Shallow Water Catfishing Secrets with Pro Angler Jeremy Lawyer: Tips for Fall Success and Gear Guide

When Bass Pro Tour professional Jeremy Lawyer isn't chasing down bass all around the country you will likely find him taking advantage of one of his favorite past times, shallow water catfishing!   

With the weather cooling the catfish are just like any other game fish. They migrate steadily to the shallow flats and follow the shad in the midwest and other areas of the country. It’s a very fun way to catch a lot of catfish numbers and a big fish as well. Lots of times you have to target one or the other, but fishing shallow fall flats has them all.  Drains or depressions leading into a flat with preferably some kind of structure like log jams or rock piles are always a high percentage area to anchor or tie up with depths in the 18” to 5’ range. Sometimes you can even see the bigger ones bulging the water as they feed on shad!

Equipment wise, Lawyer is breaking out the Denali Bottom Feeder casting rods.  The BF762C casting rod is Lawyers top choice for this technique. This 7’6” medium action rod is perfect for this shallow water power fishing because he's never throwing more than a 1oz weight. Lawyer prefers the casting model just for personal preference but he always carries a couple BF762S, which is the spinning model, for friends tagging along that aren’t as comfortable using a baitcasting reel.

No matter which model he is using it's still accomplishing the same thing,”filling the freezer” according to Lawyer. Lawyer utilizes  50lb Sunline AMZ braided line, a 8/0 Gamakatsu circle hook, and a 1/0oz. Bullet Weights barrel sinker. Cut or whole shad is Lawyer's bait of choice for targeting these fall flat feeders.  To learn more about the Denali Bottom Feeder series visit our website at www.denalifishing.com