Catfish fishing

[the pond guy]

how do you catch em?? TIPS!!

[RyDogg]

if you wanna wait and not do anything, try leaving chunks of chicken or beef or shrimp or anything like that on the bottom with a jig hook, or just add a weight. And just wait. Or you can try putting a big ol 6'' lizard on a jig hook and just bounce it really slowly across the bottom

[noboatyet]

chicken liver, catfish love bloody stinky nasty chicken livers. Their hard to keep on the hook though

[crankybait]

A tip Rebasser gave me a while ago- wrap the Livers in some pantyhose or nylon material, then put it on the hook. It will stay.

[noboatyet]

Good suggestion. I've used stocking toes to wrap it in. Probably some kinda contraction you can get to fish with liver. I like lures and plastics myself

[mack]

catfish also like hot dogs...i was fishing a pond for bass and i was watching kids catch some big catfish on chunks of hotdogs...

[zooker]

my favorite way a jug a 3-4 foot string tied to an eagle claw red off shore 5/0hook...

i use 1 gallon laundry soap jugs or 5 gallon peanut oil jugs..depending on which lake i use them..i hook whole gizzard twice through and chunk them out.. best time is when there is little to light breeze blowing..in fact i got to go chase some this morning..

zooker

[bassnman30]

Catch some live shad, then cut these baits up into appx. 1 inch chunks throw the tails away. Cast into creek channels and wait appx. 1 hour and change baits. A Carolina rig works well with an oval weight. After appx 3 hrs. if they arent there you may wish to move to another area.
Have fished numerous catfish tounaments and this seems to work well for me.

[bassnman30]

Catch some live shad, then cut these baits up into appx. 1 inch chunks throw the tails away. Cast into creek channels and wait appx. 1 hour and change baits if you havent had any strikes. A Carolina rig works well with an oval weight. After appx 3 hrs. if they arent there you may wish to move to another area.
Have fished numerous catfish tounaments and this seems to work well for me.

[bassbooger]

Here is what I do.

Wait until about dark, get you some large shiners, or shad if you have a cast net. Go anchor off into a cove, rig up a carolina rig with a large circle or kahle hook. Cast it into the shallows and wait. Catfish come up into the shallows to feed at night and you are gauranteed to catch a few that way.

[traphuntfish]

stink bait is wat i catch the most on it works great in ponds and in lakes i cought all of these in a lake with stink bait


but if your fishing in a river i use skipjack and shad minners bluegill and baby catfish and some times night crawlers

[patchino22]

The way Zooker mentions can catch some real big catfish. I know a guy who fishes the Cape Fear River that way and pulls in 20 pounders on a regular basis.......but that is on the river. When I fish in ponds. I usually rig 2 eagle claw hooks (the kind with the leader already on them) to a swivel. I put a chicken liver on each hook, cast out, and let them sink to the bottom. I figure its the double mint theory....double the livers, double the fun. Also, if I am pond fishing for cats, I usually go at night when they seem to be most active.

[zooker]

patches is right i have caught some massive cat fish using jugs..pb is 75+-bottomed out the scale-..

the trick with using jugs is simple cat fish feed near the surface at night. when the water get fairly warm..

i got 4 cats sunday morning big around 15 pounds.. if you think a milk jug would work think again.. in deep water a 5 pound cat on a jug can pull it down. once down 30+ feet water pressure crushes the milk jug like a beer can... this is the reason i use jugs with tight twist on caps laundry soap bottles or the peanut oil jugs.. btw a 20 pound cat can easily pull a 5 gallon peanut oil jug down for over 15 mintues at a time..

zooker

[Skeeter]

Zooker,

I know 10-15 years ago we used to string trot lines tenn tombigbe waterway in the shallows. Was legel back then not sure if it is now. Have you ever this? God only new what you were' going to pull up each morning. Anything from snappers to eels (slimy bstrds) to water moccasins on occasion.

Skeeter

[zooker]

yes trot line is a good way for catching bull head.. not cat fish.. remember cat fish feed near the surface bull head feed near the bottom.. trot lines here catch a pile of lil -under filleting size-cat fish. large turtles make a freaking mess of trotlines..i prefure jugs less mess less bait lots of cat fish..

zooker

[Bender]

When I was working down in Aberdeen Mississippi several years ago those guys used old water heaters with holes cut in the sides. They put em out in the river, then went back some time later. They reached in there with their arms and grabbed them. The guy I was working with had about an 80 lb. best, but his father-in-law had a 130 lb. one.
I asked if it hurt bad since he said your arm is up to the elbow in their mouth and he told me "It'll make you hollar!" That was enough for me to not try it.

[BassAddict]

I might be going Friday night with my neighbor on the James River. We take a cast net and catch our bait before dark and use whole shad or cut ailwives. The James gives up some monsters. State record is 95+ lbs. My neighbors best is 64 lbs. If we do any good I'll post some pictures.

Eric

[firstbass7lbs]

i dont know if youll be able to find it but the best catfish bait in the world is sonnys stink bait available in southern indiana use rubber plugs and use a stick to cover the plugs in the stink dont get it on ya you wont get it off

[basschamp4]

i typically use hot dogs and average about 10 lbs but i have heard corn and stinkbait works good.