Channel catfish

Where channel catfish have been recorded

66 of the 1,347 Ontario lakes on this site with angler catch reports list channel catfish, across 26 counties and districts. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

When and how anglers catch channel catfish

From 92 trip reports naming channel catfish on the lakes above, logged by anglers in Ontario’s Fish ON-Line app. These are self-reported trips, not a Ministry survey: they show when and how people fish for them, not how many fish a lake holds.

Lakes on this site with the most trips

1. Lake Belwood, Wellington 5
2. Chemong Lake, Peterborough 4
3. Muskrat Lake, Renfrew 4
4. Bonner Lake, Cochrane District 3
5. Calabogie Lake, Renfrew 2
6. Centennial Lake, Renfrew 2
7. Dalrymple Lake, Kawartha Lakes 2
8. Echo Lake, Algoma District 2
9. Fanshawe Lake, London 2
10. Grand River section, Waterloo Region 2

Trips that logged this fish on each lake. A busy lake gets more trips; this is not a ranking of fishing quality. 48 of the 66 lakes are listed on a single trip, one angler’s report.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

• Smallmouth bass 74%
• Largemouth bass 67%
• Northern pike 62%
• Yellow perch 61%
• Rock bass 58%
• Pumpkinseed 47%
• Walleye 47%
• Bluegill 42%

How to recognize it

A long, scaleless catfish with a steel-blue to grey back, pale belly and eight dark whiskers; the sides often carry small black spots. The tail is deeply forked and the snout more pointed than a bullhead's.

Don’t confuse it with

Life in an Ontario lake

Channel catfish are the largest catfish in Canada. In Ontario they are common in the south, including Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and in large rivers such as the French, Ottawa and upper St. Lawrence; they also occur in the northwest. They favour deep holes over sand, gravel or rock, often in current below dams and riffles, and feed by day and at night.

Spawning runs from late spring into summer, often after a move into rivers, with eggs laid in sheltered spots such as undercut banks, logs or rock piles and hatching in about a week. Growth in Ontario is slow and the fish are long-lived: ages of up to 40 years have been reported.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Before fishing, check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary for your Fisheries Management Zone, any exceptions for the waterbody, and your licence type. Angler catch reports show what people logged, not what is legal to catch or keep. Fish ON-Line itself (how to use it) maps the zones and exceptions. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish.

All 66 lakes with channel catfish