Author Topic: your favorite bait for big cats (Read 4971 times)

01magnatec · « **on:** July 15, 2003, 02:42:47 PM »

Anyone here have a favorite bait for lakes?
I have been using chicken livers and they haven't let me down yet.
I have also tried nightcrawlers and have had luck.
Anyone else know any other good ones?

sqrlhntr · « **Reply #1 on:** July 16, 2003, 04:58:32 AM »

Shrimp has always been pretty consistent for me. Sometimes I also use beef liver.

shb · « **Reply #2 on:** July 16, 2003, 08:03:19 AM »

Welcome, welcome, welcome, 01magnatec, and sqrlhntr. It's great to see some folks talking about fishing again. I'm glad you stopped in to visit. In my limited experience, big live baits seem to attract the big cats more than I ever thought possible. I never realized that channel cats were such predators. If its legal try some of those big sunfish, perch, or other panfish that you never looked at as bait before. I was pleasantly surprised and maybe you will be also.

Good luck and lets hear some more cat experiences.

KYtrapper17 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2003, 04:37:42 PM »

When I think of big fish I think of flatheads and blues. My favorite bait for these are live blugill that can fit in the palm of my hand. I don't like them too big.

For channell cats I use a little bit of everything. Catalfa worms, chicken liver, nightcrawlers, strawberry chicked breast, bluegill heads, and my SECRET doughbait ofcourse.

01magnatec · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2003, 04:26:27 AM »

KYtrapper, would you ever let new pal in on your secret doughbait? :wink:
I was told once that hot pieces of hotdogs worked.
So last night i tried them at the closest lake and all i caught was a baby boxer turtle!!!!! :eek: Just before sunset the line tightened and i thought, Boy it's gonna be a good night......WRONG.
Hotdogs didn't work.

KYtrapper17 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 17, 2003, 05:18:08 AM »

Okay, I'll tell ya. All you need is a roll of sausage and about 3/4 lb-1lb. of flour. Mix the sausage and flour togehter and add about 1 cup of water. It will make it wet and sticky, but if you let it sit in the frig over night it will be soft, but not real sticky. You want enough flour to where the dough is a real white color. In other words you want more flour than sausage. I've never really measured the flour that I put in, but you'll get the hang of it. It works for me at the paylakes. That is usually the only bait I take with me. I don't know what it will be like on the BIG lakes. Try it and let me know if it works.

shb · « **Reply #6 on:** July 21, 2003, 08:30:38 AM »

CUTBAIT CUTBAIT CUTBAIT FRESH FRESH CUTBAIT.

Any fish will do, but shad and other forage fish work best.

catch em cut em impale em, then send them into the watery depths where all the giant cats await.

I can't recommend cut bait strongly enough. It works in the ocean and it works in the heartland. Every where you go fish eat other fish. Its natural and expected.

I see that I'm a little longwinded

I hope everybodys having a good time this summer, try some cut bait.

chubjerker · « **Reply #7 on:** July 21, 2003, 08:53:40 AM »

I have to agree with SHB, livers, stinkbaits, shrimp, worms, all catch catfish, but for BIG ones, cutbait is king. The hardest part is catching fresh bait. I am working on a strategy for getting the neighborhood kids to catch bluegills for me.

shb · « **Reply #8 on:** July 22, 2003, 12:41:56 PM »

I'm tellin ya, if I had known any flathead hunters when I was in fourth grade, there wouldn't have been any bluegills left in a days bike riding radius of my home town. I would have been a commercial fisherman, selling cat baits. Of course I would have had to go into the business without the proper level of cusswords in my vocabulary, in addition to a severe lack of crustyness at that tender age, but I'm confident I would have made enough money to support my mad magazine and soft serve chocolate Ice Cream habit. Man, if someone had offered me money to catch fish at that age I would probably be too rich to talk to you guys by now. Oh, well My friend and I escaped yesterday afternoon for a little catfishin. We used baby shad (about 2 and 1/2 inches long) and tied into a handful of 3 to 7 lb channels. They were really fighting good for their size. We put about 5 or 6 shad on the hook and tried to place our baits in the current seams and different parts of the scour-hole at a small tailrace near our home. I used a smaller rod with a small circle hook, and a small weight in the flat directly below the scour-hole. I baited it with sliced up baby shad, in the hopes of catching a drum or some other rough fish to use for cut bait, and of course thats the rod we caught most of the cats on. The bite was pretty slow, and if I had known we were going to end up with 5 or 6 nice cats we would have thrown them in the cooler and had fish for supper tonight. got to go, good luck this weekend. Looking forward to hearing some reports on how everybody did.

