Cat Fish

Most Anglers think the Catfish is an ugly beast, and perhaps they're right, but no one who has ever caught one thinks this way.

A truly extraordinary animal, no freshwater fish in Britain would fight harder, but yet, on the bank they are the most docile of creatures and can be handled by even a child. Give catfishing a try, you won't regret it Catfish Territory.

Catfish live in only about 50 waters in England, most of which hold only very small stocks. Nearly all of the best catfish venues for the beginner, ones with large stocks of catfish of all sizes up to 30lb, are in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire. Anyone wishing to start catfishing and learning the techniques would have a much better chance of success by joining clubs specialising in this species, like The Leighton Buzzard Angling Club. Membership with them gives you access to three of the countries top waters, Clayton Lakes near Winslow in Buckinghamshire: Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire: and at Tiddenfoot pit and & Rackley Hills.

Deffinately the best place to start, holds a large number of catfish, quite snag free and probably the easiest water in the country. Beware of the word easy though, catfishing is extremely slow fishing and you'd have to be prepared to put in a lot of your time to catch very few fish. Catfish tend to go a long time between meals. Unlike most freshwater fish, a catfish has a true stomach. It fills its stomach when it does feed, then lies up for a long time while it slowly digests its meal. Only by putting in the rod hours can you be sure of having a baited hook in the water when a catfish goes on a feeding spree. Night fishing isn't permitted at Claydon but this doesn't matter as the water is very heavily coloured and the usually nocturnal cats feed well during the day. If the water is clear in a venue, you can expect the fish to only feed at night, rarely venturing out in the light of day.

Like Tench, Catfish is a warm water fish, the best time of the year to catch them is from the beginning of the season until the end of September. Actual choice of swim is not usually particularly important as a feeding catfish is a cruising predator and scavenger covering a lot of water in its search for food. It's best not to fish close to any snags, however, as its virtually impossible to keep a catfish out of them on its first, extremely powerful run