Grew up fishing Channel Cats in IL. They are the dominate fish up north for some reason. Blues and Flats were somewhat rare. Good times none the less. We used to catch giant channels below power plant dams. Fun, fun fun. Great eating back in the day but probably wouldn't eat them these days. Thank you for your content.
The flatheads are in the fox and rock River. The Wisconsin river has some big flats as well. Head down more towards Quincy Illinois and a little further south to get into some blues on the Mississippi. The lower kaskaskia has some monster blues and flats as well. The town lakes in Illinois tend to get the bigger channels and less of the bigger species I've found. Lake Shelbyville, lake Carlyle, and lake Bloomington for example, are great channel cat lakes.
Another great video Justin. The haze is probably from the fires in Canada. We do have flathead and big musky in the great lakes as well as some big channels.. Good luck in the tourament..
No doubt those were some of the biggest channel cats I've ever seen thanks for taking us with you and the live from up there last Sat. No doubt you go above and beyond to make greay content for us to enjoy . Thank you for what you do and the info you share with us.
Finally some good quality channel cat footage. Proud of you for coming back to my home state and fishing for channel cats. Good luck in the tournament. As you are well aware of by now we don't have many waters here in the Ohio that have blue cats, so, channels are the most populated catfish species here, however, there some good Flathead fishing here too....There's also some good carp fishing here too in case your interested.
It’s crazy even how things have changed in 20 years I’m only 23 and I remember my grandma dressing us up and taking us to sears to have photos taken and they had those pull down backgrounds 😂
as someone who fishes the sandusky bay. cut up bluegill works well and honestly ive had decent success with secret 7. or you can always try putting kool aid cherry with the chicken breast. a lot of people use that method too! Good luck brother!
Good Ole Sandusky Bay, there are definitely some large Channels in there! We fish it fairly often, on a good day we can land upto 100 Channels from the boat and typically land several each year around 20lbs. Back in April my wife landed a 30lb female. The bigger ones are more prevalent in the spring and again in the fall. And sometimes all you can get are Drum though. Regardless, it was great to see you on our Bay.
They don't ever get the respect they deserve down here in the south. I don't exactly know why they get so much bigger up north but they sure do seem to! I fish for them a lot when we need meat and I'll set out one or two trot lines along with a few jugs. It doesn't take long to fill a cooler that way.
Never in all the years I have watch Justin did I think I would hear him catching channel cats on purpose!! This new world of tolerance and acceptance has Justin changing more than ever!😂😂😂😂
So nice to see a channel tutorial!!!!!!!! Live on the IL river, Channel is king and there are sporadic flats. I know they aren't the monsters you have on the TN but I enjoy watching how you approach the only fish I am chasing!!!! As always your thoughts and practices are soooo appreciated!
Them baby shad you can get from wal mart or any bass pro shop is a hell of a bait for channels there also. Waters get too cold to hold blues for long. That’s why they migrate more south. Why bigger blues are caught down south. Even though the Ohio river is full of blues and flatheads.
I swear you may be startin to like those darn channel cats Justin. Aqeeome video man keep em coming. I've been a fan a long time. You are def the catfish whisperer and I've learned alot from you
Welcome back to Ohio brother! I know every inch of that bay. I know it is too late now but if you come back up grab some raw shrimp. Just pick up a couple bags from Walmart or DG.
@outdoorhersh3344 I have pulled 8 over 20 this year. But my numbers have been down a little. Going to spend Sunday and Monday up there. I know the next state record is swimming in there. Lol
Heck a 30 inch channel cat is a pretty common size in the saginaw river here in Michigan, seen a few 40+lb flatheads as well, we dont get the 70+ lbers though
Yeah, I didn't ever think I would be watching you targeting channel cats. Must be snowing in hell, lol. It's still an awesome video. Congrats an the new pb
I love your videos,,,, you are so funny!! You are so relaxed and appear to be having such a great time on the water,,, Thanks so much for sharing the video,,,, Best of luck,,,, 😉
@@misfitmoto1931 I usually fish off Will’s Creek Road close to the bridge, or that’s where I’ll load my kayak in. I’ll fish the spillway if it’s not too crowded.
