Catfishing For Beginners

[AceintheHole]

Chicken livers are great but not very durable

[crazyice]

They work great for finding out if you have channel cats in the area. They dispense scent very good, but like Ace said, not very durable, maybe two or three casts and it is time to rebait.

[Larry FlatCaster]

 Originally Posted By: mrklean

Does anyone use chicken livers?

Once....... Never again......

I can take just about any smell, but liver for 3 days after fishing.......

[Tyler Holm]

 Originally Posted By: hanson

Its usually a good idea to use a bait that is indigenous (native) to the water you are fishing. Shad, for example, is an awesome choice on the Mississippi, St Croix, and Minnesota Rivers. I've had great luck with it there, not so great elsewhere. On the Red River of the North, Goldeyes are the cutbait of choice! Works awesome up there, moderately well on other rivers.

Lesson Learned (wish I would have read this post first). Gizzard Shad is NOT indigenous to Lake Zumbro. We found a floating one on pool 4 and used it the next day fresh on Lake Zumbro. We were getting a bite or so every 5-10 mins (between 3 of us) and when we ran out of shiner we all tried the gizzard shad. Absolutely not a bite for 30 minutes and 2 pieces of fresh bait each. Good thing we had a backup sucker bag.

I kept the cut up GShad for the river, but never again down here.

I've also "advanced" from the chicken liver phase. I still think they could be used as a "locator tool" as I do think they demand a small bite/taste from any cat in the area, but I won't be likely using it as a primary bait anymore. Good Stuff hanson.

[Shack]

With chicken liver, it is a simple fix.

One word:

Pantyhose

Now, when your on a liver kick, the next task is to enter a local Cub or Rainbow Foods at or around midnight and walk up to the cashier with a bag of pantyhose and a plate of chicken liver.

I have had some “shocked” cashiers before LOL.

What I do is put the liver in a square of pantyhose and tie up, untill the Pantyhose sack is sealed. Either you can tie right to your line above hook, or run line and hook threw sack.

Used to do it years ago all the time up on the Miss. North for channels. Did seem to work.

[hanson]

Couple questions that came up here recently that I think have been fairly well answered but I'll add my 2 cents to anyway.

1- Treble Hooks? I personally don't use them. You sure could but you can't use a single treble hook on your line as that is quite simply illegal. So that rules out that option. QS rig would likely work well on livebait but I've always had this idea in my mind that if you put that many hooks on a live bait in the river, he's going to snag you up pretty quick like. I have a hard enough time sometimes keeping 1 hook and live bait out of snags. I guess do what you most feel comfortable doing. The idea behind this post is basic gear, tactics, and techniques to help a newcomer have success cattin'. I would put the QS rig in the more advanced tactic category. It probably has a time and place.

2- Chicken Livers. Yuck! I hate chicken livers. Do they work? Yes. Shackbash's tip about the pantyhose is a good tip when using livers.

But the chicken liver idea sort of goes back to my original idea about staying simple for the beginner. I was in Gander Mt yesterday and they actually have an endcap full of catfish stuff which is labeled "Catfish Gear". I seriously would never, ever use anything that was on that endcap for catfishing. The 2 things they NEED to carry are the proper hooks, and sinkers. Thats it. But instead, they have a rack of stinky stuff in plastic bags and tubs that might really intimidate or deter some people from trying.

I'd still rather have a 8" sucker minnow cut up into little chunks for bait over liver, but if liver is all that is available at the time, I'd definitely use it.

[DTro]

Also it's popular belief that you use cutbait for Channels and live bait for Flatheads.

Generally yes, but I've caught several 30+lb flatheads on cutbait (including a 52lb), and several huge channels on live Creek Chubs and Bullheads.

[ec30_06]

Cut bait is a good way to get a flatty to bite during the day. Be ready to lose a lot of tackle since you usually have to put it in his day time hiding spot. That trick worked for me one day with Hanson. The only flatty we got that night was during daylight, but I put my cut bait in a place few people would cast.

[AceintheHole]

I also made it to gander yesterday to pick up some sucker and a few sinkers till my no-rolls get here. Suckers they have sinker the biggest they have is 1oz. They do have shad for cut bait.

[Flaco651]

I think one of the catfish safari vids does a piece on day time flats. Same technique you used, cutbait right in the Flatty's daytime lair. Sept to October most of my Flats came off of cut last season.

[Flaco651]

Are you talking about the preserved shad they carry? Fresh or frozen shad will out produce that stuff all day. I've seen preserved vs. frozen head to head. The bite for the guys using preserved was non existant. Guys using frozen it was non stop. Theres just something about that natural shad stank.

[Shack]

The Zip-lock shad in a bag from the big box stores yet is another right of passage.

A true cat-fisherman has to buy a couple bags and get burned

I have never had luck with this stuff in the past. I think it is too much Chem.s and it does not put out the right stuff to get the fish to eat it.

Fresh is the best! Get it and it will do the rest!

[AceintheHole]

you can always use it as chum

[peder]

The worst bait I ever tried was homemade sour shad sides. Bought them at a backroads gas station/bait shop in southern KS. It was the worst thing I ever smelled, I almost gag thinking about it. Everything they touched was ruined, tainted with a permastink. Also I didn't catch anything.

[walleyeslayer18]

The river is high in jordana nd i can only fish from shore. i went out today and didnt get a single bite. is their a certain way you have to fish a higher river?!

[AceintheHole]

Alot more weight and look for slack water areas. These areas may not be very big but can can hold a number of fish.

[rushing]

"Catfishing" is stupid simple. Pay your dues (time on the river and patients)you will eventually will be rewarded with knowledge of what and what not to do and occasionally some nice fish.

