My son is catfish crazy recently. We live a short walk from a decent lake loaded with largemouth, various sunfish, and quite a few nice channel cats. It's also full of turtles. We have been throwing set lines off and on for 2 weeks, with little luck. I've used live and cut blue gills, chicken liver in mesh to keep it on the hook, hot dogs, etc. The bait is always gone with only 1 fish so far. Maybe a total of 30 different set locations, 5 or so at a time, checking them as frequently as hourly. Bait is getting eaten, every single time. Using mostly 3/0 circle hooks, with a big trebble in the rotation as well. Any suggestions? The only caught fish was a smaller channel that ate a very small bluegill, almost as small as can eat his worm on a size 12 hook.
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Limb line/set line help
- Thread starter rustyboy
- Start date
If it's channel cat's your after try chicken livers in panty hose. It will hold the bait much better.
How are you rigging?
turtles getting the bait, try live minners or blue gills
Chicken liver cut into small chunks and salted with kosher salt. Let the chunks dry out in the sun until they harden up. Use light wire J-hooks and off set the bend in the hook so the point is not lined up with the shank. Use a 10-12 inch mono leader line 6 lb test. Get a bait runner / feeder reel with the 2 drag system. I like Okuma reels but Kast King is good.
17hmr. Wait for turtle head to show and pop it. Thin out the herd and fishing will get better.