Yep that’s the old bay bridge behind you and the train bridge I fished that since I was a youngster. Under the Edison bridge at the end fast water in the middle of that.
I live in WV so usually we catch a lot of flatheads and channel cats but once in a while you can catch a blue cat and they can either be really big or just average 10-15 lbs so when you catch a blue it’s usually your first blue or PB blue but yeah Wv has a lot of good fishing for all people that fish for all fish. Love your content Justin keep it up. Come fishing out here in Wv I have some spots I think you could go to if you are interested.
Awesome seeing you fish my waters, wish I could have made it to the weigh ins. Hope you come back again, Lake Erie has a whole lot more to offer than channel cats
Great fishing in the bay! They do have flathead's in there but very few. My biggest channel ever came from that exact spot you're fishing. She was 22 pounds. I caught her on cut carp. Cut carp is amazing for the big ones. Shrimp works well also.
I'd like to see u come to wv n try fishing stonecoal lake it's not huge but a good sized lake it's clear and deep in places low hp limit and is said to have monster cats and trout but u never hear of them caught
Theres also some monster carp up there too if you ever decide to make a trip back up. We destroyed the cats the night before this video on raw shrimp bank fishing.
Love that ur gonna be in the tourney...word of advice set up a 1/2oz drop shot rig for smaller cutbait and troll at 0.4 to 0.7... Idk why but its been hitting the perfect seam and been producing 10+ lb on a regular basis
You might want that first channel back sometime. Here in Wis the record is only 42lb. Most people think walleyes but cats are plenty fun. Farther north not sure deep is the answer. I used to look for a little current seems to help. You said predator and ambush sometimes a lot easier shallow. Good luck I'm sure you'll do great.
Definitely the best spot hands down for channel cats in Ohio. I was there Saturday caught a 14 pound 34 incher on Saturday. I mainly target flatheads but i do take my fair share of trips to Sandusky Bay. How was it like taking a kayak on there? Alot of jet skis and pleasure boaters so i only bank fish there.
WELCOME TO MY POND BROTHER!!!!!!! All my fishing content is from lake erie tributaries!!! I can't wait to see how you do!!! Musky are top predators here sir
We ain’t got anything but channels in ny… HOWEVER there have recently been 2 DEC confirmations of flatheads moving into the rivers of central NY. The ones caught weren’t much bigger than a couple lbs, but if there’s smalls there’s gonna be bigs. Looking forward to the next years as they settle in!
You're in my neck of the woods. My PB Channel is 25 lb and my buddy has the state record at like 37 lbs so yeah we got some bigs up here in northern Ohio. We have lots of Golby and they would probably make good catfish bait and they are easy to catch.
I was looking for Rod Serling when you said "nice channel cat" in a sentence because I was certain that I was in the Twilight Zone ! 🥺 You caught some really big ones and good numbers as well ! I hope you were successful in the tournament ! 🤞
Been watching ur vids pretty regularly for the past year and u kill it. I dont think iv ever commented on a youtube video but u seem like a stand up dude. U should come try ur hand on lake cumberland or the cumberland river below wolf creek damn, im from Russell Springs, ky. My girl and I have been goin evey chance we get. Im curious to see what u would hook up too. Keep on keeping on brother!
I have a kayka about 8 to10 ' don't get out to for cause of the wind I love the way you fish one day I would love to catch some bigs ones like you do. God Bless you
This is funny. I was there in May with a friend and nephew and we caught an estimated 700 to 800 pounds using frozen shrimp. We were just there this past Saturday and caught an estimated 400 to 500 pounds, each a 6 hour fishing trip, and caught multiple 15s, 14s, 13s, 12s, etc. Biggest was 19.6 in May, 17.10 just recently.
I live 10 minutes from there - there really isn’t a bad spot for Channel cats in Lake Erie, used to be some huge ones in the Huron River that fed on spilled grain from the Con Agra factory, but that’s gone now. Only issue to me is, I wouldn’t waste good chicken breast on channel cats when you can catch them with night crawlers
Well my man, I got you to fish Ohio's two best fisheries in the same year, Hoover and Sandusky. Any regrets!? Lol. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip. Appreciate the shout out.
