Fishing for Cats....

BowHunterChris · 07-04-2003, 08:32 PM

Well, I' ve caught plenty of catfish in my times fishing and know a little bit about them. The thing is, I remember an older guy who used to come to my parents house a while back who used to bring some monster catfish with him. He always caught them in the dark though. I have no clue what he used for bait. Have any of you ever fished for them at night before and what kind of rig did you use? Also, what is a good catfish bait to use? I' ve heard to use stuff that is real stinky. The place he caught them was just in a regular lake with a muddy type bottom. The lake isn' t to big but these catfish were! When I say the lake isn' t to big, you couldn' t really take a boat into the lake. Most people if they do just bring a canoe. Fishing off the bank is the thing to do.

mauser06 · 07-04-2003, 10:49 PM

how big is " huge" to you.....? catfish can weigh over 100lbs in america alone...europe i think has some that are much much bigger.....what species were they? thats about the only real way to for us to help you find a good bait.......channels are about the only catfish that can be caught on " stinky" baits....blues and flatheads like live bait or cut bait...they are the biggest of the 3 main species...so help us with some info and we can help you with some tactics and bait.....i fish at night most of the time..thats when catfish are feeding and most active.....but they can be caught in the day....

BowHunterChris · 07-05-2003, 06:28 AM

Well, when I say huge, I mean in the 10-20 pound range. I guess for around here that' s huge. I' m pretty sure they' re channels. Most of the time I used night crawlers to catch them. They seemed to hit them really quick and hard. All I can remember is the fight they put up. The biggest cat I' ve caught was about 3-4 pounds. I' ve only fished for them during the day, but I just remember this guy catching them all at night.

mauser06 · 07-07-2003, 08:31 PM

hmmm that helps....you want to catch some big channels.....bait i use it about 2 big whole crawlers on the bottom...chicken liver..ive heard shrimp.....but for you id suggest get some small bluegills and try them out on the bottom...if your local laws allow the use of gamefish...and they are in the lake...im really not big on catching big channels.....i will find out some good baits for the big ones and post back here..sure its in one of my magazines...and your right...even the small ones fight.....the big ones will tear you up....my biggest channel is only about a 10lber..but i broguth him up from 24ft deep and about the same out......thats a heck of a hull with a fish that big on my light rod i had...ill try to find out....id like to know myself...

BowHunterChris · 07-08-2003, 05:53 AM

Thanks, I appreciate it. I just want to catch some big ones for the fight. I' d like to catch some of the smaller ones to eat

Now, it' s just a matter of how I' m going to plan on cooking some of the smaller ones up!

M.Magis · 07-08-2003, 10:35 AM

Fresh cut shad works very well for big channel cats. I' ve had some luck with cut bluegill, but not a lot. Creek chubs work extremely well in many places, as do suckers. For catching lots of cats, liver seems to be the best I have tried. Shrimp works well also, though not as good as liver. Don' t bother with the prepaired stink baits. They don' t work as well as the other baits and they just stink up your hands and anything else it touches.

mauser06 · 07-08-2003, 11:23 AM

ya....live or cut bluegill should work if your lake has them..and i agree with magis..i fish chicken liver on one rod adn worms on the other when im just lookin for some fun...once in a while i will get a nice one...but for the big ones i hear live bait is the way to go...big live shiners..big goldfish...panfish....for hte small ones chicken liver and worms should kill them...they work for me all the time.....never had any luck with store bought stink baits or anythng.....good luck....