Can anyone recommend a good place to fish for Channel catfish in the Connecticut River?

I’m in the process of getting a boat so for now do you know if a good place to fish from shore?  

I’m researching this myself but any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

My understanding is they are in the river from the Bellows Falls dam and below it.

@JCoop

I actually fish below the Wilder dam for walleye, bass, trout, etc.  My friend was just fishing there yesterday.  That whole section of f the river has excellent fishing though I’m about 1 1/2 hours away.  That’s the area I bear hunt!

However, Channel catfish are not present anywhere in the state except in the section of the Connecticut River below Bellows Falls.  So I was looking more for information on the Channel catfish specifically.  I’m surprised that with fish ladders they have not moved further up the river.   No idea why not?

By the way, I’m still growing your Spanish Rojas garlic.  It is a beast of a hard neck garlic!  I keep wanting to update my thread and I will.  The only garlic that is bigger that I grow is @NwG Texas Elephant Garlic which is classified as a soft neck garlic essentially.  It has grown extremely well here in the Lakes Region.

There is no reason Channel catfish shouldn’t be able to get up fish ladders.  The Connecticut River Rainbow trout are the best trout I have ever eaten! The walleye are excellent as well.

I will resurrect it.  It doesn’t fall into the archives.  I’ve taken some good pictures.  I will @JCoop you when I post.

I'm way south of you, but we've had good luck in Hinsdale, by the old railroad bed.
Either above or below the Vernon dam.

Also, a bit farther, in Mass.  
We used to go to Whately, on both sides of the river.
Heck, you can see them swimming in the river from up on the Sunderland bridge!

@RogerBall

Do you know where you can access the river above or below the dam?  

Can you park and fish from shore or do you need to get into the river with a boat?

Sure, above the dam you are in Hinsdale at the new boat launch.
plenty of good spots there. (not too sure about the Vt side)
below the dam is Northfield, Mass.
some people camp out there on the river bank. just beware of the ticks.

BOTH have boat launches, if you prefer, but good shore fishing, too.

@JCoop

Thank you @RogerBall

I did make it to the Ashuelot River where it enters the Connecticut River after I started this thread.

It’s a very challenging situation.  First, it’s a 2-hour drive from the Laconia/Gilford/Belmont area to Hinsdale.  But I don’t have any choice in that as that’s how far the Connecticut River is for the section that has Channel catfish.  Thank you for letting me know about the boat launch area as despite the 2-hour drive, at least I would be right where I was fishing and could park close.  Have you actually caught fish at that boat launch, or do you have areas near it where you can fish?

I really wanted to fish the point where the Ashuelot River enters the Connecticut River and found that there is a trail on an old rail line called the Ashuelot Rail Trail.  



My plan was to park at the trail parking, hike the 1 1/2 miles down the trail to the bridge over the Ashuelot River, and then make my way to the point,

This is the point where the Ashuelot enters the Connecticut River.  I was very careful to check tax maps to make sure I was not in private property.



This is a close-up of the point I wanted to fish.  This is going only by my research online:



This is my younger son.  This is the beginning of the Ashuelot old rail bed trail.  It’s a gorgeous, wide flat trail that goes all along the river that you can see through the brush to the left.  The issue is that to fish the river at that point, which is 1 1/2 miles from the bridge over the Ashuelot River, there are absolutely no trails going down to the river.  There may be some access right at the beginning, but I checked the tax maps and it is private property.  Also, that would just be access to the Connecticut river itself, and not near the junction of the two rivers which is where there is supposed to be a concentration of Channel catfish.



Rail trail:



Dense woods to the left of the trail with the Connecticut River parallel to the trail through the woods.  It’s not far but it’s very steep and wooded.  You would have a difficult time getting down, especially carrying fishing gear.  Then trying to come back in the dark would be bad.  No trail down to the water’s edge until you get to the bridge 1 1/2 miles away.



The rail trail as it meets the bridge over the Ashuelot River.  This is ? 150 yards upstream of where the Ashuelot River meets the Connecticut River.  We got lucky.  Just before the bridge on the left hand side, there is a steep rocky trail with no vegetation that takes you right below the bridge.  



From there, you can walk the ~ 150 yards to the mouth of the river where it joins the Connecticut River.



Once there, you can see the point I was originally planning to fish but could not due to the vegetation being so thick.  Arrows on map and arrow behind my son.  He’s 16 and doesn’t complain when we are out in the woods, fishing, etc.  The third picture shows the Connecticut River to the left and the Ashuelot to the right.  Just behind his head is where the two rivers meet.







I set up rod holders and fished with shrimp and frozen sardines.  I was able to get the lines out to where the two rivers meet.  The only issue was the blazing sun.  Beautiful but not the best time supposedly for Channel catfish.  Not a single bite.  I did see Rainbow trout jumping out about 50 yards out.  zero boat traffic.











This was more a proof-of-concept trip.  The only way this would work is if we brought a tent and fished late and slept there.  Using some alarm system to tell us if there was a fish on.

Nice flowers along the trail.





I may try going back in the fall, maybe early October?  The sun sets early so the fish would be out earlier.  

That is so cool!
When we hit that confluence we normally do it by boat.  Launch in Northfield, Mass and go upriver to the dam/confluence. it helps that i live four miles from the boat launch.
I never caught cats in that area (but i know they're there). i have caught many smallies in that stretch though.

The white flowers are blackberries or raspberries. Delicious foraging!

@JCoop
@RogerBall
@Jayne_Cobb

Yes, it was actually pretty brutal.  But, as you know, sometimes you have to go to a place yourself to find out exactly what’s what.  Since I am planning another trip, I will now know the layout as you say.

I will have to post my trip to Mudgetts Pond in the Dorchester area.  That was a 2-hour car ride to the parking area.  Then a 2-hour mountain bike ride to the pond but it’s a slight incline on the way there and only 50 minutes on the bike on the way back.  I made two trips, not realizing how long it was going to take getting there.  I had fished the pond with a friend 25 years ago and wanted to go back with my son.  We went back a second time and had an inflatable Walmart dinghy.  We inflated it and fished the heck out of the pond and caught 2 small yellow perch.  So much for my memories of monster perch and pickerel.



I have thought about using a boat but I would want to fish it at night and trying to navigate back to the launch would be tricky, and then a 2-hour drive.  That’s why an overnight trip in a tent may make more sense.

Yes, those were likely blackberry bushes.  If I lived close by I would definitely time it to pick them!