Catfish Baits

Last weekend was my first time ever catfishing...I went to the Holcombe Flowage and only managed one channel cat and hooked into one very large sturgeon. But anyways I was wondering what are some good baits to use to get more catfish and this body of water?? We used nightcrawlers but I think there are some better baits out there??

Bluegill heads, pumpkin seed heads, crappie heads, perch heads, rock bass heads, and warmouth heads. Have caught catfish on all of these at one time or another. Bluegill/seeds best. Followed by rockbass, perch, and crappie. Don't catch many warmouth.

I just let the jar of stinkbait sit open a few days, it will dry out. If it's hot out keep it in the shade of comeplely seal it and sit in in the river. The warmth melts it like peanut butter. I find making my own works way better. They've all smelled Sonny's and the dog turd looking baits from wal-mart!

When the cats are cruising the shallows here in southern WI I throw nothing but jointed Rapala's along shore. Works for smallies too, but when the cats are in close (either looking to start spawning or just feeding), they'll clobber Rapala's.

One of the best baits I know for catfish is beef liver, cut into long strips. It's better than the chicken liver as it's more fiberish and holds better to the hook. However, still fishing for catfish kinda got boring for me, so I started looking for other ways, read quite a few articles on this, and this post here, http://hummingbirdfishfinderreviews.com/how-to-catch-wels-catfish-wels-catfish-tackle/ made me try... crankbaits. Never thought I could catch catfish on lures. However, I'd like to add that lures, especially the highly vibrating ones work best at dusk.

slowtroller add some cattails, get the ones that are starting to open and shred them into the dip bait. Use enough to make the dip thicker but remember the cat tails will absorb some of the dip bait.

was going to the Yahara west and a bit north of janesville. Any suggestions on bait for cats?

what can i use to make my dip bait more sticky?

Cut shad if you can find it for channels and live Bullheads for flathead cats/ yellow cats.

all on cut sheephead thursday

How do you tell if you get a bite on big live bait vs a fish taking the bait?

The anise trick with baits works well. I'm too cheap to buy the anise extract so I buy the seeds and shake some into a container of worms, add a bit of water, close the lid and shake it up. Let it sit a few days so the anise scent permeates the worms and you're good. I've never had it fail. I also use chicken liver with salt, sugar and garlic. Take the liver and put it in a coffee can, add a half cup each of salt and sugar, a teaspoon (or more, your choice) of garlic and close the lid. Shake it up and then let it sit in the fridge overnight. Works amazing. I've never used shrimp but am going to try it this year.

A fellow down here in texas told me about his best channel catfish bait. he would buy 61 count raw shrimp with shells on, and put it in a zip lock storage plastic bag. hooked through the shell, the shrimp stay on better. i'd keep the original store bag with label in the storage zip lock bag so somebody doesn't accuse you of using crawdads.... to the bag he added a half bottle of the watkins liquid flavoring called "anise." shook up the bag and it was ready to go fishing. btw, this smells like licorice. let me know how this works for you. wistex

Just curious, do any of think that canned sardines (balled up in cheese cloth) would work as bait? That way if you're not catching fish, you still have munchies!

Derek,

It is best to use the freshest bait as you can. You can take one home and use it later if its from the same body of water. Again your best bet is to catch you a sheaphead if thats what you want to use for bait and cut chunks off it as you need them. If your fishing for eaters you really only need chunks about 1-2 inches big. If you want bigger fish use larger bait. There is no need to scale your cut bait. Catfish really dont care if it has scales or not, so save that extra time for fishing. If you don't have time to fish for your cut bait or just want to get straight to catfishin you can buy some medium or large roaches cut the head and tails off and string them on a 3/0 circle hook. This works well if you just want eater sized cats.

hey widow thanks for the info....gonna try and get out next weekend, do you just cut up the sheepshead on the shore and start using it? can I bring one home and cut it up and use it next weekend as long as it's from the same water? how big of chunks do u think will catch me some nice eaters? do I leave scales on it? lol sorry got alot of questions!