I have had so many arguments with people in Northern Illinois that we have no blue cats. They get channels in the blue phase and swear they are blues!😂😂
I'm wondering why you would get chicken breast when gizzards would work just as well and they're cheaper. My grandpa swore on gizzards that they were the best for catfishin lol.
Another GREAT Video!! I thought your tongue was going to fall off when you said thats a nice Channel Cat - LOL!! Are you going to use a Stinger on your rigs? Ive caught plenty of Channels on Rooster tails fishing for Bass, Just a thought and best of LUCK!!
There are definitely Blues and Flathead in Lake Erie around Sandusky. I was in a bass tournament this past weekend and caught a few of each by accident. I was out on the main lake though.
I add my retroactive hope that you won the tournament or at least placed high enough to earn significant money. I'll find out when you post the results.
From what i've seen on iNaturalist, there are some flatheads caught in the rivers that lead into Lake Erie and especially Sandusky Bay, but not enough to be targetted.
@@Bobo_Skypark i'm sure it's likely I am wrong but the reason why I said there aren't a targetable population is because I just never hear anyone fishing for them at lake erie.
I got friends who fish Sandusky a lot and they told me to bring my son up so he can feel the power of a 18-20lb channel cat
Grew up fishing Channel Cats in IL. They are the dominate fish up north for some reason. Blues and Flats were somewhat rare. Good times none the less. We used to catch giant channels below power plant dams. Fun, fun fun. Great eating back in the day but probably wouldn't eat them these days. Thank you for your content.
The flatheads are in the fox and rock River. The Wisconsin river has some big flats as well. Head down more towards Quincy Illinois and a little further south to get into some blues on the Mississippi. The lower kaskaskia has some monster blues and flats as well. The town lakes in Illinois tend to get the bigger channels and less of the bigger species I've found. Lake Shelbyville, lake Carlyle, and lake Bloomington for example, are great channel cat lakes.
Great video i live in Ohio and fish Lake Erie every day such a good fishery all different types of species
Yes finally you’re catching your favorite fish.
Another great video Justin. The haze is probably from the fires in Canada. We do have flathead and big musky in the great lakes as well as some big channels.. Good luck in the tourament..
man no matter where you go you manage to catch some big fish keep up the great work my brother
Love your content I’ve learned so much from you and I appreciate the work you put in to all of the videos you make.
No doubt those were some of the biggest channel cats I've ever seen thanks for taking us with you and the live from up there last Sat. No doubt you go above and beyond to make greay content for us to enjoy . Thank you for what you do and the info you share with us.
I really enjoy your videos and I like all the sharing and "teaching"". Thank you , you are my favorite
This video was a ton of fun, and I love catching channel cats!
Finally some good quality channel cat footage. Proud of you for coming back to my home state and fishing for channel cats. Good luck in the tournament. As you are well aware of by now we don't have many waters here in the Ohio that have blue cats, so, channels are the most populated catfish species here, however, there some good Flathead fishing here too....There's also some good carp fishing here too in case your interested.
It’s crazy even how things have changed in 20 years I’m only 23 and I remember my grandma dressing us up and taking us to sears to have photos taken and they had those pull down backgrounds 😂
For sure se respectable channel there justin thanks looking forward to see more of lake Erie channel cats and that bonus cat was full of it lol
as someone who fishes the sandusky bay. cut up bluegill works well and honestly ive had decent success with secret 7. or you can always try putting kool aid cherry with the chicken breast. a lot of people use that method too! Good luck brother!
I have fished there from the shore ! Nothing but Bulhead lol
Good Ole Sandusky Bay, there are definitely some large Channels in there! We fish it fairly often, on a good day we can land upto 100 Channels from the boat and typically land several each year around 20lbs. Back in April my wife landed a 30lb female. The bigger ones are more prevalent in the spring and again in the fall. And sometimes all you can get are Drum though. Regardless, it was great to see you on our Bay.
