How to Catch Catfish in Hot Weather & Summer (Proven Tips)

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It seems most people fish for catfish in warm weather during the summertime months. If you want to catch more and larger summertime or hot weather catfish, you need to observe a few specific principles regarding how catfish move and position themselves in these conditions. You also should be fishing during the optimum times of the day.

How do you catch catfish in hot weather and during the summer? To catch hot weather or summer catfish, it is best to locate shallow water feeding zones adjacent to deeper holes where catfish will head to every night to feed on bluegill and shad.

Using live or dead bait, it is best to hit these zones from sunset until sunrise for best results. Catfish can be a pretty predictable fish once you understand their movement patterns and behavior in response to hot weather.

Let’s take a much closer look at how to have success for warm weather catfish. Since the summertime is when most people target catfish, having this knowledge will help you maximize your time on the water and result in better catches. The tips in this article will make you a better catfisherman overall and help you become a more informed angler.

For a complete gear and tackle recommendation for catfish, check out my recommended catfish gear list which will help you catch more and larger catfish than anyone else.

Catfish & Hot Weather

During the day in summer, catfish will rest down deep in water that is cooler and contains structure such as logs and fallen trees. Down here, they will be feeding on shad and bluegill that are hiding among the logs.

You can catch catfish during the day but you will need to fish deep and it may be tough to access these deep spots without a boat. At night, catfish move into shallower water following the bluegill and shad.

They also become a lot more active feeding and will wander in search of food. You can catch catfish all day long but I would recommend fishing from sunset until sunrise as catfish will be easier to reach and easier to catch.

Studies by Lewis (1976) and by Weisberg & Janicki 1990) confirm that catfish feed down deep during the day in summertime.

Best Time to Catch Hot Weather Catfish

During the summer and in warm weather, the best time of day to catch catfish at and around the nighttime hours of darkness. About an hour before sunset all the way until an hour after sunrise tends to the best time window for these hot weather catfish.

During this time frame, catfish are actively hunting following prey like shad and bluegill into shallower water.

Because catfish don’t rely so much on vision to find and catch food, they can operate ideally in dark or near-dark conditions better than vision-oriented fish like bass and pike can.

Catfish rely heavily on their senses of feel and smell to find prey in the dark hours. The middle of the day can be decent too but you need to fish much deeper water and catfish will be less eager to feed than they will at night.

The first few and last few hours of darkness can be awesome times to intercept catfish moving into and out of shallow water for their nighttime feeding sessions.

This is a great time to set up along specific chokepoints between deep water and shallow areas where catfish will be moving in and out of every night.

Where to Setup to Catch Warm Water Fish

The best place to set up for hot water catfish is at chokepoints where you can intercept catfish heading to and from shallow water. Find shallow water lagoons and bays adjacent to deep water.

Catfish will spend all day down deep in deeper water especially if it has sunken logs. In the late afternoon, catfish will move into shallow water lagoons and bays to hunt shad and bluegill.

If you want a great place to set up, cast your lines along the choke point where catfish will pass through en route to the shallow water. This is a great place to fish all night long and guaranteed to see plenty of hungry cat passing through.

Be Patient & Soak Baits Longer

In hot weather, the key to catching catfish is patience. In the summer months, catfish become very active and will scour and search for food over a wide swath of water.

This is in stark contrast to what occurs during the winter months when catfish all bunch up in deep holes and hardly move around. In winter, I would recommend moving every 15 to 20 minutes until you get bites.

As I said, all the catfish will be in only a few deep spots in winter so if your baits go that long without being bit, you need to move because catfish aren’t there.

But in the summer, be more patient. Catfish will a lot more active and will move through the lake in search of food. I would recommend letting your baits soak at least 2 hours before relocating.

Because the catfish will be more active, you are better off picking a good location and waiting for fish to come to you rather than you hunting them down.

You won’t catch as many catfish as you can during the winter if you find the right wintering holes, but summer fishing for catfish will require a lot less work and moving around.

Best Bait to Use

The best bait to use for hot weather catfish is whatever natural bait they are feeding on. In some bodies of water that can be shad, shiners, bluegills, suckers, carp, or clams.

Don’t fall for the marketing nonsense of all these blood, cheese, or liver-based catfish baits that line the aisles of bait shops. Do not waste your money or your sanity dealing with messy nasty stink baits.

The reality is that catfish almost always prefer natural bait to something concocted in a lab or stuffed with crazy rotten smells and preservatives.

I’m not saying that stuff won’t catch fish because they definitely can and do. You can catch a ton of small and medium-sized channel cats using “catfish baits” bought from the store.

But for big catfish, they can really only be caught using natural bait they are already feeding on. Under most circumstances, the best bait to use for big catfish are bluegill and shad.

Channel cats and blue catfish prey shad and since they have smaller mouths, they prefer medium-sized shad cut in half.

Big flatheads prefer live bait and bluegill are their food of choice. There is definitely overlap as blue and channel cats will eat live small bluegill and big flatheads will feed on both living and cut shad but it’s not their preference.

For a complete breakdown of the best gear, baits, hooks, rods, and electronics to catch more and bigger catfish, check out my recommended catfish gear list.

