. Thanks for the feedback.
Great video thanks for the info!
Thank you!
I also agree with the comments above. Being in the area of Lake Texoma and other fishing hot spots the video adds a whole new depth in the behavior of this blue catfish. I agree with the insight of making the same video at night on them. I fish the rivers and lakes around here and it is a chess game with this fish and I love it. But I still need more input to make the game a little more plentyfull. Thanks for the video. The Masters Family.
Thanks for the feedback. I am looking at underwater cameras but not in the cards right now (very expensive).
LOL I love Cabelas! I wind up there at least 3 times a month thanks to the truck parking so I can swing in on my way home. My kids love that tank. My daughter recognized it right off the bat! Good video man
Great video of the blues! We do a lot of drifting on Grapevine which is close to Cabela’s and catch mostly blues. Although there are times when we catch more channels than blues in the summer. Our largest blue so far is 37 lbs. and we’ve had several on that we never got to the boat! I was interested to see how they stayed off the bottom for the most part, so that may explain why we have had better luck with the hook placement 2 or 3 feet above the weight. There’s not much structure in the lake, so we just have to find them. The video confirmed what we have thought that they seem to run in schools, and they are never in the same spot. We fish mostly with shad and shrimp, but the bigger fish are usually caught on cut gizzard shad. Smaller ones on fresh caugt on threadfin, which you seem to confirm in your article. I just found your site and look forward to more info and videos. Thanks!