Bass Fishing vs Catfishing

I would like to hear (for those who have done both) why you prefer targeting Bass over Catfish? Why do you find bassin' more fun or cattin' less fun?

This isn't intended to be controversial whatsoever. It's simply me being curious. -I do target both by the way; I'm unbiased here.

Thanks for your time.

The Wisconsin is both a channel catfish and smallmouth factory from Mosinee south.  But, channels bite readily and fight hard.   I enjoy cattin.  It can be a lazy sit and soak, but more often it is a search and chase adventure from shore. Have had many 30+‘catfish mornings and had a 56 and personal record 92 this summer.  70 of those 92 were caught in about a two hour window from 0830 to 1030 am. It was crazy! Now?  Getting set to chase them through the ice.  Don’t catch as many, but man are they a blast on an ice rod/ reel.

About the only reason I can think of that I prefer bass fishing over catfishing is they are more readily available in almost every lake in our state.  Other than that I love the fight of a catfish way more than a bass. I've even caught a couple of bass on cutbait while fishing for catfish and since we're allowed 3 lines in the state of Wisconsin I'll sometimes put two lines out and cast a third cause I get bored too easily of just sitting and waiting.  Where I fish catfish it's more of a size game than a numbers game.  You're lucky to land a couple of them in a day, but they'll be huge. The battle on those big cats is like no other battle.  You're tired after reeling one in!  Bass are easy to reel in - they generally cooperate.  Some of these guys that pitch jigs into docks and heavy weeds use like 50 pound test and just pull them in.  I prefer finesse fishing for bass. 

They are as different as night and day. Cats are more nocturnal and bass are sight oriented. My catfish buddy starts after dark from shore with a few rods and stops when he runs out of beer. Bass buddy has a boat and enough gear in total, priced close to what I paid for my house in 1980. To me, both are great table fare. But....big cats out of Green Bay are not the safest to eat if you are still in your child bearing years, and eating bass (or admitting it) might damage your "cred" on Lake-Link.

Well they are really two completely different fish to fish for.    Cat fishing tends to be a more sedentary approach, while bass fishing is one of the more active ways to fish.

Cat fishermen often find optimal places, and wait....bass fishermen move as much as anyone, cover more water and lots of potentially optimal places.  

Both are very fun, personally I prefer the activity of bass fishing and the higher numbers of fish contacted.....but a night of cat fishing can be really cool, too...especially if you are fishing for flatheads...they are a whole different ball game I equate more to musky fishing than anything....top level predators and huge potential sizes....I think the sight of a giant flat would shock the average angler in person....heck same for some of the giant channels in the great lakes system.

Catfish, if you are in the right place, can however, offer a consistently larger average fish.

But bass chase more, are more likely to hit topwater, often jump when hooked and dont require any special tools or knowledge to land, unhook and handle.  No one is swinging a 30lb cat into the boat.