where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

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joco01
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where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by joco01 »

so what you guys think there is the biggest catfish of the region?

let say inside 2 hour of traveling frome ottawa all around.

its catfish,,so not asking spot for bass or trout or anything here hahaha

looking for big catfish area...for fun.

joco
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zippyfx
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by zippyfx »

Caveat hic sit monstra (beware here there be monsters)

Oh, Joco, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this ;) More time that I should probably admit….

I have unconfirmed reports from reliable resources that they have caught channel catfish in the Ottawa river in the area of 15 to 20 pounds. I have no doubt that you can get a 20 pound beast in the Ottawa river. The one thing that plays against here in the north is that the growth season of the channel catfish is shorter than places farther south (in-fisherman had an article on this in the past couple of years). As their size in the end becomes bound by age I don’t think we will ever to consistently see 20+ lbs channel catfish coming out of the Ottawa river, though they are undoubtedly possible.

Time and time again it has been demonstrated that the best place to fish for large channel cat fish is in the tailwash of dams. The feed on stunned fish and fish parts as they come there the generators. So if I had time and a boat, this is where I would start my search. As always the best time to catch the big ones is pre-spawn.

Here is a trick someone taught me. Open up the Ontario fish consumption guidelines (http://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-e ... tario-fish); do a search by species for channel catfish. Look at the lengths reported. Generally if they report a length there have been enough samples caught to report data. Look at this as a statistical analysis and equate it roughly to the 1st or 2nd standard deviation of a normal curve. This is the weight to length calculator I use:
http://fishandboat.com/images/pages/fis ... ength3.pdf


Looking at the Ottawa area here is the data I extracted:

Ottawa River:
Morrison Island to Chats Generating Station (Fitzroy) Up to 30 Inches (13.3 pounds)
Chats Generating Station (Fitzroy) to Chaudière Falls up to 28 inches (10.6 pounds)
Chaudière Falls to Carillon Dam up to 26 inches (8.3 lbs)

Other Ottawa area:
Madawaska Lake Upto 30 Inches (13.3 pounds)
Missisipi River Upto 26 inches (8.3 pounds)
South Nation: Plantagenet Reach Upto 22 inches (4.7 pounds)

St. Lawrence:
St. Lawrence River 15 - Lake St. Francis from downstream of the Moses Saunders Dam to Quebec border Upto 20 inches (3.4 pounds)
St. Lawrence River 12 - Thousand Islands area St. Lawrence River from east of Kingston to Brockville upto 22 inches (4.7 pounds)

So your best bet of the Ontario side of the region is between Morrison Island to Chats Generating Station (Fitzroy)

I do not know much about the Quebec side but a guide once told me that they get real big at the base of the Carillon dam

From my personal experience in the past couple of years I can pretty much say that with some effort and targeting you can easily catch 4-6 pound channel catfish in the Ottawa area. 6lbs is likely the top side of the first standard deviation on the normal curve. The largest I have caught (it happened to be from shore) was in the 9.5 pound range near the mouth of the Madawaska.

Tips for catching bigger channel catfish include moving from worms to dead bait (I found any oily fish works). Worms will catch you a lot of average to smaller fish but rarely a bigger one. When it is still cold I have found catfish metabolism very low and they seem to preffer worms and small shrimp (hint raw works better than cooked). That being said you can catch a catfish on anything from hotdogs, boillies, soap, etc…

Other interesting spots for channel catfish in Ontario, a quick look at the consumption :Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair list consumption entries for fish over 30 inches 15-16 pounds

Channel catfish mecas in Canada: Red River in Winnipeg (biggest channel catfish in Canada 46 lbs); Dunneville – Channel cat fish festival

Does anyone know if they kept the records of the winners from the arnprior catfish derby while it was still around?

A little tidbit: Flathead catfish have been reported in Ontario: http://www.ontariofishes.ca/fish_detail.php?FID=83

Does anyone have data from Quebec from here to Montreal?

This was strangely cathartic....
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bradford2
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by bradford2 »

I'm sure the average size has to be a lot bigger in the St. Lawrence then the Ottawa. Everything is bigger in that river lol.

I've shore fished the Ottawa many times, and get great numbers. But rare to get one over 5lbs.
I've fished the St. Lawrence once and we only got 2 fish, but the average was 13lbs :lol:

Not great comparitors I know, but the Larry will still win for me haha.

There are some lakes around here that I believe hold some monsters, but likely only accessible by boat....

Would be fun to try.
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Eli
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by Eli »

Buddy weighed a 19lber on the St. Lawrence 2 years ago.
Bigger ones await.
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by EagleEyesFlash »

Eli wrote:Buddy weighed a 19lber on the St. Lawrence 2 years ago.
Bigger ones await.
19 pounds is the heaviest I know of from the Ottawa around Constance Bay, a few
years ago. Rare fish IMO, tough to break 10 lbs, that fish must have got into
some Quyon poutine.
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by Wallyboss »

My biggest at Vic. Island is 12lbs 13oz.

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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by RJ »

Hands down, St. Lawrence River.

Ottawa Cats are a riot though.

RJ
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by Wallyboss »

They are fun on the Ottawa, especially if you get them on a night that the bite is on!!! I've seen many nights of running out of bait.
When hell freezes over, I'll be there icefishing!!!

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Please feel free to stand in front of them!!!

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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by RJ »

I never run outta bait :lol: Once piece can last me 20, 30 or 40 Cats. :wink:

RJ
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by MichaelGA »

Sand Point is an excellent location for sure, i've tried and caught some but nothing huge so far. Never tried this early though.
Going to have to get out sometime before this weekend...
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by MichaelGA »

@RJ what's the fun if you don't share? :)

( is it doritos?)
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by badbass72 »

For me hands down the Ottawa River. One trip had 2 over 20 lbs and 4 more over 16.
Gets harder as the water warms up but when it is on wow
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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by smitty55 »

Yannick catches tons of catfish with his clients. Don't know how big he has caught them though.
Wasn't there a story ten or so years ago about someone catching a huge one ice fishing below Rideau Falls? They had to drill two more holes to get it out.
The Bonnechere river is good for cats. Good current areas are best early season. No-roll sinkers and circle or kahle hooks.

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Re: where are the biggest catfish of the regions..??

Post by smitty55 »

MichaelGA wrote:@RJ what's the fun if you don't share? :)

( is it doritos?)
I'm guessing a chunk of foam. Rob?

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