catfish bait

[sheephead24]

what is the best cat bait? I normally use cut up chubs. Do live chubs work well?

[rushing]

I assume you are talking about channel cats? If so fresh cut bait(sucker,chub)prolly is best. If you want eatin size, when the water really warms up, stink bait works well. Flatheads will take cut bait but you will have alot more sucess using live bait. I prefer bullheads myself but suckers and chubs work too. Hope this helps.

[HuskerBen]

Everyone seems to have a different answer to that question. I have been using fresh and frozen sucker, cut into 1" chunks, and that has been working wonders for me, provided I drift my bait into the right spot. I often have success with chicken liver, and I have caught a ton of channel cats on chicken guts threaded over my hook and onto the leader. Crawlers work pretty good on the small ones, but expect to catch a lot of other species as well as cats. Raw shrimp will sometimes produce, and stink bait (as stated earlier) can get you some eaters. My great grandpa, the best catman I've ever known, used to use plug tobacco. He swore it worked every time, but I think part of being a great catfisherman is being a great liar. I like using sand toads, when (and where) available, and grasshoppers and crickets have done the trick on a few outings.

My Grandpa was fond of the saying, "Catfish will eat anything that swims, sinks, floats, or stinks." Whenever I keep a couple for dinner, I cut open their stomachs. You would be amazed at the variety in their diets. I've found everything from soybeans to mulberries, frogs to baby birds. My best advice is to bring along a small cooler loaded with lots of different baits. The best bait is what works now, and it always helps to have options. But if I was forced to choose one bait to use for the rest of my life, it would be cut bait.

That's for chanel cats, though. Flatheads are a different story. It seems the best bait for them is patience.

Ben

[Dennis Steele]

Great post HuskerBen.

Yup they'll eat anything.

My general favorites (in order) for cut bait are:

creek chub

goldeye

sucker

For eater sized cats I think you can't go wrong with fresh chiken liver.

In the fall, a squashed frog is a very tasty treat for a cat.

For flatheads, my two favorite baits are very lively bullheads and creekchubs.

[mncatman]

for channels and blues use dead or stink baits. but for mr flathead the livier and bigger the bait the better. a good 12 inch sucker will do the trick or some live bullheads as well.

sincerly

mncatman

[Ralph Wiggum]

I don't think we have to worry about bait for blues

[nitefisher]

hey ralph do you remember i think it was early 90's when the minnesota at least in the franklin, fairfax area you could walk right down the middle of the river cause of the drought. well to my surprise where we were fishing there was about 2 feet of water and real rocky in this spot. we were catching cats and the DNR came up to see our licenses and seen the fish we had, and told us they were blues, this story could go on for ever but he went to his truck and got tags and paper work and for about a 1 1/2 we tagged these fish and had to release them. was a bummer but i have'nt caught one since then.

[Ralph Wiggum]

There have been stories of blues, but I still don't believe them. I'd have to see one or a photo of the anal fin to believe it.

[nitefisher]

thats what i thought to because they looked like channels to me, but being the DNR i figured he new what he was talking about so we did what he said. but i have never caught another that had that blue tinge to it since that.

[Ralph Wiggum]

There's always a lot of debate. I've seen channels that look blue, but they aren't blue cats. You've got to count the rays on the anal fin to be sure.

[nitefisher]

i agree and i did'nt give that a thought back then, i just remember it was hot and there was lots of paper work, but it was fun tagging and releaseing them. you could walk right down the middle of the river that year, and never get wet in some places.

[hanson]

No blues around these parts.

Channel cats can very so wildly in their coloration as well that many folks get confused and think they are different species.

[Gotem]

Has anyone ever used chunks of frozen large smelt, syscos, or shad for cut bait? I don't really have any place to get suckers or goldeye. Heading out to the Missouri River in a couple weeks to do some walleye and cat fishing. Thanks

[nitefisher]

i've used the smelt and still do, they are real good channel catfish bait. i also use creek chubs that are frozen they also work real well for channels.

[Katman]

I use to use nothing but frozen or live anchovies and live cut mackerel. They were awesome.....of course anchovies would die in fresh water.....but they worked. But then...This was when I lived in California and these guys were easy to come by. Even striped bass were caught on frozen anchovies! That was actually our bait of choice for stripers.