Catfish bait...

[Herm]

If you were fishing new water that you knew had catfish in it; what bait would you try first?

[treyman97223]

cut bait from any other fish that cohabitates with the catfish.

[Herm]

Ive thought about taking a chunk of a squaw and throwing it on a hook. May try that this evening...thanks.

What about secret sauces? I've heard that vanilla extract on a worm works good. Anyone try this before?

[QH's Paw]

cut bait from any other fish that cohabitates with the catfish.
:yeahthat: Very good advise especially if you're talking bigger cats like channels. If you're talking yellow bellies or brown bulls, you might want to try shrimp/prawn meat or crawdad tail meat for a smaller bait. Worms are always easy to get and pretty much all around start bait.
It does make a difference which kind of catfish you're looking for and the type of water(river or lake/pond).

[wsuweston]

Say lake or pond. All I have ever used is worms. Would my old sturgeon bait work?

[HammerinHonkers]

Worms, worms, worms. They will give you an idea of what is in the water. Big cats will hit worms, as will small cats and other bottom feeders. If you catch some decent sized cats then you can go to cut bait, like a freshly caught sucker or squaw. But for an area you dont really know, I would fish worms and get an idea of what is down there and then go from there.
HH

[BassBware]

worms always worked. some guys i talked to when i was in san diego liked to cut up mackerel

[arkansasbasser]

If you were fishing new water that you knew had catfish in it; what bait would you try first?

I like to use prawns. If you have some old frozen prawns in the freezer that need to be thrown out, give em a try. They stay on the hook really well and give off a good scent trail in the water. We used to get blood from a butcher and mix it with dough and make our own blood bait. We would put it in mesh and wrap it on a big treble hook. Caught many a channel cat like that down south. For river fishing it leaves very good scent trail.

[Hawk JJ]

well..........in the past i've caught many Big'Un catfish in the CA canals using..............Pileworms, Bloodworms, Nightcrawlers ( use a worm threader )........small baitfish i would catch in the canals....................cut anchovie, chicken or turkey liver...lay it in the sun fer a bit...put a chunk on a hook, wrap sewing thread around it.............


Good Luck Brother.....................:D

[baltz526]

FRESH cut bait, squaw fish guts, bass guts, trout guts, and the holy grail, fresh crappie filets

[fleagle]

Herm, one of the best baits I have fond for catfish when fishing for catfish is Chub minnows cut into 2 and three inch strips. If you are fishing new water I would recommend a bit of chumming if it is legal in your state.

[sliverslinger]

we used to use chicken hearts for bait. Just let them sit out in the sun for a while to get a bit ripe then go fishing.

[Critr Gitr]

chicken livers
uncle Josh catfish bait - if they still make it ...

me and pa spent many an evening chasing channel cats with the stuff in Ol' Virginny - now I gotta hankerin for some catfish & hush puppies

[TJfirebug]

worms and smelly old chicken livers work good. Just have lots of towels to get the smell off your hands!:passout:

[arkansasbasser]

All of the above suggestions will work for bullhead and channels. I knew a guy once that swore he used chunks of Ivory soap to catch them. I did some digging around and found out he wasn't the only one using soap. Weird! You could clean your hands at the same time as you were baiting your hook.
I think that you could use just about any kind of critter parts and it would work. Worms are probably the easiest one to come by and use, and works very well. Big fat nightcrawlers.

[littlefish]

All of the above suggestions will work for bullhead and channels. I knew a guy once that swore he used chunks of Ivory soap to catch them. I did some digging around and found out he wasn't the only one using soap. Weird! You could clean your hands at the same time as you were baiting your hook.
I think that you could use just about any kind of critter parts and it would work. Worms are probably the easiest one to come by and use, and works very well. Big fat nightcrawlers.

My dad told me he used soap to catch catfish in Mekong river, in Laos, but I'd never use here, I use cutbait from squaw and sucker fish.

[myxxolydyan]

If you were fishing new water that you knew had catfish in it; what bait would you try first?

Herm,

I caught two 7 lbs. catfish using a crappie jig last weekend. No bait whatsoever. You just never know. I'd suggest walking down an isle at a tackle shop, closing your eyes, and then you should pluck something from the shelf. It will probably work.

Trout guts and filet's work great!