Catfish Bait

[NCHillbilly]

Pulled the 4' long cylinder net trap, not catching anything and it is a $200 trap. I think I need to make the net openings partially open. Yesterday, put in trot line with sections baited with dough bait, cheese, chicken livers. garlic/koolaid hotdogs and chicken breast strips. Also put in a pyramid trap and a hexagon trap with entries in the side (put in all of the above bait and some chum). Running from 30 F to 55 F so cold. Today, the lake owner was too tired but asked me to check the traps and trot line to make sure no bass was caught. The pyramid trap (in about 30" of water) has a single 3-4 lb channel cat. The hexagon trap (in 6' of water) had about 25 small channel cats. The trot line has a lot of empty hooks. On one side, I saw a 1 lb channel hooked but on the other side a fish had pulled the trot line into a fish habitat structure. Not sure how many cats we have on it but a lot of empty hooks. Going to pull the traps and trot line tomorrow and count our catch. Let you know how each bait did. Also I like the idea of previous posters to tie on the bait. Anyway for cold weather, we think we did good. Thanks for all the advice.

So, you haven't tried fresh cut fish? That's the best catfish bait there is, IMO. It's all we use on jugs after trying everything imaginable.

 

[kmckinnie]

Pulled the 4' long cylinder net trap, not catching anything and it is a $200 trap. I think I need to make the net openings partially open. Yesterday, put in trot line with sections baited with dough bait, cheese, chicken livers. garlic/koolaid hotdogs and chicken breast strips. Also put in a pyramid trap and a hexagon trap with entries in the side (put in all of the above bait and some chum). Running from 30 F to 55 F so cold. Today, the lake owner was too tired but asked me to check the traps and trot line to make sure no bass was caught. The pyramid trap (in about 30" of water) has a single 3-4 lb channel cat. The hexagon trap (in 6' of water) had about 25 small channel cats. The trot line has a lot of empty hooks. On one side, I saw a 1 lb channel hooked but on the other side a fish had pulled the trot line into a fish habitat structure. Not sure how many cats we have on it but a lot of empty hooks. Going to pull the traps and trot line tomorrow and count our catch. Let you know how each bait did. Also I like the idea of previous posters to tie on the bait. Anyway for cold weather, we think we did good. Thanks for all the advice.

I’ve used little chunks of stew beef. Bloody the better.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

Deer liver works good, we have a guy we save them for.

 

[JR924]

So, you haven't tried fresh cut fish? That's the best catfish bait there is, IMO. It's all we use on jugs after trying everything imaginable.

The lake owner tried it a few month ago with no hits. We had plenty of choices of bait so I did not push the matter. However, if I catch a small bluegill, I will try it.

 

[NCHillbilly]

The lake owner tried it a few month ago with no hits. We had plenty of choices of bait so I did not push the matter. However, if I catch a small bluegill, I will try it.

I've tried everything. That means everything. Nothing beats cut bait for catch ratios year after year.

 

[JR924]

Caught about 40 small catfish in 2 small traps. This last trap is easy to bait and get the catfish out as their spikes stick really bad in the other traps loose netting. This netting is taunt so easier to remove the catfish. The 3 lb catfish I saw yesterday in the trap was gone the next day. Trap not very tough with a fragile zipper but it is cheap.

Amazon.com

Got three 1-1.5 lb catfish on the trot line for eating. I think the baits they took was cheese and 2 chicken livers. No catfish with the chicken breast which was disappointing as it was difficult to remove from the hook so not sure how they got that bait off. . No fish with the dough bait. All other 21 hooks were bare or torn off (25%) and I fell in the cold lake trying to retrieve the trot line stuck to a man made fishing cover structure. Some hook knots were probably faulty but the torn leaders was puzzling as that was a good knot to the trot line. We had let the trot-line in 48 hours so that may have contributed to the high failure rate. The trot line was taunt but something pulled 3-4 feet it into an adjacent man made fishing cover.

A neighbor told me that 3 years ago, his wife pulled out a 4 lb catfish. The owner feeds the fish so thinking there are some big cats in there. I was told by the neighbor that when they initially stocked the pond, the catfish the supplier gave them was far larger than then the other fish species which may explain why they got ahead of the bass as the dominant fish. I did repair the line and re-baited with cut fish but it was the Wallmart crap. Will do fresh fish next week when we have more time. We also baited with cheese and raw beef stew meat. The owner's wife is ****ed at him for spending so much time in the lake so going out Thursday to check the catch. Hope I am not boring you with the play by play. Let me know and I will post less frequently. Thanks for the replies. I enjoy reading them. I just love this problem and hope it never ends.

