Channel catfish are North America's most numerous catfish species. They are also the most fished types of catfish, with approximately 8 million anglers in the USA targeting them per year. Channel catfish have a top-end size of approximately 40-50 pounds (18-23 kg). The world record channel catfish weighed 58 pounds and was caught in 1964 in the Lake Marion, South Carolina. Realistically, a channel catfish over 20 pounds (9 kg) is a spectacular specimen, and most catfish anglers view a 10 pound (4.5 kg) fish as a very admirable catch. Furthermore the average size channel catfish an angler could expect to find in most waterways would be between 2 and 4 pounds.
Channel catfish are well distributed throughout the United States and thrive in small rivers, large rivers, reservoirs, natural lakes, and ponds. Channel catfish are omnivores who can be caught on a variety of natural and prepared baits including crickets, nightcrawlers, minnows, shad, chicken livers, frogs, bullheads, sunfish, and suckers. Catfish have even been known to take Ivory Soap as bait].
Channel catfish will readily scavenge for food and cutbaits (fresh cut pieces of fish—usually minnows, shad, herring, sunfish, suckers, etc.) are particularly effective for catching this species of catfish. In addition prepared baits such as dipbaits, punchbaits, bloodbaits, and other "stinkbaits" can be effective in many situations. These baits usually are made from some combination of ground fish, chicken, beef, cheese, sour grains, and many other "secret" ingredients.
