Best catfish baits

[TheGman]

Years ago I fished several time in lake Marion (SC)
We had same guide each year and caught huge cats

He would have us catch perch with a small hook and worm then cut in half , fish were at least as large as your hand.

Big cats on big bait

Largest we caught was 40 lbs

Lake record is 135 lbs I think

 

[clockerman]

We caught many Appaloosa cats in the Flint River with bream. The blues at Lake Logan Martin,AL love liver.

 

[59gagohunt3]

Just curious, where are you fishing for big cats?

Mostly Jackson Lake but occasionally Sinclair.

 

[Allsmiles]

Bacon, hooked through the fat.

 

[59gagohunt3]

I know how fish stories normally go but this one is true and is what got me interested in catching big cats. Last summer my youngest (35yrs) son and I launched my tiny 11.5 ft jonboat in at Berry's boat dock on Jackson Lake and paddled it to the point on the main lake just 100yds or so from Berry's and anchored it just off the shore where we could cast out into deeper water. My anchors are each 1gal jugs filled with concrete (pretty hvy for my small boat). We pretty quickly caught a few eating size catfish on liver but then I hooked something big on the rod I had chicken on. Within a minute the fish had pulled the boat and now the anchors are no longer on the bottom, instead just dangling and the fish is pulling us straight towarrds the bridge. The harder I tried to keep him from reaching the bridge and all the stuff That is likely on the bottom to hang up on, the faster he just pulled the boat. I failed and when he reached the bridge he pretty quickly had my line rubbing on something and it snapped tumbling me off the boat seat. Like he says in the movie Jaws, "we need a bigger boat". The majority of my fishing is now from the bank which severely restricts me from fishing the better spots that ya'll with a boat can easily access. Anyway I'm now "hooked".

 

[hikingthehills]

Yep, your shad will stay a lot friskier in a bait tank for a long day with rock salt. We had a 50 gallon Super Bait Tank II (with aeration), and I usually put 5 cups of rock salt in it. Bait stayed frisky all day.

5 Cups was in the summer, in cool and cold weather you can get by with considerably less.

That's pretty cool, I've never heard of that. We used to always keep a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide in the tackle bag. It's done great to keep the bait alive.

As said before live bait is the way to go when trying to catch big catfish. I always bring a pole with real light line, tiny hooks and some red wigglers and fill up the bait bucket in a short amount of time. I spent years doing nothing but targeting flathead catfish and I can tell you from many fish fry's this is the way to go. For channel cats chicken livers work well but flat heads you need to Carolina rig bream on circle hooks. I would use a mono leader and braid for the main line. That way when I got snagged I could get my sinker back. Most of the time!

 

[59gagohunt3]

That's pretty cool, I've never heard of that. We used to always keep a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide in the tackle bag. It's done great to keep the bait alive.

As said before live bait is the way to go when trying to catch big catfish. I always bring a pole with real light line, tiny hooks and some red wigglers and fill up the bait bucket in a short amount of time. I spent years doing nothing but targeting flathead catfish and I can tell you from many fish fry's this is the way to go. For channel cats chicken livers work well but flat heads you need to Carolina rig bream on circle hooks. I would use a mono leader and braid for the main line. That way when I got snagged I could get my sinker back. Most of the time!

I plan on this next trip. I'll either catch them like you or maybe I'll learn to throw my cast net that I bought 30years ago and still has the plastic wrap around the container it's in.

 

[CardsFan]

That's pretty cool, I've never heard of that. We used to always keep a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide in the tackle bag. It's done great to keep the bait alive.

As said before live bait is the way to go when trying to catch big catfish. I always bring a pole with real light line, tiny hooks and some red wigglers and fill up the bait bucket in a short amount of time. I spent years doing nothing but targeting flathead catfish and I can tell you from many fish fry's this is the way to go. For channel cats chicken livers work well but flat heads you need to Carolina rig bream on circle hooks. I would use a mono leader and braid for the main line. That way when I got snagged I could get my sinker back. Most of the time!

One other thing I forgot to mention besides the rock salt, in the summer I'd also toss in a big bag (or 2) of ice which also helped considerably. And I constantly cleaned the bait tank filter for the first hour or so until the shad stopped purging

 

[ARCman47]

Carolina rigged HOT Pocket, ham and cheese

What that really means, Carolina Rigged- pack of Pall Malls, Spicy Slim Jim, 8ball