how to tell if i have channel/blue catfish in lake

[Tery Songz]

i go fishing at this lake and i dont think i ever caught a channel all i ever catch when catfishing is digusting ole black bullheads they dont get big not a good fight either, is there anyway that i can tell if this lake has channel or blue cats? ive used worms bread dough , dough bait hot dogs and always catch bullheads the lake was a natural made lake and the property was bought and turned into an apartment complex they stocked the lake with bass etc and im not sure if they stocked bullheads instead of channels, i heard they kept fish there to keep the lake clean etc do you think they would add bullheads instead of channels because im pretty sure the stocking prices is cheaper? if i carolina rig a cut bluegill head and cast it out would a channel/blue take it? where would i cast it at? just wondering if i should stop wasting my time for channels/blues here and bass fish this lake instead

[Hez]

What lake?  I think the best way to find out would to be to try to talk to a local, especially if you could fine a local that ran trot lines.  

 

[Tery Songz]

2 hours ago, hezeez@gmail.com said:

What lake?  I think the best way to find out would to be to try to talk to a local, especially if you could fine a local that ran trot lines.  

 

its not a public lake its an apartment complex and theres a way to be able to get to the lake not alot of people fish it , the thing has monster crappie and monster bass in it if i cut a bluegills head off and cast it out with a carolina rig should i get a bite from channels/blues if theres any? or would i get only bullheads

the lake at the complex tho is huge a few dozen acres heres a screen shot from maps

[Hez]

13 minutes ago, Tery Songz said:

its not a public lake its an apartment complex and theres a way to be able to get to the lake not alot of people fish it , the thing has monster crappie and monster bass in it if i cut a bluegills head off and cast it out with a carolina rig should i get a bite from channels/blues if theres any? or would i get only bullheads

the lake at the complex tho is huge a few dozen acres heres a screen shot from maps

Oh, I got ya - not the kind of lake I was thinking about.  

[Turtle135]

To best attract channel cats I would try some chicken liver right after sunset into the evening. For all practical purposes the only way to find out if there are other species of catfish in that body of water is to fish it.

[Tery Songz]

1 minute ago, Turtle135 said:

To best attract channel cats I would try some chicken liver right after sunset into the evening. For all practical purposes the only way to find out if there are other species of catfish in that body of water is to fish it.

im allergic to chicken  i cant use it i tried and got sick one time, any other good baits

[Turtle135]

Night crawlers are right up there as a great baits for channel cats (better than cut bait in my opinion). I would give it a couple of evenings. If you do not hook a something other than a bullhead I think you can book it that the lake only has a viable population of bullheads.

Skin contact to chicken products causes you an allergic reaction?

[Tery Songz]

https://gyazo.com/09a7283e16c2065ccdd8bd5a9a34b44b

 

 

the red patch is so i dont give out where i live if you were wondering

 

those black lines are a somewhat accurate representation of laydowns (submerged trees) its about 7-15 ft deep there and i would rather not fish its always steep and if you slip you are litteraly screwed. your gonna get a bath. any other areas of the lake good to fish? i cant pass that blue line to the right side since its private property that 3 is in the middle its litteraly around like 3 feet deep there thats where i always cast and pull out bullheads, there annoying under that 3 the shoreline theres is about 1 ft to 2 ft to 3 ft to 4 ft then the middle to the left of the 3 on the shoreline is about maybe 3-5 ft deep then a little further you reached that 3 ft deep in the middle at north of the 3 that shorelines about 4 ft to 6 ft deep there

 

if you could tell me how to figure out where the channels are if theres any that would be great. heres another picture

 

 

https://gyazo.com/63f18418873936086206707401a80540

 

that blue swiggle is a small stream when it gets flooded its big enough to allow fish to travel that stream connects to the lake and the nonconnah creek.

 

yes chicken smell is allergic to me i dont know why but i cant breath near a dead or live chicken cooked chicken doesent seem to be a problem but i cant cook it 

 

cooked probaly wouldent work either

 

night crawlers would get me nothing but bullheads i thought nightcrawlers are bad for this situation since bullheads get to them first, the first time i fished here about 5 yrs ago my dad caught a 16-18 inch catfish and it was channel catfish shaped and a bit slender i doubt it was a bullhead so im sure there is some channels maybe, do bullheads compete with channels and not allow them to spawn for example? if theres catfish in here i wouldent be surprised if theres 100 pound blue cats since this lake is dozens of years old before it was a apartment complex and it was fed by the nonconnah creek so it should have some HUGE catfish if theres any other then bullheads

[Tery Songz]

also if there isnt any channels there does any one know about the lake herb parsons? i went there 1 time and only caught 1 catfish does any one know where to fish if im without a boat? bank fishing with cut bluegill is what i would be using where should i cast?

[your_averageJoe]

lol i know that lake, i've fished there. 

W.C Johnson park has deep parts and a lot of people used to fish for channel cats there and some still do. There are decent/big sized cats there and a bench to sit while fishing.

[Bird]

The best night I ever had fishing for channel cats, was using raw shrimp. 

[TnRiver46]

Just now, Bird said:

The best night I ever had fishing for channel cats, was using raw shrimp. 

Shoot I’d start a fire and grill that before I’d give it to a catfish 

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Shoot I’d start a fire and grill that before I’d give it to a catfish 

I'll never understand using shrimp for catfish bait, but folks make catfish so much more difficult to catch than they are. 

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'll never understand using shrimp for catfish bait, but folks make catfish so much more difficult to catch than they are. 

I mean, I like eating catfish but I think I like eating shrimp more