Catfish Water Temperature: Channel, Blue, Flathead Chart

Channel catfish photographed on white: forked tail, long barbels, slate-gray back — Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region (public domain)

The thermometer: catfish at your water temperature

47 °F8 °C

Set to a typical mid-US lake in November. Move it to your own reading.

Catfish at 47 °F, cooling: slow

Channel catfishSlowstops below 50°
Blue catfishFall feedfeeds hardest 75°–85°
Flathead catfishFeeding, but slowingslowing as it cools

Channel catfish. Where: in the deepest holes; river fish still bite in the 40s, bites taper below 45 °F (7 °C). Throw: small cut bait on a light slip-sinker; a jig and minnow vertically in river holes; dip bait above 40 °F.

Blue catfish. Where: tight to stumps and logs on outside bends and fast-sloping banks, the snaggiest wood; quick-dropping mud ledges 20–40 ft (6–12 m) by December; trophy time. Throw: fresh cut bait soaked on the bottom; heavy abrasion-resistant line and strong hooks.

Flathead catfish. Where: moving to the wintering holes; most quit feeding near 52 °F (11 °C), the big fish last longest. Throw: fresh cut skipjack or shad right on submerged trees, 3–5 oz (85–140 g); slow down, then slow down more.

Next, at 39 °F (channel catfish): wintering in the deepest hole of the river; the feed is over

All 26 species at this temperature

Numbers from the chart on the water temperature guide and the species pages; spawn and comfort ranges move with latitude, so read them as the band to start in. Measure at the depth you fish, not at the surface.

Catfish feed hardest in water of 75–85 °F (24–29 °C), and that one range covers channel, blue and flathead catfish alike. The three species part ways at the cold end and in the spawn. A channel catfish quits eating near 50 °F (10 °C), a flathead barely eats below 43 °F (6 °C), and a blue catfish keeps biting through the coldest month of the year. The full chart for 26 species is on the water temperature chart.

Channel catfish stop feeding near 50 °F (10 °C), flatheads shut down at 43 °F (6 °C), and blue catfish bite all winter. Winter catfishing is a blue-cat game.

Where is each catfish at your water temperature?

The bands in the table are water temperature, taken where the bait will sit, not the air and not the surface. Southern reservoirs run through the sequence a month or two ahead of northern rivers.

Water	Channel catfish	Blue catfish	Flathead catfish	How to fish it
Below 43 °F (6 °C)	Off the feed, in the deepest holes	Slow but catchable; the biggest fish of the year	Dormant in deep holes	Anchor cut shad on deep outside bends; afternoons; give a spot an hour
43–50 °F (6–10 °C)	A rare fish, nearly always in a river	Feeding on cut bait in deep water	Little feeding	Slip-sinker rig, fresh cut bait, warmest hours of the day
50–70 °F (10–21 °C)	Feeding builds; good from about 65 °F (18 °C)	Feeding, moving shallower as it warms	Active above 50 °F; pre-spawn feed from the 60s	Cut bait on flats and channel edges that warm first; evenings lengthen
70–75 °F (21–24 °C)	Pre-spawn peak, the easiest fishing of the year	Spawn begins; fish move to rock and wood in shallow water	Pre-spawn peak; spawn starts near 75 °F (24 °C)	Slip float over rocky banks; for blues, a cork rig with shad or crawlers
75–85 °F (24–29 °C)	Spawn at 75–80 °F, then a post-spawn feed; night bite all summer	Post-spawn feed; comfort range	Spawn at 75–80 °F; hunts at night	Night fishing; punch bait for channel numbers, cut bait for size, live bluegill for flatheads
Above 85 °F (29 °C)	Still grows fastest here; feeds in low light	Feeds under bait schools and in current	Feeds at night in current	Dawn, dusk and dark; current and wind-blown banks where the oxygen is

Where are catfish when the water is falling?

The table above reads the thermometer on the way up. The same number means something else on the way down. At 55 °F (13 °C) in April a channel cat is feeding its way toward the spawn; at 55 °F in October it is sliding off the first drop-off toward the hole it will winter in. The differences sit at the cold end, so the fall bands are finer there. The channel and flathead numbers come from In-Fisherman’s fall reporting, Iowa DNR’s guidance and a feeding study on flatheads; the blue numbers are a Cumberland River guide’s month-by-month calendar.

