CATFISH ALL YEAR ROUND ON A FLY ROD EVEN IN WINTER?

Many of us understand the methods used by Louis Van Der Westhuizen to coax catfish into taking the fly. These methods have stood the test of time, but like any sport today, with the influx of people comes change and better understands of fish behaviour.

One fact of a catfish's behavour that stands out in my mind is that these fish are the extreme predators of our local waters. A catfish’s ability to home in on a moving targets or injured prey is paramount to its survival.

It was thought that in the winter month’s catfish hibernated, well this is very debatable, as I have caught many fish on the coldest of days. HOW SO? Well we firstly need to understand that they become less active in winter because of water temperature. It is because of this that a catfish’s primary endeavour to feeding is not to exceed the amount of energy exerted relative to the amount of energy gained by feeding in that specific manner at that specific time. In short, if it takes more energy to feed than what is gained by feeding? Then it is not worth it.

The result of this logic is that in winter catfish gather in large schools. They generally stay in the deeper water where temperature changes in the water are less extreme, as the day heats up they move into the shallow bays where the water is at it’s warmest and thus they become more active. The bigger fish start to feed on the past seasons fingerlings, which because of their small size are affected the most by cold water. The catfish literally suck them up with very little energy exertion and with less effort than in the warmer months.  The small fish are a high source of protein, therefore worthwhile eating. Ok so what do the smaller cat’s eat?  Well this many sound bizarre but they also move into the warmer bays or into well-silted areas where they feed on mud, sucking it up until there are bear patches with no mud left at all. Why? Well I can only speculate, but they feed on snail, bloodworm and small microscopic biomass that live in the mud. Point of ponder, it is said the biomass in the ground far exceeds that of the biomass relative to that above the ground. Therefore I surmise that the same applies to mud in the water. Once again the means justifies the end. The fish exert very little energy relative to what they gain by feeding in this manner. This is not just gossip you will find that the small cats in winter are often very muddy in colour, under belly, which is a direct result of this feeding behaviour.


So what I am saying is that, the method applied must be similar in principle to that of their feeding habits. That is why in the winter months I fish for cats in the late afternoons when the water is at it’s warmest and the fish are more active. I then use methods very similar to Louis. I find the schooling fish and put out a long cast with two flies to increase my chance of catching and to ensure that I am actively fishing the bottom where the fish are. This method seldom produces fish smaller than 3 kg and larger that 7kg.


In the summer months there are two behaviour patterns that prevail. The first is that the cat’s food is more active and so the cat’s feeding habits are normally more active as well and the fact that it normally rains in the summer months which causes dam levels to rise, covering new ground, along with the greater availability of cold blood insects. The results being that cat fish actively petrol these areas because this is where food is at its highest concentration levels. These fish are more inclined to chase and hunt down anything that moves. Thus the method: I look for a rising fish and cast repeatedly on its head allowing the fly to sink every so often. The takes are either as the fly hits the water or as it sinks to the bottom .I have effectively imitated prey in distress. In some cases, late afternoon I will use a popper on the surface to imitate a moth or nocturnal insect struggling on the surface. These methods produce fish from 3kg up to and over 20 kg.



The recipe for catching catfish is very simple but the logic behind it is a little more complex ed.