Bait shop only has large minnows. Cats mainly feed on shad in this lake . What does a guy do?
Be nice crappie fisherman using down times to try catfish with my kids!
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Bait shop only has large minnows. Cats mainly feed on shad in this lake . What does a guy do?
Be nice crappie fisherman using down times to try catfish with my kids!
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I use hot dogs for catfish bait. They work great. Worms will work, too, but they're more expensive.
If I had to buy minnows to fish, I'd take up golf.
I know in saltwater you can't keep the catfish off your line with fresh shrimp. I used shrimp for freshwater cats too, and they love it also.Quote:
Originally Posted by JiggyJay
Get a cast net and catch your own shad. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy.
Chris
Also, if you deer hunt, save the heart. Freeze it in cut up chunks and use it later. It stays on the hook really well and the cats Luv, Luv, Luv it!
Chris
A local guy goes to the grocery store and buys tilapia. Cuts chunks and catches cats.
Mainly flathead.
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this time of year about every lake is filled with huge schools of small shad. my buddy uses a net but simply drops it down off his pontoon and even he ketch's lots that way. yesterday he caught mostly small sunfish which are perfect size for putting on his hooks and only couple of small shad. IF you take a few minutes to learn to cast it much more effective.
Our buddy the kitty kat guy ketches lots while using crankbaits for bass right now. usually uses shrimp and does well. is why I don't have to go kitty fishing as he always has several for us every weekend.
I second shrimp if you are looking for eaters. Catch perch, break, etc and cut up for big uns.
I use cured chicken gizzards. Use the same cure that salmon/steelhead guys use to cure eggs and roe.
I've been using beef lately, buy a small chunk of tough beef for a couple bucks and fry it in a pan with garlic. Cook it till it's well done (tough) and then let it cool and cut it up into 1/2" chunks and add more garlic powder to the chunks.
Try the cheapest chicken hotdogs you can find. Cut the about an inch and a half long. Put them in a ziplock bag and spray some Team Catfish Dead Red blood spray on them. Freeze what you don't use for another time. Worked great for me at Lake of the Ozarks and Truman.
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Buy a bucket of waxworms & put them on a small jig or hook about 6" under a float .... pitch it out close to rocky banks and catch Green Sunfish .... cut the Greenies up and bait your Catfish rods. Then the kids get to fish for fish to catch fish with ... double fun !!
Or teach them how to catch nightcrawlers (after a good rain or after watering the yard).
Hotdogs, Beef Melt, Chicken Livers, Chicken gizzards, etc. (anything bloody or with a heavy scent, even if you have to add the scent) will catch Catfish.
A buddy of mine uses popeye jigs & waxworms about 18" under a float on steep rocky banks or cliff ledges for bedding Bluegill, and catches many Catfish in the process. I catch my share on jigs, cranks, & Road Runners when Crappie fishing. :Doh:
Leaves are on the Catalpa trees the worms will bot be long behind them. If you are lucky enough to find some worms you can freeze them in cornmeal and they work just as well as fresh when thawed out and placed on a hook
And don't forget these guys .... if/when they show up in your neck of the woods :
https://external-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...ES92HkQPEcgrpG
There’s a big mayfly hatch on Clarks hill right now. The crappie are tearing them up as soon as they hit the water. They’re like little piranha.
Chris
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That is always a good problem to haveQuote:
Originally Posted by NCkenner
Myself I'd go with a natural bait. Chicken breast soaked in garlic powder and jello! :-)
Bluegill works well. I've been catching 5-10 lb catfish lately with chicken breast cut into small chunks and a spoonful of minced garlic.
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Only been fishing for cats bigger than bullheads about a year and a half now. Only thing I've caught them on is chicken breast with garlic powder and trying minced this year and sometime kool aid mixed in. My son catch's them on night crawler's but I haven't then again I don't have them much either. Problem he has is other type's of fish hit his worms too, have only had cats hit chicken breast. Wait, I did catch a couple on chicken liver but a pain to keep on the hook. Used to use beef liver for bullheads and it stayed on the hook very well, calf liver is hard to keep on the hook also.
try using chicken liver in old pieces of panty hose to keep on hook . If you buy new ones be sure not to leave in truck !Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Fischer
for eaters a box of chicken livers on a small treble hook will flat out destroy them
we use cut bluegill FROM the lake the catfish are in for the big catfish ,heads and bellies
but to be sure shad work really well if you can ketch a few
I started trying "live" gills a few years ago, and won't go back to "smell" baits, livers, etc unless I'm just being lazy or not really trying.
If shad are prevalent, they will likely work better, but, from what I've seen, the bluegills are great.Plus, its a blast catching the gills!
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