 

[JR924]

Owner's wife put her foot down. No fishing till mid April. Looks like spousal abuse to me.

 

[Batjack]

Owner's wife put her foot down. No fishing till mid April. Looks like spousal abuse to me.

"Citizen's arrest... citizen's arrest!"

 

[NCHillbilly]

Caught about 40 small catfish in 2 small traps. This last trap is easy to bait and get the catfish out as their spikes stick really bad in the other traps loose netting. This netting is taunt so easier to remove the catfish. The 3 lb catfish I saw yesterday in the trap was gone the next day. Trap not very tough with a fragile zipper but it is cheap.

Amazon.com

Got three 1-1.5 lb catfish on the trot line for eating. I think the baits they took was cheese and 2 chicken livers. No catfish with the chicken breast which was disappointing as it was difficult to remove from the hook so not sure how they got that bait off. . No fish with the dough bait. All other 21 hooks were bare or torn off (25%) and I fell in the cold lake trying to retrieve the trot line stuck to a man made fishing cover structure. Some hook knots were probably faulty but the torn leaders was puzzling as that was a good knot to the trot line. We had let the trot-line in 48 hours so that may have contributed to the high failure rate. The trot line was taunt but something pulled 3-4 feet it into an adjacent man made fishing cover.

A neighbor told me that 3 years ago, his wife pulled out a 4 lb catfish. The owner feeds the fish so thinking there are some big cats in there. I was told by the neighbor that when they initially stocked the pond, the catfish the supplier gave them was far larger than then the other fish species which may explain why they got ahead of the bass as the dominant fish. I did repair the line and re-baited with cut fish but it was the Wallmart crap. Will do fresh fish next week when we have more time. We also baited with cheese and raw beef stew meat. The owner's wife is ****ed at him for spending so much time in the lake so going out Thursday to check the catch. Hope I am not boring you with the play by play. Let me know and I will post less frequently. Thanks for the replies. I enjoy reading them. I just love this problem and hope it never ends.

Probably a big snapping turtle wrecking your trotline.

 

[hopper]

Looks like the traps are working if you can keep em in there.

 

[JR924]

Looks like the traps are working if you can keep em in there.

Unfortunately, the owner is not that well and will probably do nothing about the catfish problem till April. However in April, we plan to hit them hard with multiple traps, multiple trot lines, multiple baits and plenty of fishing. Shame, It looked to me that we were making progress. However, I could not talk him into leaving his wife.

 

[ebenoutdoors]

Unfortunately, the owner is not that well and will probably do nothing about the catfish problem till April. However in April, we plan to hit them hard with multiple traps, multiple trot lines, multiple baits and plenty of fishing. Shame, It looked to me that we were making progress. However, I could not talk him into leaving his wife.

You might be the answer to my catfish problem. I have gone to so many lakes for catfish spending the whole day not catching any fish, sometimes small catfish. I am looking for big catfish. Of recent I went to Alabama for catfishing and I caught small catfish. Only place I caught one big catfish is West Point Lake, most times I catch nothing or small catfish. Lake Carroll just restock the lake with catfish fingerling. I am willing to come and help in catching the big catfish in April. Here is my email address to reach me ebenoutdoors@gmail.com. I appreciate it.

 

[Nuttin Better]

Mullet is a good catfish bait.

 

[crackerdave]

Mullet is a good catfish bait.

Good for turtles,too.

Cut shad is the natural bait in West Point.There's good bank fishing at Ringer Park.Lots of frying size channel cats there.

 

[Nicodemus]

In the winter time and while the water is still cold, use soap for bait to catch channel catfish. Got buy you a couple of cakes of Camay soap. Wildflower is good. Use a sharp knife to cut it into half inch cubes, and stick them on your trotline hooks. You won`t catch trash, nothing but catfish on this stuff. Since it`s cooler, the soap won`t melt so fast. Cleanest bait you can use, and you can wash your hands with it.

Seriously, give it a try.

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

Earnie the hog snatcher says "cut American eel for the big slob takedown".

I believe him.

 

[NCHillbilly]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Two nights catch from last weekend, fresh cut shiners. And we lost several more that wrapped around limbs, or came off while we were getting them in the boat.