small river catting question

[rcbbracing]

I know in the spring channel cats will move back up tributaries where they call home....does anyone have an educated guess as to how far they will be moved up? The river is about the size if the stillwater but with more current and probably real similar depth...its finally back down to normal pool and I wanted to give it a shot if weather permits this evening...I assume its more than warm enough fir channels to be back in but curious what you all thought....thanks

[Varmint_Sniper]

Dave....I find channel's in the stillwater in march still snow on the ground i don't think they leave i just think they find them deeper holes and winter hear as the water warms they will spread out more but still a litle cold yet look closer to deeper part's of the creek. this time a year i do good on cut shad, nightcrawler's, Hotdog's, let me know how ya do?......Sniper

[katfish]

I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news is that I saw a sled full of channel cats
caught through the ice. This means that channel cats
are far more cold water tolerant than I thought.
Also channel cats and blue cats are a lot more
predictable (and numerous) than flathead.

The bad news is that after studying many telemetry studies
I can't answer your question. In some rivers the cats
migrated 60-70 miles (one radio tagged fish swam 220 miles)
from winter to summer homes and on other rivers 60-70
feet. With information like that I wouldn't be to surprised
if you get contradictory reports.

Also there is no indication that all fish move simultaneously. So
it may seem the channel cats have not returned when in
truth only a few have migrated and more are on the way.

And finally, channel cats are notorius for being
oportunistic feeders feeding on the most abundant
food source available. This may also alter their locations
since they may have to travel as they change their diet.

[rockbass]

Dave it's definately warm enough. It truly never gets too cold. If it's similar to the Stillwater creek, it's prob hard to find good fishin spots as it is. I know on the Tusc it's just a matter of figuring out the food source most of the time. Every year in Feb I have a few spots I like to hit when the river rises for the first time. I'll use twisters and get into multiple channels from 1-10 lbs. In Jan and March though under the same water levels, they don't seem to hold in the same spots.