They don't ever get the respect they deserve down here in the south. I don't exactly know why they get so much bigger up north but they sure do seem to! I fish for them a lot when we need meat and I'll set out one or two trot lines along with a few jugs. It doesn't take long to fill a cooler that way.
Never in all the years I have watch Justin did I think I would hear him catching channel cats on purpose!! This new world of tolerance and acceptance has Justin changing more than ever!😂😂😂😂
So nice to see a channel tutorial!!!!!!!! Live on the IL river, Channel is king and there are sporadic flats. I know they aren't the monsters you have on the TN but I enjoy watching how you approach the only fish I am chasing!!!! As always your thoughts and practices are soooo appreciated!
Them baby shad you can get from wal mart or any bass pro shop is a hell of a bait for channels there also. Waters get too cold to hold blues for long. That’s why they migrate more south. Why bigger blues are caught down south. Even though the Ohio river is full of blues and flatheads.
Wow you sure got some good lookin catfish there. Good luck with the tournament 👍👍👍
I swear you may be startin to like those darn channel cats Justin. Aqeeome video man keep em coming. I've been a fan a long time. You are def the catfish whisperer and I've learned alot from you
I'm from Sandusky ohio. Born and raised. Fish the bay nearly everyday. There are so many big cats out there.
Welcome back to Ohio brother! I know every inch of that bay. I know it is too late now but if you come back up grab some raw shrimp. Just pick up a couple bags from Walmart or DG.
I said the same thing in the comments. Shrimp is the go to for channels in the Bay and big ones at that.
@outdoorhersh3344 I have pulled 8 over 20 this year. But my numbers have been down a little. Going to spend Sunday and Monday up there. I know the next state record is swimming in there. Lol
Heck a 30 inch channel cat is a pretty common size in the saginaw river here in Michigan, seen a few 40+lb flatheads as well, we dont get the 70+ lbers though
I fish the Saginaw River for Flatheads & Channels as well.
CPR
You should out the Maumee river while your in Ohio! It's an hour away from Sandusky bay, and it has some awesome flathead fishing
I love your commentary, cracks me up!
Yeah, I didn't ever think I would be watching you targeting channel cats. Must be snowing in hell, lol. It's still an awesome video. Congrats an the new pb
I love your videos,,,, you are so funny!!
You are so relaxed and appear to be having such a great time on the water,,,
Thanks so much for sharing the video,,,,
Best of luck,,,,
😉
I moved to souther Illinois 12 years ago, I catch big channel cats on cut bait shad.
ill be just down the river after some flats this weekend maybe an hour away tops good luck on your tournament tight lines
Well done Justin! I hate them damn things to but they are everywhere but I will tell you the channels up there got some size to them! Good luck!
Have you ever fished Will’s Creek here in Ohio? It’s in Southern Coshocton County. It’s a good river for flatheads.
Where at? I grew up next to wills creek in kimbolton been wanting to go back and fish it.
@@misfitmoto1931 I usually fish off Will’s Creek Road close to the bridge, or that’s where I’ll load my kayak in. I’ll fish the spillway if it’s not too crowded.
Yep that’s the old bay bridge behind you and the train bridge I fished that since I was a youngster. Under the Edison bridge at the end fast water in the middle of that.
I fish right by where you are. . . A mile walk makes the fish that much bigger! I grew up fishing in the Bay and now I miss it. . 😢
I look forward to every video! Great Job!
Always love a bonus fish !
I live in WV so usually we catch a lot of flatheads and channel cats but once in a while you can catch a blue cat and they can either be really big or just average 10-15 lbs so when you catch a blue it’s usually your first blue or PB blue but yeah Wv has a lot of good fishing for all people that fish for all fish. Love your content Justin keep it up. Come fishing out here in Wv I have some spots I think you could go to if you are interested.
Come to herbs bait store on Catawba island, just on the other side of the big bridge. Baits on me. Night crawlers, shrimp, chicken liver.
Good luck on the tournament! Can’t wait to watch. ❤❤
Awesome seeing you fish my waters, wish I could have made it to the weigh ins. Hope you come back again, Lake Erie has a whole lot more to offer than channel cats
Great video thanks Justin.