TScottO · « **Reply #9 on:** July 22, 2003, 03:54:35 PM »

The best bait i've found by far are 3" long gold fish, stump perch/goggel eyes, or spot-tailed minnows for tabbys. I've never had much luck with chicken liver they seem to be too soft to stay on the hook well unless I tie them up in a piecs of legg stockings.

Chicken hearts work fairly well with they've sat in the hot sun for a day or two and got all nasty and stinky. I know some people that even stuff these things with rotten cheese.

For night fishing cotabble (check for spelling) worms work great but during the day time brem and purch get to 'em before the catfish do.

And or course the ol' faithful crawfish about the size of your pinkie finger.

I have found that the smaller live baits and medium sized crawfish work better than the bigger things. The only thing wrong with crawfish are the eels and with spot tailed minnows are garfish.

These are my secrets :-)

Scott

shb · « **Reply #10 on:** July 23, 2003, 05:20:50 AM »

Hey scott, welcome to the forum. Louisiana is one place I'm definitely going to fish when I hit the lottery. I have dreamed of taking a boat and and getting lost in the backwaters and inshore areas for years now. Have you ever caught any of the giant gar. Like those six footers you see in magazine articles every once in a while. Its great to hear from you, don't ber afraid to jump in anytime you want. If you ever get the urge to take some yankees fishin give me a holler.

TScottO · « **Reply #11 on:** July 24, 2003, 02:40:36 PM »

Hello shb,

The majority of my fishing has been in Mississippi. I was born and raised there. I move to southwest Louisiana almost 3 years ago. Where I live I don't have the space to keep a boat so I havent been Louisiana fishing all that much. I'm still doing all of my fishing in Mississippi when I go visit the folks. Most of the people around here I've met are into saltwater fishing for Red fish and specks. This is supposed to be one of the best areas around for specks. When the specks are running these guys limit out everyday and toss several back and still make their limit. They all say that cat-fishing doesn't get good till you go a lil farther north and get out of the brackish (sp?) water. They also say these cats don't eat crawfish as well as some other bait. Could you imagine? I guess because crawfish farming is such a large industry here.

The biggest gar we ever caught was in the Yazoo River. He was five feet long. We had to land him with a 22lr pistol.

There were two ol' timers that had a private camp and boat ramp on the Yazoo River. We would meet up with these old codgers three times a summer for some unreal cat fishing. The first time I met them everyone had told me about this monster flat-head they caught back in the late 70's and early 80's. I always called everyone a liar until I saw the pictures of this thing. We got to the camp for my first time; Proof of this fish was the first thing I asked to see. There it was two 6' men standing beside this fish. This fish was hanging from a set of scales and the ol' hometown back woods meat market. This flat head was as long as these two men and the big round dial on the scale showed 107 #'s. Unreal. These two men claimed to have lost one bigger than this 3 years ago. At the time that would have been in 1997. As the story goes about their big fish, someone had caught wind of this monster and came down to investigate. This guy was looking to see about putting him in the record books. He interviewed the owner of the meat market and several of the towns people that witnessed the cat. Come to find out the meat market owner didn't keep his scales certified so the fish never made the books. The old timers didn't much care about recognition but they said the damn thing ate well anyway :? . I don't know what the record flat head for the state of Mississippi is, but this one had to be close. This fish was caught on a goggle-eyed about 3 inches long. Thats about it.