Catching & Prepping Bait

Shad typically swim around in loose pockets during the summer. This means you can pretty much cast a casting net anywhere and catch at least some shad. It is vital you use bait that is bite-sized and will fit easily inside a catfish’s mouth.

Flathead catfish have large mouths capable to grabbing onto larger prey. As a result, they prefer live bluegill and shad. Blue cats and channel catfish have smaller mouths and prefer cut shad. If you are going to cut your shad, cut them in half.

The tail half Of the cut shad, cut off the tail fin. If you don’t, the fin can be something catfish can grab onto to rip the bait off the hook.

To hook a living or dead whole shad or bluegill, run the circle hook through the flesh under the backbone behind the dorsal fin. For large catfish, use a 7/0 or 8/0 sized circle hook. For smaller catfish, use a size 5/0 or 6/0 circle hook.

Can You Catch Summertime Cats in Midday?

You can catch catfish during the middle of the day when it’s warm out but you need to fish deep water. Catfish will rest in deeper water anywhere there is a steep bank. This is a great place to find fallen trees that are sunken. Bluegill and shad will congregate here which catfish love eating.

If you find deep water like this near shallow lagoons or bays, fish here with live shad and bluegill or cut bait. You can certainly catch catfish during the middle of the day as long as you fish deep in the right spot.

How to Set the Circle Hook

Many people are not trained on the proper way to set a circle hook. We all grow up with the belief we need to set out hooks in order to get a fish on the line. This is not the case with circle hooks and, in fact, setting a circle hook could be detrimental to your cause.

The proper way to handle a catfish biting your circle hook is to allow them to hook themselves. With your rod in a rod holder, watch your rod tip for signs of a bite.

You will get bumps or a sharp dip in the rod tip and it will pop back up. When a catfish actually grabs hold of your bait, your rod tip will bend down and stay there. After 3 seconds of the rod tip bent, quickly turn the reel handle a few times until the rod completely bows down.

The circle hook is now embedded in the lip of the catfish. I recommend strongly using circle hooks as they are a much more reliable hook and almost always result in a lip hooked fish right in the corner of the mouth. You won’t get deep or gut hooked catfish using circle hooks.

7 Additional Hot Weather Tips

1. Use Fish Finder

A fish finder can be a valuable tool for hot water catfish. Since catfish will be scattered and constantly moving, having a quality fish finder can be helpful for boat fishermen.

Even better than an expensive boat-mounted fish finder is a castable fish finder that you cast and use from the bank. If you want a good castable fish finder, go with the iBobber. Get it.

These things work great, will tell you water depth and temperature, show you dropoffs, and tell you where catfish are. Watch the video below to see one in action. Click here to read my complete review of the iBobber castable fish finder. If you want to check the iBobber out on Amazon to see how much you can save and read customer reviews, click here.

2. Stock Up Shad for Later Use

Shad can be tough to catch in winter when they are most useful. During the winter, shad school up in very tight balls and are often down deeper in the water column. During the summer, they are easier to catch and more spread out near the surface.

Summertime shad die easily after capture so catch a whole bunch and freeze them. These dead shad will be awesome catfish bait in the winter months.

3. Go Natural Bait for Big Fish

Big catfish know what they like eating. A large catfish didn’t get that size by dabbling here and there eating whatever. They know what they like and they go where that food is.

Depending on the body of water and food availability, big catfish generally prefer shad, bluegill, shiners, or clams. Big channel cats and blue catfish prefer shad and flatheads really like bluegill.

4. Avoid Stink Baits

Stink baits are just nasty. They are messy and extremely off-putting to you and everyone around you. The truth is they really don’t work well. Catfish like natural bait that smells healthy and not rotting. Big catfish won’t even consider eating stink baits.

If you want to catch small catfish, then stink baits are fine assuming you are okay with your hands, car, and clothes smelling like death.

But save your money and fish with real natural bait that doesn’t smell awful. For my complete article on why not to use stink baits and much better alternatives for big catfish, click here.

5. Use as Many Rods as You Are Legally Allowed

If you own them, use them. Most states don’t have super low limits on the numbers of rods you can use. And when fishing for catfish in the summer when fish are spread out and meandering about, having as many lines in the water as you can will only help you.

If you are like me and live in a much more restrictive state like California that makes you pay for the right to use a second rod, well I guess you are limited. But definitely fish with as many rods as you can legally do.

6. Minimal Moonlight is Preferred

When fishing for catfish, it is generally believed that catfish bite better on dimly lit nights rather than on full moon nights. Although I’m unsure the exact reason, it has proven the case many times over and other anglers report the same. If you can choose between a full moon or a no moon night, opt for total darkness in summer.

7. Always Check the Hookpoint

It is important to always check your hook point after you drive your circle hook through your shad or bluegill. You want to ensure there is nothing on the point that could slow or obstruct a solid hookset.

In particular, make sure there are no scales covering your hook point. A hard scale can actually prevent a good hook drive.

Also, ensure the hook point is free and clear away from the flesh of bait you are using. If you aren’t careful, the point can turn back into the flesh of the bait and not be exposed. This is bad and can result in very poor hooksets and more gut-hooked fish.