Thread: Catfish help

At certain times catfish will key in on a certain bait...so it always helps to experiment some. I usually always use a couple different baits on different rods to help find what they want. And if I am not getting bit pretty quickly I will switch up and try something else. Now days I usually am going to use shad or asian carp cutbait.The section you use...how fresh it is...how its rigged can all make a difference. If you can cast net or sabiki rig,or jig fish up some gizzard shad,threadfin shad,herring,or mooneye....I would start with that.Gizzard shad gut is a delicacy for the smaller cats.
Here are some baits I have used to catch catfish over the last 45 to fifty years in all the major river systems....in no particular order
Worms...nightcrawlers and red wigglers and catalpa worms, grubs from different insects
Chicken ,rabbit,turkey,rooster,beef and pork liver (rooster livers preferred I think)other gut parts of animals
Stink bait concoctions of all kinds
cheese baits
Whole kernel corn
hot dogs
Minnows of all kinds and types...bought,seined or trap caught
Shrimp
leeches
Grasshoppers,crickets
Small sunfish and cut parts off of them
Crawdads
frogs
goldfish

And some more stuff but I will stop there.

Keep all your bait in a cooler to keep it fresh...except of course live bait that swims and needs to be in a minnow bucket or livewell.Or live grasshoppers or such.

Start learning how to catch baitfish and use them. Take you some bait shrimp along and if you have trouble catching bait use it so you can stop and fish if you have trouble catching bait.Once you learn how to catch bait good that's about all you need. Freeze some and take it along for days you have trouble catching bait.But always use fresh if you can get it.

I'm telling you the fish will get in a mood and will really key in on bait at times.So keep an open mind and if they ain't biting show em something else or fish somewhere else.Don't sit soaking bait for hours on end...figure em out. Sometimes certain conditions will put them off the bite for a while and it can git tough...but fish year round.

reallygooinfo

I use to use doc's and catch all I could eat now 3/4 pound is bout the biggest I catch. What type of sinkers do you use? Thanks for the replies

Now there are several rigs for catfishing different ways ands waters. But if I want to catch some smaller eating cats then about a 1/2 to 3/4 oz egg sinker slid onto the line,then a swivel,then a leader about 18" long or so with a #2/0 hook fished on the bottom will catch near everything that swims in the rivers or lakes.

You can use a circle hook if you want...sometimes they work good but with some baits that they mouth around on you do need to jerk to catch them sometimes or they steal the bait. That circle hook though works good if your fishing among log jambs and such. It don't get hung to easy. That sliding sinker and circle hook with a good hunk of shad on it dropped in among log jambs and that sinker banging on the wood will get you bit...but you have to bring em out quick to keep from getting hung.Your gonna hook some monsters like that on occasion.

You can also use a three way swivel and rig a bank,flat river sinker,pyramid sinker,etc on a drop leader off of that anywhere from 6 inches to three ft or more depending on where you want your bait. Then tie off a leader about 12" or so off the three way swivel with your hook. You can rig two if you want at different depths. Blue cats hunt off the bottom more than channels or flatheads. Your gonna catch all the species on a three way...but generally smaller cats especially channels and flatheads I am gonna catch plenty on that slip sinker fished right on the bottom rig.And your gonna catch blues too , but overall you do better on blues off the bottom some, but that rule don't always apply either.

In rivers with current its about positioning yourself so that your bait rides the current into where the fish are waiting. Now sometimes you want to hold bottom and need a specific weight or style sinker to do that. But I can go fishing in the swiftest parts of the Mississippi and use only a half ounce egg sinker,I am gonna position myself so that bait rides that current right to the slack area they are waiting in. Drift fishing,bottom bouncing and such usually want the three way rig. Fishing right under the boat when fish are staged at different depths in deep water a couple three ways at different depths is the ticket.

For all around general use a good baitcast reel that will hold a 150 yards of 20 lb test and good med heavy action 6 to 7f t rod will do good general service. I have caught cats not much bigger than a minner to 50 lbs on a rig like that.You can use spinning stuff if you want it works to. A good cheap surf rod combo and surf double hook bait rigs work just fine too.

Go catch some catfish....they are an underutilized resource in a lot of waters and they eat just fine...good source of Omega threes and prime protein LOL.

I live in Dewitt. What is your name friend? I fish the waters you speak of and have no problem of catching bigger fish. The secret to bigger fish is GIVE UP ON THE DOUGH BAIT. I used to think in order to catch my limit i needed the dough bait. I catch WAY more fish now since giving up on doc's and baits similar. I got some really nice electronics and find deep holes. You can easily detect catfish if they are in the holes. If they are not...don't finsh there continue searching and dont waste time fishing waters with no fish in them. Wen you find a whole that is loaded wih fish.....a limit will follow very shortly. I used to think..."Well, the fish just weren't biting today." How untrue. I was fishing water that the fish simply werent there. I fished the mississippi river last thursday. Launched in the white river and boated to the mississippi river. Scanned literally for hours but once I found a good location I was fishing in a hole that went from 75 foot deep to 114foot deep. Caught limit quickly with biggest catfish 42lbs. Averaged 8-10 pounds each with smallest fish at 4.63lbs. They are here man! And they eat!!!! Just gotta be fishing where they are. And that changes from time to time. So just because u caught somewhere one day and come back the next day and immediately start fishing. You may be burning daylight. Yes return to the successful spot, scan it, if they are not there, MOVE ON! Good luck my friend. See ya on the water.

By the way. I have been EXCLUSIVE been using cut bait and HUGE hunks of it!!!

I don't have the rods for doing that type of fishing that why I was trying to catch good eating size cut bait I have no ideal where to get it. I had just a few catalpa worms this year but didn't catch anything thanks for all the info

Hot dogs, cut to fit your hook.