Have a good one,
Scott

shb · « **Reply #12 on:** July 25, 2003, 05:44:17 AM »

Thats a great story, I love those kinds of stories. I hope I grow up to be and old timer with a private fishing camp. I Think that would be about as good as it gets.

ihookem · « **Reply #13 on:** August 09, 2003, 04:13:46 PM »

for flatheads it is a bullhead about 6 to 8 inches long. If I can catch these and keep them good and lively, then flatheads are almost a garantee. Was out last night on the Wisconsin river around Portage. We had plenty of bullheads and by 10:30 we had three,but almost four. 17# and two 7#

conibearer · « **Reply #14 on:** October 09, 2003, 12:13:19 PM »

I have caught many catfish with the guts from the last fish that I had caught and cleaned. I just leave them out for a day and then they work great you just gotta wrap them on to your hook with a string. It works better if you dip it in any kind of blood.

SingleShotShorty · « **Reply #15 on:** October 10, 2003, 11:18:30 AM »

I'm strictly a Flathead fisherman and my favorite bait is live hand sized bluegill or crappie.

rascal (Joe Duncan) · « **Reply #16 on:** January 06, 2004, 02:11:54 AM »

The lake I fish is a "flood control" lake built by the Army Corp of Engineers back in 47. Lots of flathead and channel cat above and below the dam. The state record of Oklahoma for flathead came out of this lake at 105lb. For trotlines in the lake, I prefer goggle-eye since they live better on the hook than bluegill. If I have to buy bait, then big gold fish is my favorite. For below the dam in the swifter water , I prefer the fresh cut shad for the flat heads and chicken liver for channel. My father was the ranger on this lake for 30+ years and I have spent my life here catching some pretty nice cats. Lots of 40's and 50's come out of this lake and those are a real kick in the pants on a rod. We also do a little "noodling" :wink: when the water is right.

shb · « **Reply #17 on:** January 06, 2004, 05:34:25 AM »

Hey Rascal Joe, welcome to the catfish trappin forum. My hunting buddies and I go through OK on I-35 every year on our way to texas to hunt pigs. Does that go any where close to where you enjoy the outdoors?

rascal (Joe Duncan) · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2004, 12:30:14 AM »

SHB: Pig huntin'? :wink: Well, as a matter of fact, YEP!! Better have some pretty good dogs though. :-) Plenty of wild hog in this area. Know a few guys who hunt them. Biggest I have bought here was a 350 lb boar. He was wearing a pretty good set of knives. As a matter of fact, I am trapping a farm where there have been some taken.

shb · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2004, 07:21:23 AM »

we've never went with the dog guys yet, but we've had offers to go quite a few times. Mostly we try to figure where there going to come out at night, and be there to give em a lead sleeping pill.

so where is wister OK ?

sorry about your Sooners, trust me I was rooting for them.

rascal (Joe Duncan) · « **Reply #20 on:** January 07, 2004, 03:12:03 PM »

shb;
I hope you didn't lose to much on the Sooners! :wink: Don't you know they are sort of like Oklahoma weather?-- they are subject to change at any moment. :?

If you come down I-35, you would not get closer than 200 miles from me. I am in southeast Ok, just about 30 miles from the Arkansas border. About 200 miles east of OK city.

I know a place here in a rough bluffy area that holds some pigs. Know just about where their "den" area is. I found a skeleton not far from that spot a few days ago. Looked like it had been there since sometime last year and part of the bones had been carried off but the skull was still there and had a bullet hole in it. Think it was spot-lighted. The tushes were also gone but that was natural since they had not been cut out or off. They had just rotted out and something took off with them. Also have a friend who is pretty bad about spilling corn-on accident of course, in an area where there are a lot of hog. In the past, I have bought several heads from him each year. If he is in the area (he works off a lot) when you come this way, I bet we can put you on some pigs. PM me and we can talk.

shb · « **Reply #21 on:** January 08, 2004, 06:17:04 AM »

I learned not to bet on the huskers one way or another along time ago. So I for sure wouldn't waste any money on the sooners. But if the huskers cant be in the big game I'd just as soon it be the sooners.

