Jordan Lake is full of decent sized Channel Catfish. The primary forage consists of the various sunfish species in the lake, Gizzard Shad and Threadfin Shad. These fish can be caught year round but the best times to fish is from April to September.
April - September finds these fish in a fairly consistent pattern. The fish can be caught during daylight hours, but they are primarily nocturnal feeders, so night time is the right time. If you are going to target daytime catfish, the best places to look are submerged roadbeds. There is a good one found near the Poes Ridge boat ramp area, one across from the Ebenezer boat ramp (Johnson Island area), and several others throughout the lake that can be found with a lake map. You should also try points that drop quickly into deep water. The target depth during the daytime is about 12-20 feet deep.
Jordan Lake is absolutley full of another type of catfish as well. The White Catfish probably out number the Channel Catfish at least 10:1. These will bite readily during the day so if you get into a mess of these, you should move to another place to find the Channels. The best time to catch Channel Catfish is at night. These fish move into the shallows as the sun sets and hunt for food all night long. The best places to find them are on shallow points near deep water, around islands and on flats right where they drop into the channel. The target depth for all of your bait should be 4-6 feet deep. It never hurts to have a rod in deeper water while you are anchored to catch late arrivals to the shallows.
Gear and Tackle
The set up for these fish is fairly simple. Medium to medium heavy 6-8 foot rods, either spinning ot baitcasting reels loaded with 12-20 pound test. The rig that does most of the work is a Carolina rig. A 1-2 ounce weight, 2 foot leader and a 3/0-5/0 Kahle hook is perfect. The other rig that works well is a float rig. Use a small float to hold the bait just above the bottom. Catfish love to hit suspended baits. Another method that I use a lot on Jordan is a free lined Bream. Throw it up to the shallow water and when you hear an explosion, get ready. They will chase the Bream right up to the surface every time. If the wind is up, just weight the Bream down and throw it shallow. The bait of choice is definatley fresh cut Gizzard Shad. Nothing will outfish this bait on this lake. The Bream are a nice compliment and will usually catch the biggest fish of the night.