Channel catfish, falling water

Water temperature (falling)	Where they are	What to throw
Above 85 °F (29 °C)	Feeds in low light; current and wind-blown banks where the oxygen is	Dawn, dusk and dark
70–85 °F (21–29 °C)	Late summer; the night bite continues on the flats, in current and under bait	Punch bait for numbers, cut bait for size, after dark
60–70 °F (16–21 °C)	The fall feed: weed flats with young-of-year panfish, windblown shorelines, creek mouths	Cut shad, live bluegill, chicken liver; punch bait still works; evenings and after dark
55–60 °F (13–16 °C)	On the first drop-off, 6–15 ft (1.8–4.6 m), within 4 ft (1.2 m) of bottom; baits go smaller	Cut shad or sucker strips, a 3–4 in (8–10 cm) bluegill; stink and soured baits fade
50–55 °F (10–13 °C)	Sliding off the first drop-off toward the basin or the deep holes (in the basin once it is below 50 °F); fishing slows below 55 °F (13 °C)	Cut-bait strips 2–3 in (5–8 cm) anchored on the break; 40 minutes a spot, then move
40–50 °F (4–10 °C)	In the deepest holes; river fish still bite in the 40s, bites taper below 45 °F (7 °C)	Small cut bait on a light slip-sinker; a jig and minnow vertically in river holes; dip bait above 40 °F
Below 40 °F (4 °C)	Wintering in the deepest hole of the river; the feed is over	Cut bait on a slip-sinker rig in the warmest afternoon; a blue-cat trip is the better plan

Fifty degrees is the fall benchmark the In-Fisherman writers keep coming back to: catch rates above it can be the best of the year, below it the river still gives up numbers while a lake goes quiet. A Red River guide calls the water “game-on” once it drops under 70 °F (21 °C) and slow once it is under 55 °F (13 °C). A Kansas reservoir guide switches to blue cats once it reaches the 40s. Northern water passes 50 °F in mid to late October; Kansas, southern Illinois and the Carolinas often hold above it until Thanksgiving.

Blue catfish, falling water

Water temperature (falling)	Where they are	What to throw
Above 85 °F (29 °C)	Under bait schools and in current	Dawn, dusk and dark; the banks with wind and oxygen
75–85 °F (24–29 °C)	Under bait schools in the backs of big bays and in current; the slowest month of the year	Slip cork with live shad under the bait, 10–14 ft (3–4.3 m); jugs; low light
65–75 °F (18–24 °C)	Scattered off steep banks and tributary mouths in 10–12 ft (3–3.7 m); cover water	Drift cork rigs and jugs with cut or live shad along steep banks and creek junctions
55–65 °F (13–18 °C)	Outside channel bends with timber, 20–30 ft (6–9 m); in reservoirs, following the shad into the creeks	Cut shad anchored on heavy bottom gear; drift rigs with shad heads over 10 ft (3 m) creek flats
45–55 °F (7–13 °C)	Tight to stumps and logs on outside bends and fast-sloping banks, 20–40 ft (6–12 m); trophy time	Fresh cut bait soaked on the bottom; heavy abrasion-resistant line and strong hooks
Below 45 °F (7 °C)	Mud-bottom ledges and outside bends, 20–45 ft (6–14 m); slow, but the biggest fish of the year	Cut skipjack or shad on a 3–5 oz (85–140 g) slip-sinker rig; 60–90 minutes a spot

The blue catfish is the one fish on this page that feeds all the way down the thermometer. The guide’s calendar reads August at 80–90 °F (27–32 °C) as the bad month. November, in the mid to low 50s, is the month the heavyweight fish start coming on every trip. By January the fish sit on mud bottoms 30–45 ft (9–14 m) down, because mud holds a couple of degrees more heat than rock. The move into the creeks behind the shad is an angler report from a South Carolina reservoir, not an agency rule; where the shad stay out over deep water, the blues stay with them.

Flathead catfish, falling water

Water temperature (falling)	Where they are	What to throw
Above 85 °F (29 °C)	Feeds at night in current	Dawn, dusk and dark
67–85 °F (19–29 °C)	Hunting at night in current and along steep banks; back in cover by day	Live bluegill after dark
55–67 °F (13–19 °C)	The best flathead fishing of the year, active below 67 °F (19 °C) on wood and rock near current	Live bluegill or sunfish on cover at night; fresh cut bait by day
45–55 °F (7–13 °C)	Moving to the wintering holes; most quit feeding near 52 °F (11 °C), the big fish last longest	Fresh cut skipjack or shad right on submerged trees, 3–5 oz (85–140 g); slow down, then slow down more
Below 45 °F (7 °C)	Dormant in the wintering holes of big rivers, stacked on rock and wood 25–40 ft (7.6–12 m)	Leave them for spring; if you must, fresh cut shad dragged slowly through the hole in the afternoon

The flathead numbers are the firmest on the page. A University of Connecticut feeding study held juvenile flatheads at temperatures from 37 to 90 °F (3–32 °C). They rarely ate below 59 °F (15 °C) and most stopped at 52 °F (11 °C). None took food at 45 °F (7 °C) or below. The guides match it from the other side. The fish get active as the water cools under 67 °F (19 °C) and prowl down to about 55 °F (13 °C). By 40 °F (4 °C) they are dormant. A 1979 study on the upper Mississippi counted up to 2,350 flatheads to the acre in a single wintering hole, which is why the few that bite in cold water come from right on the cover.