Good luck on the tournament, I have a feeling you will do great!!
Great fishing in the bay! They do have flathead's in there but very few. My biggest channel ever came from that exact spot you're fishing. She was 22 pounds. I caught her on cut carp. Cut carp is amazing for the big ones. Shrimp works well also.
Trust me, they get *much* bigger here where I live. Come up to Lockport MB, and 36" cats are normal.
Some nice channels.
I'd like to see u come to wv n try fishing stonecoal lake it's not huge but a good sized lake it's clear and deep in places low hp limit and is said to have monster cats and trout but u never hear of them caught
That's the biggest channel catfish I've ever seen. Good luck on tournament day.
I remember you fished on Santee resevoir in South Carolina length of 47.25 inches
I really enjoy your videos keep them coming sir
Theres also some monster carp up there too if you ever decide to make a trip back up. We destroyed the cats the night before this video on raw shrimp bank fishing.
Love that ur gonna be in the tourney...word of advice set up a 1/2oz drop shot rig for smaller cutbait and troll at 0.4 to 0.7... Idk why but its been hitting the perfect seam and been producing 10+ lb on a regular basis
Ohio has some good Channel Catfish
Good Luck in the tournament, from a Bama fan you probably like me bout as much as channel cats. But I'm a fan of your show.
Was up there a couple weeks ago and we caught so many channel cats while smallmouth fishing. Ned rigs and spinner baits. Good luck in your tournament
Theres some smaller public lakes local to me that have a lot of 12-18 inch channel cats, been catching them a lot on crappie jigs
You might want that first channel back sometime. Here in Wis the record is only 42lb. Most people think walleyes but cats are plenty fun. Farther north not sure deep is the answer. I used to look for a little current seems to help. You said predator and ambush sometimes a lot easier shallow. Good luck I'm sure you'll do great.
Definitely the best spot hands down for channel cats in Ohio. I was there Saturday caught a 14 pound 34 incher on Saturday. I mainly target flatheads but i do take my fair share of trips to Sandusky Bay. How was it like taking a kayak on there? Alot of jet skis and pleasure boaters so i only bank fish there.
Heck yea another video with a bonus fish
Eegad😮 Chanel cat's. Go get buddy!!! Woper time 🎉
Very nice good luck this weekend
Excellent video 😎
Shrimp is the bait to use we fish the bay alot
WELCOME TO MY POND BROTHER!!!!!!! All my fishing content is from lake erie tributaries!!! I can't wait to see how you do!!! Musky are top predators here sir
If you guys are looking for a good place to catch walleye check out cranberry creek marina
We ain’t got anything but channels in ny… HOWEVER there have recently been 2 DEC confirmations of flatheads moving into the rivers of central NY. The ones caught weren’t much bigger than a couple lbs, but if there’s smalls there’s gonna be bigs. Looking forward to the next years as they settle in!
You're in my neck of the woods. My PB Channel is 25 lb and my buddy has the state record at like 37 lbs so yeah we got some bigs up here in northern Ohio. We have lots of Golby and they would probably make good catfish bait and they are easy to catch.
Wish I had the big blues like you got down there. Nebraska we catch big channels all the time caught 5 this year already that we’re 15-25 pounds
I was looking for Rod Serling when you said "nice channel cat" in a sentence because I was certain that I was in the Twilight Zone ! 🥺 You caught some really big ones and good numbers as well ! I hope you were successful in the tournament ! 🤞
And you have to have the right rig set up, the right bait and night time is best ....trust me😮
Make sure you have shrimp, (Ohio) guy here but the bay is always my go to for a fish fry, they destroy shrimp lol
Good luck in the tourney
A fellow just caught a 32 lb flathead not too far from where you were. He was bass fishing.
Been watching ur vids pretty regularly for the past year and u kill it. I dont think iv ever commented on a youtube video but u seem like a stand up dude. U should come try ur hand on lake cumberland or the cumberland river below wolf creek damn, im from Russell Springs, ky. My girl and I have been goin evey chance we get. Im curious to see what u would hook up too. Keep on keeping on brother!