"Cat Catching" - Consistently catching nice fish is another story. Those people can't really tell you how to do it. Its a combination of right place at the right time. I'm not talking about luck either, although that does play a part. I'm talking about the knowledge only the river can teach you after years of paying your dues.

There really isn't a "short cut" to this but you can speed up the curve by going out with someone who knows a thing or two.

So basically it all boils down to....get a rod, reel, ect...and go fish!

[maddowg1192000]

After you skin and fillet a catfish I have heard that if you don't prepare them right they can taste really bad. My question is how many times should you change the water on the fillets and should you soak them in milk or salt water and for how long. We want to try some but don't want to screw them up.

[Slowhand]

 Originally Posted By: hanson

I was in Gander Mt yesterday and they actually have an endcap full of catfish stuff which is labeled "Catfish Gear". I seriously would never, ever use anything that was on that endcap for catfishing. The 2 things they NEED to carry are the proper hooks, and sinkers. Thats it.

Amen to this. I dont want to pile on a certain outdoor chain store, becuase they are all capable of screwing this up. I was in Ganders just killing time/looking for a battery; wandered over to "The Catfish Section" more out of curiosity than need.....amazed, amused, disheartened I would say were the emotions this aisle inspired. Amazed: from the sponge/catch trebles with the 61 flavors of bucket sludge, and paste. Amused: total lack of any decent quality hooks, and weights. Disheartened: well at least they had plenty of trotline kits wedged inbetween the paste and the hooks.

Giving them the benefit I would guess they at the very best they throw a order catalog at their resident bass experts and say order some junk for the catfish section; or most likely someone at corporate HQ gives the order form to their 12 yr old at the breakfast nook and says, "Pick out 20 items, I need it for todays purchase meeting."

[rockingroy]

I never really fished Cats until last year when I bought a cabin on a river, and even then not on purpose (at first). I only caught maybe 20-30 all year (mostly by accident), but I am hooked.

I only caught one all year on cutbait (sucker), and although I tried a couple of the "gimmick" baits, I never had any luck at all. I didn't use cutbait early in the season though when cats seem more abundant near my dock since I wasn't targeting them then.

I found I caught more catfish on leaches than anything else including a 31". I also caught several more on nightcrawlers, including a second 31". So by all means I will avoid the catfish isle at my local bait shop.

Thanks for a very imformative thread! I can't wait to go out and actually target catfish this year.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: maddowg1192000

After you skin and fillet a catfish I have heard that if you don't prepare them right they can taste really bad. My question is how many times should you change the water on the fillets and should you soak them in milk or salt water and for how long. We want to try some but don't want to screw them up.

When I eat catfish, I fillet them exactly as I would a bluegill or crappie. I cut over and around the ribcage so there are no bones at all in the fillet, then I carefully fillet the skin off.

One (no two) important steps are to remove the mudline/bloodline and the yellowish tinted meat. The mudline is where the lateral line is located. It is a darker color than the meat and oftentimes bloody or tinted red. There isn't a lot of meat that is discolored in this area but it is important to remove. The other areas are the yellowish tinted meat areas, these are found near the dorsal fin and along the belly. The meat is clearly a yellow color, just slice it off.

I do soak my fillets in a saltwater brine for an hour or so, this is mainly to remove any blood left in the meat. I do this with all my fish fillets, regardless of species.

After that- COOK!!

One big trick to cooking catfish is to deep fry them in very, very, very hot oil and keep cooking time to a minimum. The longer the meat sits in the oil, the more oil that is soaked up and that is when the fish gets oily. Another trick to cooking them quickly is to cut a fillet into smaller portions, or fingers as I like to refer to them. Smaller portions of meat cook faster and more uniformly which results in a very flaky white meat!

MMmmmmm!!!

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: rockingroy

I only caught one all year on cutbait (sucker), and although I tried a couple of the "gimmick" baits, I never had any luck at all. I didn't use cutbait early in the season though when cats seem more abundant near my dock since I wasn't targeting them then.

I found I caught more catfish on leaches than anything else including a 31". I also caught several more on nightcrawlers, including a second 31". So by all means I will avoid the catfish aisle at my local bait shop.

One thing I've noticed in many rivers is that you can catch catfish on nightcrawlers, leeches, and minnows on many rivers but you also catch a lot of "other" fish as well.

Maybe this isn't a problem, but with cutbait you have a nearly 100% chance of catching a catfish versus a sheepshead, carp, sucker, or other river fish. A couple fish that do love cutbait are walleyes and pike. We've caught some awefully nice 'eyes & pike over the years fishing cut sucker & goldeye!

Softshell turtles like cutbait too! I don't know this from personal experience but "Softshell" Eddie knows very well!!

Is there really a wrong way to catch a catfish? Nope! Are there definitely consistant productive ways... yep! But it always varies from river to river and lake to lake! Gotta experiment!

[goblueM]

I kinda like catchin the mixed bag myself... though cutbait seems to get bigger fish a lot of the time. I've never caught a walleye on a dead bait before, thats interesting. I have caught one on a buzzbait though:)

[Ralph Wiggum]

Mmmmm...catfish fingers. It's been too long!

[rockingroy]

I did catch one walleye on a dead sucker last summer, and I too don't mind the mixed bag as all fish are fun to catch, though from my dock I'm more likely to catch largemouth, smallmouth, walleyes and sunfish than I am suckers though I do catch the occasional sheephead, especially on crayfish! I hate wasting a good crayfish on a sheephead but they seem to love them. This year though will be alot more cutbait.

Happy Cattin