When do catfish start biting in spring?

The spring question has three answers, one per species. Blue catfish never stopped. Channel catfish show as the water climbs through the 50s and become reliable once it holds above 65 °F (18 °C). The pre-spawn weeks at 70–75 °F (21–24 °C) are the easiest channel-cat fishing of the year. Flatheads join from 50 °F (10 °C) and feed hardest in the 60s and low 70s before the spawn.

Chart of six color strips from 32 to 95 °F. On rising water, channel and flathead catfish are slow below 50 °F and spawn at 75–80 °F, blue catfish are slow below 55 °F and spawn at 70–75 °F. On falling water, blue catfish feed down to 45 °F, while channel and flathead catfish start slowing below 55 °F

Channel, blue and flathead catfish degree by degree, on rising and on falling water, drawn from the numbers in the tables on this page. Drawing: fishing.info.

“Do catfish bite in 50-degree weather” is a question about air, and catfish live in water. Water lags air by days to weeks. A week of 50-degree afternoons in March leaves most water in the 40s: blue-cat water, and channel water only in a river where the fish stack in the deep holes. The same 50-degree afternoon in October sits over water still in the 60s, and every catfish in the lake is eating. Read the water, not the forecast.

Two more rules. A warming trend beats a stable higher reading: three warming days at 52 °F (11 °C) fish better than a flat 58 °F (14 °C) after a cold front. And take the reading at the fish. A shallow spring bay warms 5–8 °F (3–4 °C) between dawn and mid-afternoon, and a summer lake can be 82 °F (28 °C) on top and 60 °F (16 °C) at 15 ft (4.6 m).

Why does the bite die in early summer?

It is the spawn. Channel catfish spawn when the water reaches about 75 °F (24 °C), late May into July, in a cavity the male guards. The eggs hatch in 5–10 days, about 8 at 78 °F (26 °C), and the fry swim up a few days later. A nesting male guards the cavity from the eggs to swim-up, about two weeks off the feed, and the anchored bait in the usual hole goes quiet. That is the lull, and it is temperature, not weather or moon.

Drawing of a lake bank in cross-section: a male catfish guards a mass of eggs in a cavity under a rock ledge, and higher up the slope a slip float holds a bait just off the bottom along the rocky bank in 2–6 ft of water

The male stays on the nest; the slip float finds the fish that are not on it. Drawing: fishing.info.

The fix is to fish the fish that are not in the nest. A slip float holding a bait just off the bottom along a rocky bank in 2–6 ft (0.6–1.8 m) finds the males between nests and the females that have finished. Blue catfish spawn a few degrees earlier, at 70–75 °F, and the Cumberland River guide’s best live-bait month is the one right after it: June, in the mid-70s, at night. Flatheads follow at 72–80 °F (22–27 °C). A flathead guarding a hollow log is the fish the noodlers pull out by hand.

When do catfish stop biting, and where are they in winter?

Channel catfish feeding ends near 50 °F (10 °C), and the fall bite fades as the water falls through the 50s in October and November. Flatheads go earlier: below 50 °F they feed little, below 43 °F (6 °C) hardly at all. The September and October feed before that is the best flathead fishing of the year. Blue catfish slow below 55 °F (13 °C) but never stop. The month-by-month calendar on the blue catfish page, from a Cumberland River guide in Tennessee, starts in January at 36–38 °F (2–3 °C).

So a winter catfish trip is a blue-cat trip, and it can be fished from the bank. Look for the deepest water reachable from shore: the outside of a river bend where the bank drops steeply, the tailrace below a dam, a bridge hole, a creek mouth in high water. Fish the afternoon after two or three sunny days. Anchor a slip-sinker rig with the lightest sinker that holds bottom, keep the leader short, and give a spot an hour. A river beats a lake in winter, because current keeps the fish in predictable holes.

Drawing of a river bend in cross-section: a rod on top of the steep outside bank, the line running down to a slip-sinker rig with a chunk of cut bait on the bottom of the deep hole, and two blue catfish beside it

The deepest water reachable from shore: the outside of a river bend. Drawing: fishing.info.

The cold-water bait is the one that runs all year for blues: fresh cut shad or skipjack herring, the oilier the better, hooked once through the skin with the point clear. Stink and punch baits are channel-cat baits for warm water; they sort for small fish and go stiff in the cold. For the few channel cats a cold river gives up, cut bait wins too, and a dip bait beats a punch bait. The best catfish bait page ranks them.

