Hey guys.

There's a creek that runs through town that I've been fishing for a while. I usually throw a little spinner or crankbait and will pull in some small bass and crappie. Nothing big, but usually a steady bite.

I know there's some nice channel cats in there and I wanna see if I can catch some. It's a pretty small creek with a fairly steady current. Gets deep in the middle. Any advice on how to pull these cats out of the creek? Best bait, rig, etc?

I have a lot of experience catching catfish in lakes and ponds, but I understand you might have to approach it a little differently in a creek.

Bump a minnow on the bottom with a small weight.

I like to cast upstream with a slip bobber and let it come down. Any bait will do, really, but punch bait on a 4/0 or 6/0 treble is hard to beat. To me, this is the most fun way to catch cats. You keep busy casting and covering water, and watching that cork go down is exciting.

Creek catting is my favorite way to fish for them on the bank. Fish will be below the riffles, around timber, and in undercut banks (especially undercut banks). If there is a vertical drop from the ground into the water there is most likely an undercut right there, put bait right in front of it, same with any wood in the water, put bait as close to it just upstream as possible. Undercut bank with roots around it or wood on top of it is absolute $$$. Any bait will work but cut bait works best, if no net go catch some sunfish or carp to cut up.

Set up won't make a difference on bites, I just always use a 3 way swivel with one ring holding a line with the weight and another with the line with the hook, and a small bobber above the bait so it sits off the bottom, just so it will not get hung up as much when reeling back in.

I bring 3 rods and fan them out. My limit is 7 minutes at one spot without a bite I move. During the day they're not moving around very much so you will catch so many more by moving around to different hiding spots.

Eric

From what you describe, this is how I would approach it-

7' M/MH rod (I like graphite for this persoanlly), slip sinker rig with 1/2oz, bead, swivel, leader, Gama octopus 3/0-5/0. As far as baits, I like to use whats in the creek if I can. Seine or cast net. Shad, perch, shiners, etc. I also like to gob 3-4 night crawlers on a hook too. Don't over look grasshoppers either. I love creek fishin man, haven't done it in many moons. But that close quarters catchin' is a blast. Especially good Cats & Hybrids.

One more thing, if you're fishing super tight to cover- run a sinker with no leader. Sinker, bead, knot-hook. It works nicely. Good luck and post some pics.

I use the same tactic as MeatHauler & cast a float upstream to drift back. I actually used Berkley gulp minnow 2.5" minnow on a 1/32oz jig head or 3" on 1/16oz. I used this bait because it can catch multiple species but I caught more cats then anything because its scented. You can cover a lot of area like this on a slip float.

Do yall have any suggestions for creeks to try? I live off 635 in Dallas, east of 75. I know some creeks that I can always catch little channels but theyre rarely big enough to keep. Or do yall just go for little ones to catch n release?

Personally, I love to eat catfish so I always go for food AND fun. That's why I normally don't go for cats in creeks cause theyre always small.

Would love to know where I could catch keeper sized cats in creeks.

Oh there are big cats in creeks lol.. I don't know anything about big city creeks though.

Maybe we should clarify what constitutes a creek. Despite the name, I think of Rowlett Creek as more of a river than a creek. When I think of a creek, I think of a small little stream.

Welcome to the TFF Taylor lot of solid advice in this thread

Update: The fish stopped biting. All of them. Cats, crappie, bass. Haven't gotten a bite in over a week.