Catfishing Tricks, Tips, Pics, Secrets, and Hot Topics

[keepitreal]

Wow I didn't know that but as long as they are attached to a rapala or any other artificial lure its ok right? That's why it was so hard for me to find treble hooks in stores. Richard's ended up having them but I get frustrated with the darn things anyway and usually end up throwing them in the tackle box out of sight. Lol

[MoMo]

I'd use chicken livers from the grocery store for bait , fish em on bottom and have good heavy line ....I just can't catch anything with stink bait. Waste of valuable fishing time as far as I am concerned. Chicken livers are under $2 per 1 lb container.

[CANOPY SAM]

Maybe it's mentioned in the list of threads posted above, but one extremely valuable and affective tip I've used successfully for many, many years is....Keep your baits fresh!

Crawlers, frogs, cut Goldeye, sucker or river chub...if you let em' soak too long your odds of catching numbers of nice cats drop exponentially the longer you wait to change up to a new bait. 15-20 minutes per bait, and no longer - reel up and put on a FRESH BAIT!

In my experience river cats just can't say no to a nice fresh, juicy chunk of meat. If this isn't working it's a good bet there ain't no cats around! So move to the next spot, and put on another fresh bait!!!

Did I already say put on a fresh chunk of bait?

[BoneCollector9]

Whats an appropriate line to use for giant cats? Is 20 lbs. fire line enough or what are some better options? Also dead bait or live bait better?

[aanderud]

Personally, I don't think 20 lb is good enough. Go with 50 lb test "big game" mono or some braid that's at least 65 lb.

Live baits catch far more flatheads than cutbait, but both can work at times.

[BoneCollector9]

how bout a hook set up I typically use a single treble hook (just for simplicity) and we all know there is better set ups then that for hook setups.

[aanderud]

Use 9/0 or 10/0 hooks for large live baits. Or use 6/0 or larger circle hooks for cutbait.

I suggest that you read all the links at the top of this thread and the catfish for beginners thread here:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...ers#Post1348927

Here's the catfish harness post that Steve D put together with some hook info:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb..._Ha#Post1873585

You'll have all of the basic answers you need.

[nsnutter]

I truly hope you're kidding ... Use a 5/0-10/0 octopus, j, khale, or octopus circle ...

[nsnutter]

Brian beat me to it I see

[fischer69]

I was reading Field & Stream, and saw this little nugget. I haven't tried it yet but sounds like a good idea. "Leather up your Livers" Toughen up checken livers by packing them in a coffee can between layers of non-iodized salt. Store the can in the fredge for about a week, and the livers will toughen up to the consistency of leather. They'll stay on the hook better & never spoil. Just figured I'd share it & can't hurt to try.

[nsnutter]

Interesting - I wonder how the scent would change besides the obvious saltiness. Would the salt draw out the blood? Post up your results if you try it ... I'm curious!

[fischer69]

Interesting - I wonder how the scent would change besides the obvious saltiness. Would the salt draw out the blood? Post up your results if you try it ... I'm curious!

I'm going to give it a shot one of these days when I get some free time! I found another obscure tip but I just have to find which magazine it is in!

[dustybaker]

First off I am completely novice to Flathead fishing. I have caught flatheads, but on throwlines on the Missouri River in Nebraska where I grew up. I have recently started fishing for channel cats again as I have a three old boy and a little girl due on the 12th of this month and fishing at night seems to be the best option for getting out. I grew up hearing stories about Minnesota's 10k lakes yet here I am going back to my roots! Anyway, i've done pretty well with channel cats over the last couple weeks with 2 around 28" being the biggest.Two weeks ago I was invited to go flathead fishing by a guy at work, who is pretty novice as well, but seemed to know the basics. We wished somewhere in pool 2 from 7pm to,about 330pm and never got a fish. I was pretty stoked to have a good hit, it picked up my bullhead and ran but by the time I got the pole out of the rod holder it was gone. Bullhead was crushed. Im just wondering if you were me, and had basic catfishing equipment(2 bait casters, 1 with clicker and hvy rod, 1 on md hvy ,and a 16'deep v w 50h long shaft, with a 100$ depth finder no rod holders. Oh and good supply of bullheads) where would you go? What should I look for? I have the spot that guy gave me if I could pm one of you pros maybe you could tell me what you think? I would be up for providing the bait/boat if someone wanted to come along and show me the ropes?

[JeremyCampbell]

What's a good water temperature for fishing catfish on the Mississippi river ?

[Rick G]

Jeremy,channels can be caught at anytime of year, but they realy start getting active when the water temp gets into the 60s.

[Icefishfun]

I like to fish the hudson area shore with crawlers and catch channels but they are not very big. I have caught okay fish like maybe 20" but I can't catch anything big. We usually use four rods with slip sinkers and crawlers but I would like to catch nice channel cats. Any tips and tricks would be helpful for fishing the flat area off of hudson,wi. Thanks in advance

[Icefishfun]

By the way everybody, nice tips

[50inchpig]

try cut suckers if you want to catch larger channels. cut sheepshead will work too, plus you might hook into a flathead if you're lucky.

[Icefishfun]

Thanks