Reading the thermometer for catfish, step by step

Take the temperature where the bait will sit. A thermometer on a cord, lowered to the bottom of the hole, not the surface reading on the sonar. The two can differ by 20 °F (11 °C) in July.
Find the band in the table. Below 50 °F (10 °C) is blue-cat water; 50–70 °F (10–21 °C) is cut-bait water for all three as the feed builds; 70–85 °F (21–29 °C) is the spawn and the summer night bite.
Pick the species the band favors. In the 40s do not waste a night on flatheads; in the 70s the pre-spawn channel cats are the sure thing.
Pick the bait for the band. Cut shad below 60 °F (16 °C) and for every blue; punch or dip bait for channel numbers from 65 °F (18 °C) up; live bluegill for flatheads once the water passes 60 °F.
Pick the depth from the water, not the calendar. Cold water sends catfish to the deepest holes and mud bottoms; warming water pulls them onto the first flats that heat up; summer puts them deep by day and shallow at night.
Check the trend. Three warming days beat one warm one. After a cold front, fish deeper and slower for two days, whatever the reading says. The slowdown is real, but the barometer is not a proven cause: no study has shown barometric pressure changing feeding.
Time it. Afternoons in cold water, evenings in the 60s, full dark once the water is above 75 °F (24 °C). Why catfish feed best after dark, and how that compares with other species, is on the best time of day page.

Why do the three catfish differ?

Yes, catfish are cold-blooded: a catfish’s body is the temperature of the water around it, so its appetite tracks the thermometer. Catfish are warm-water fish, not tropical ones: they feed best at 75–85 °F (24–29 °C), yet channel and flathead catfish winter under the ice in Iowa and Wisconsin. Metabolic rate roughly doubles with every 18 °F (10 °C) of warming and halves with every 18 °F of cooling. A channel cat at 60 °F (16 °C) needs about half the food it needs at 78 °F (26 °C).

A channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) lying in a yellow measuring board, mouth open and barbels down, a biologist’s hand on the board

A channel catfish on a measuring board. Photo: Jamie Jones, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain)

The aquaculture research on the channel catfish is the most precise. Growth is best at about 85 °F (29 °C), slow below 65 °F (18 °C), and feeding stops below about 50 °F (10 °C). Channel cats survive indefinitely from just above freezing up to about 95 °F (35 °C) and only briefly above 100 °F (38 °C), so the fish are there in winter; they just do not eat. Texas Parks and Wildlife puts the spawn at 75 °F (24 °C); the aquaculture literature gives 75–85 °F (24–29 °C), optimum near 80 °F (27 °C).

The blue catfish spawns cooler. Virginia’s wildlife agency records blues moving to spawning areas at 70–75 °F (21–24 °C); Oklahoma says 75 °F (24 °C). No agency publishes a cold cutoff for blues, because there is not much of one. The anglers’ rule of thumb is that they slow below 55 °F (13 °C), and the guides catch the biggest fish of the year from November to March.

A blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) close up against a black background: slate-gray head, small eye and long barbels

A blue catfish at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, South Dakota. Photo: Sam Stukel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain)

The flathead catfish is the true warm-water fish of the three. Texas puts its spawn at 75–80 °F (24–27 °C); Wisconsin’s DNR puts it in late June and early July, as the water approaches 72–75 °F (22–24 °C). Flatheads feed most actively above 50 °F (10 °C) and little or not at all below 43 °F (6 °C). Bullheads sit with the flathead: comfort at 75–85 °F, spawn at 70–77 °F (21–25 °C), stress above about 90 °F (32 °C). Nevada’s thermal review for brown bullhead sets the summer limits at 86 °F (30 °C) for long exposure and 91 °F (33 °C) for short.

A flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) resting on rock: broad flat head, jutting lower jaw, long barbels and mottled olive skin

A flathead catfish on rock. Photo: Eric Engbretson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain)

The species profiles behind these numbers are on the catfish hub. The water temperature chart sets catfish beside the other species, 10 °F (6 °C) above the bass and 20 °F (11 °C) above the trout.

Gear for catfish

Gear guide
Best Catfish Bait: What Channel, Blue and Flathead Catfish Eat
The best catfish bait by species: cut shad for blues, punch and dip baits for channels, live bluegill for flatheads, and which prepared baits to buy.
Gear guide
Catfish Rods: Length, Power, the Soft Tip, and the Reviewers' Picks
Catfish rods explained: 7–10 ft, medium-heavy, a soft glass tip on a strong butt, sinker ratings by species, and the reviewers' picks with maker specs.

Sources (17)

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