Hello, I'm pretty experienced fishing, but I know virtually nothing about fishing for catfish at night in Erie. Where to go? What baits to use, what time seems the most productive, conditions. 
 
 
Thanks,
Trev

Run a slip rig.  2-5 oz sinkers.  Large heavy spin or baitcast gear.  Use shrimp for bait. Its a utility bait that I would recommend only for Lake Erie.. its no secret.
 
Locations: Any trib. mouth on the lake.   With much reading available, this information can be applied and used on Lake Erie.  Don't confuse articles from channel cat fishing to flatheads.  Different animals from area to area. IMO.

Hummer, Why only lake Erie for shrimp ?
 I catch 85% of my channels on raw shell on shrimp.

I've always used 5-6 inch creek chubs. I let them die and as soon as they get a little mushy, they're ready. Any cutbait works well too. Trout is oily and seems to work great as cut bait. I'm sure that shrimp works well, but I'd rather eat it than catch fish with it. lol.

JEB,
between me and my cat fishing buds, we haven't had any luck using shrimp anywhere else.  Lotta skunks behind that statement. 
 
Lake Erie, I have tried everything and everything 3 times more.  shrimp has proven the most consistent, but at times and in certain conditions other baits will perform better.  My theory is that the shrimp is a substitute for crayfish feeding catfish...only logical explanation I can offer.
 

The catfish we catch (channels) seem to prefer small live bluegills over other baits including chubs.  In fact all but one of the big cats we caught last year on Arthur was on a bluegill.  The one exception was on a huge alewife we had netted.  I'm certain that the body of water affects which baits work best as Hummer82 suggested.  I'll have to try shrimp though, just for grins.  Quite used to using it in saltwater but haven't tried in fresh.  

With out giving away too much secret info. When is the best time of the year for the cats at the mouths of the tribs.

hey guys and gals...wanna introduce myself. I am William winkelman. founder of the Erie County Catfish Club. we are the first and only catfish club for erie county. and we are also the only fishing club in erie county with authorization to restock public waters. here is a link to our facebook page.
go check us out. and remember liking the page don't make ya a member. we have a sole mission. to bring back the once great catfishing experience to erie. erie used to have a rich catfishing experience 50 yrs ago and its been lost to commercial fishing and other sport fish. while there is still some monster kitties to be pulled , the consistant catchin is not there. its never fun to fish if your not catchin anything. I invite and encourage everyone to come check out the page and contact me to become a member. please be sure to read all information about us. we are here to make a conservation effort and educate everyone young and old and bring back a once forgotten past time. ty

This is the Erie County Catfish Clubs weekly show. check them out and subscribe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSwUzIq8MRE
 

I've done great with shrimp in lakes but not in rivers.