A lot of the fish your seeing on your electronics could be walleye, Erie is world famous for them.
Watching from Ben wheeler Texas awesome catfishing sir .
Ever have caught a flathead
Love me some channel and blues. Do a show on using some kawtaba worms there awesome down here in texas
I have a kayka about 8 to10 ' don't get out to for cause of the wind I love the way you fish one day I would love to catch some bigs ones like you do. God Bless you
This is funny. I was there in May with a friend and nephew and we caught an estimated 700 to 800 pounds using frozen shrimp. We were just there this past Saturday and caught an estimated 400 to 500 pounds, each a 6 hour fishing trip, and caught multiple 15s, 14s, 13s, 12s, etc. Biggest was 19.6 in May, 17.10 just recently.
Do you fry them up? Most folks now don’t keep ‘em and feast. My grandad rolls in his grave. Have a good one!
💯❤️ it doesn’t matter what fish are Catchin I’m still watching
It just hurts me when you let those ornery channels go! String them up and have a fish fry! Yummy. Love your videos man!
I have fished that exact spot with my dad and brother and absolutely torn them up!
You had a great channel cat trip I live in AL and my personal best channel ever is probably 12 lbs
Bonus fish tricks!
I live 10 minutes from there - there really isn’t a bad spot for Channel cats in Lake Erie, used to be some huge ones in the Huron River that fed on spilled grain from the Con Agra factory, but that’s gone now. Only issue to me is, I wouldn’t waste good chicken breast on channel cats when you can catch them with night crawlers
If you can get them I recommend white perch. They go crazy for them
great video, see channels can be fun. more fun on he carp rods lol. stay safe.
I tried to follow your standing, ya did good all considering.
Channel cats don’t hate you specifically, they hate everyone. Meanest fish I know. Makes them fun!
Welcome to my world, buddy.
Welcome to northern ohio hope ya get a monster channel..i use medium equipment for em makes em funner
I am watching from Elmira NY Chemung river his a lot of Channel catfish
Hope you win try one bag chicken with strawberry jello mix might help works in ga
You finally did it!!!
Sounds like the Seagulls were laughing at you every time you caught a Channel Cat LOL.
Well my man, I got you to fish Ohio's two best fisheries in the same year, Hoover and Sandusky. Any regrets!? Lol. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip. Appreciate the shout out.
Haha! Hoover was great. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if I never fished Sandusky again lol.
I have had so many arguments with people in Northern Illinois that we have no blue cats. They get channels in the blue phase and swear they are blues!😂😂
I mean if you count braidwood blue cats haha
Liberals arent very intelligent.They are quite gullible actually
#217 😊 we got blues
Them blue colored channels are males, during the spawn they get darker and their heads swell
I'm wondering why you would get chicken breast when gizzards would work just as well and they're cheaper. My grandpa swore on gizzards that they were the best for catfishin lol.
Lake Springfield had blues in it
Here we go
Another GREAT Video!! I thought your tongue was going to fall off when you said thats a nice Channel Cat - LOL!! Are you going to use a Stinger on your rigs? Ive caught plenty of Channels on Rooster tails fishing for Bass, Just a thought and best of LUCK!!
you are winggiling pretty good, you catch some were you never fished before
There are definitely Blues and Flathead in Lake Erie around Sandusky. I was in a bass tournament this past weekend and caught a few of each by accident. I was out on the main lake though.
No Blues in Lake Erie, but there are definitely some Flatheads
I add my retroactive hope that you won the tournament or at least placed high enough to earn significant money. I'll find out when you post the results.
That’s the channel Mecca!
From what i've seen on iNaturalist, there are some flatheads caught in the rivers that lead into Lake Erie and especially Sandusky Bay, but not enough to be targetted.
You would definitely be wrong in that statement. They are plentiful if you put in your homework and learn where to fish and what bait to use.
@@Bobo_Skypark i'm sure it's likely I am wrong but the reason why I said there aren't a targetable population is because I just never hear anyone fishing for them at lake erie.
Maumee River has a very good population of Flatheads.
Big pieces of shrimp uncooked ....we have caught some monsters on uncooked shrimp