Would this be a good channel catfish bait? How do you fish it?

Question

My local supermarket sells cheese filled hot dogs, I know that cheese works well and so does hot dogs but do these stay on the hook well? What size hook do you use for catfish fishing and do you use a bobber if you are using piecies of a sardine or a piece of cheese filled hot dog? Or do you fish it on the bottom?

Answer 1

I have found that hot dogs tend to fall off when cast with any authority, if you cast gently and use a bobber you should have little trouble. The drawback to this is the size of fish you will catch. I have caught hundreds of pan size fish over the years with this method and also with using fresh liver ( never frozen ), frozen liver tends to come apart after thawing. The bigger fish are on the bottom and the use of live bait is the only way to go, I recommend shad or large shiners or any of the natural bait fish in your area. Hook size is as varied as they come, the smaller hooks will catch more fish but you run the risk of the fish getting off or damaging the hook. Fishing on the bottom, I like to call that "tight lining" put your sinker on the very bottom of your line then at least a three foot leader four feet above your sinker and place your hook there. I don't know what type of river or lake bottom you are fishing but the rockier the bottom the more trouble you will have...ie.getting hung up and breaking your tackle off. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Chicken liver makes good bait for catfish.

Use a hook suited to the size fish you want to catch. I'd go with a lager hook in order to take the larger fish.

Catfish are bottom feeders, so to get the big catfish, you need to get on or near the bottom.

As for the bobber, it depends on the style of fishing you want to do. If you like to cast and let the bait stay in one place until a fish finds it, a bobber will be fine. If you prefer to cast and reel in, don't bother with the bobber. Either method will catch fish. It is a matter of preference.

Oh, another good bait type is blood bait. There are several different brands, such as "Catfish Charlie" that make blood bait which is a mixture of blood and flour. To use you make a small ball of the bait around the hook. Since it will come off the hook with repeated casting, it is better to use on the cast and wait fishing. There are also some blood impregnated sponge baits that stay on the hook better.

FWIW, the biggest catfish I ever caught weighed around 10 pounds and was caught on a plastic worm.

Doc

Answer 3

Catch soem bluegill and use cut bluegill for bait , or any type of minnow ,shad are good and so is frozen shrimp and chicken livers . I usually fish on the bottom for cats but channel cats can be caught with bait 3 to 4 feet under a bobber

Answer 4

I prefer stink bait but dont open the package and take a big whif you might puke , stays on hook well and you can totally encapsulate the hook in the stuff i like to put the bait just off the bottom. Be patient let him take it and start to run then SET THE HOOK fun fun fun Good luck from Texas

Answer 5

Crawdads (crawfish) are one of the primary food sources for catfish. At times live crawdads are an excellent bait but more often the meat from the tail is the top producer. Just remove the shell from the tail of the crawdad and place the white meat on the hook. Crawdad tails are best used still fishing with or without a bobber since they don't stay on the hook very well. They produce the best results from spring to late fall when they are readily available to the catfish. You can purchase crawdads at several bait and tackle shops around the lake or you can catch your own with a crawdad trap.

Shrimp or prawns as they are called in the fish markets are a perfect substitute for crawdads. Although I have never been able to get a catfish to admit it, I believe they taste just like a crawdad to them. Depending on the size of the shrimp and the desired size of the bait you can use them whole or cut them in half. You can use them with the shell on but most anglers remove the shell. Unlike the crawdads you can use shrimp in heavy current or for long vigorous casting or even drift fishing without fear of losing your bait. They can be purchased in most seafood sections of supermarkets either frozen or fresh. I sometimes soak them in crawdad scent oil but I can't really prove that it helps. They work best from spring to late fall just as the crawdads do.

The word cut bait covers a wide variety of fish baits. The most common ones that are used at Clear Lake are: shad, anchovy, sardines, mackerel and silverside minnows. Cut bluegill are rumored to be a deadly cut bait but since it is illegal to use them in Clear Lake I have no idea as to the validity of the rumor. Cut bait can be a fillet or a chunk, it depends on your preference. I use them primarily for drift fishing in deeper water since the cats are usually feeding on shad or silverside minnows when they go deep.

Freshwater clams are another excellent bait for catfish at Clear Lake and can be productive year round. Fresh clams are more productive than the frozen or processed ones but if the fish are on the bite any kind will catch fish. They can be especially productive for pan sized catfish when fishing at night in the summertime.

Most locals prefer a gob of garden worms or if not available then minicrawlers. They are highly productive in winter and early spring when the creeks and drainage ditches are pouring muddy water into the lake. The catfish lay in waiting for worms and other food to be washed into the lake with the muddy water. It is best to use just enough weight to drift along the bottom in the current to provide a natural presentation. Nightcrawlers and minicrawlers are available at all bait shops around the lake but garden worms must be dug up by the angler.

Live minnows, especially large or extra large are a good bait all year round. The only drawback (or maybe not) is that you will catch as many bass, or maybe more, as catfish. Most serious catmen kill their minnows just before they put them on the hook for this reason. They can be used under a bobber in shallow water in spring and summer as well as drift fishing in semi deep to deep water all year long. Minnows are available at only a few baitshops in the area so check my list of bait and tackle shops and call them to see if they're available. Also Bluegill are a 100% great catfish bait to use.

I truly believe that a catfish (especially a channel cat) will eat almost anything that is animal, vegetable or mineral. Here is a partial list of stuff that I have caught them on; bread dough, salmon eggs, smoked salmon, corn, hot dogs, bologna, german bologna, salami, green peas, Berkely Power Bait Trout Paste, plastic worms and grubs, and even crank baits. Hot dogs are a very good bait for catfish at Clear Lake. Many fish in excess of 15 pounds have been taken with hot dogs. Another good catfish bait that deserves a mention here is cheese, just about any kind of cheese will catch catfish but orange cheeses like cheddar or american work particularly well. As I already mentioned, I have caught a lot of cats with plain bread dough so I'm sure a prepared doughbait will do well. If you use your imagination I'm sure you can come up with a few new ones.

Stink baits and dough baits are not real popular at Clear Lake. I suspect that this is because very few fishermen are familiar with them. I have only used them a few times. I have heard a few reports of large catches of catfish using stinkbaits in the spring and early summer. I continue to experiment with them but I haven't had much luck. I have caught a lot of nice channel cats using vanilla and peanut butter flavored doughballs while fishing for carp.

Several channel catfish weighing 20 pounds and more have fallen for chicken livers. One problem with them is keeping them on the hook but if you cover them with garlic salt and dry them in the sun for 3 or 4 hours they will toughen up quite a bit and the garlic salt seems to make the cats like them even better.

if you take an old pair of the miss's panty hose and cut into little squares and make a pocket out of this you can put it around the liver and it will stay on even longer than you want sometimes...

wrap sewing thread around the livers to keep the catfish from stealing them.

Good Fishin! <*))))><

Steve