I sent you a pm

did this cold weather make your coyotes move any more than usual?

rascal (Joe Duncan) · « **Reply #22 on:** January 10, 2004, 01:46:47 AM »

HEHE! I hear you shb; I don't bet on games. Got better things to do with my money :lol: I didn't even watch the game. I seldom get to sit down and watch any games in the winter. Just to much to get done.

These coyotes weren't used to the cold that hit us and actually it shut them down the first night, but then they started moving like they were starved to death. Until this cold snap hit, we had been running temps in the day of 50's and 60's with lows in the 30's and 40's at night. That does not make for good coyote trapping. Food supply this year has been abundant and they haven't moved around like normal but now it is getting to be GOOD coyote trapping weather. Just wish I had more time to do it.

S.B. · « **Reply #23 on:** January 18, 2004, 05:31:12 PM »

I've given up on livers, too hard to keep them on the hook. I use a lot of chicken gizzards now and like them alot. I catch just as many on gizzards as livers.

huntsman · « **Reply #24 on:** January 19, 2004, 09:02:51 AM »

For big flatheads, it's bullheads (also known around here as mud cats) up to 1 lb. hooked through the top and bottom of the mouth. Will stay alive for several days on the hook. I break the poisonous fins off near the base as soon as I catch them to avoid painful stab wounds. Caught more big flatheads on these than anything else. Second place is green sunfish, the bigger the better.

For channels and blues it is live crayfish (big ones with front claws removed) followed by whole shrimp and spoiled weiners. Have also caught quite a few on empty hooks that are bright and shiny (go figure?).

jvs · « **Reply #25 on:** February 08, 2004, 01:32:15 PM »

If anybody has a problem keeping bait on a hook, (livers, guts, stinky stuff), try using old cut up pantyhose that isn't good for those legs anymore. It works pretty good for keeping bait on the hook and won't pull off so quick when the lunkers hit. A 2 inch square is usually enough to hold the bait, depending on the size of the hook.

whitecloud · « **Reply #26 on:** February 15, 2004, 01:51:44 AM »

I just found this section on GBO,guess I am slow.Anyway, NOW is the best time for HUGE cats here in IN.During the feb ice flow in rivers. We use jigs and and shad gust or nightcrawlers if we have them.During summer it is 2-3" blue gills,3-4" chubs,or feeder goldfish,for the big boys.Worms ,stink bait,blood baits,dough baits all work well on occaision.Incidently my biggest flathead came on a 1" catalpa,5'berkley crappie rod,zebco 33 reel with 6lb mono.Did not weigh it but it was 67" long,11 3/4" between eyes with a 28" girth at shoulders.Almost an hour to get it in,the fun part was we were on a 9' tall bank,and my buddy had his leg in a cast,talk about a struggle,did I mention we had hiked in 3/4 of a mile?

OH THE MEMORIES!!!!! :-D :-D

stomp · « **Reply #27 on:** February 16, 2004, 02:39:29 PM »

My vote goes to a 3 inch bluegill or crappie heads. It works for me..

James B · « **Reply #28 on:** March 13, 2004, 10:45:54 PM »

Up here in the Red River of the North, North Dakota, we jush have channel cats for catfish. Cut up suckers anf frogs are about the best. Night crawlers work good but produce more and smaller fish. The farther north you go, the bigger the fish get. By the time you get to the last dam up in Canada, 20 lb channel are common and you won't catch hardly any under ten lbs. You can only keep one fish and it has to be less then 24 inches. Many times you can't catch one that small. We fish about 15 miles North of Fargo and a limit of 5 to 7 lb fish is about average. Canada is managed as a trophy fishery only

TScottO · « **Reply #29 on:** March 14, 2004, 08:30:58 AM »

I dont know if this is legal everywhere but when fishing a nice size creek for channel cats with trotlines you can take cans of cheap cat food and punch holes all in them and fasten a can to a trotline, baited with cut-bait or crawfish, about every 10 feet and position your line in the shallows about ten feet upstream of a big dark hole. We call it chummen. It works pretty well and its something different to try.

Give it a shot,
Scott