What are you guys using for LARGE catfish! 2024
Bream Master reply :
Just got back from Gander Mtn. buying a gift and on the bragging board I saw some huge cats! Those who fish for large cats, what are you using? I have never caught a catfish over 12 lbs. and it was on a nightcrawler.
All I use are nightcrawlers and livers. I may go out there with a whole cornish game hen next time! ;D
RODBENDER reply :
I use cut shad and live bluegill , perch , mudcat ( bullhead i think ) goldfish if i can get them
Daniel My Brother reply :
Big Flatheads tend to go for live bait. A bluegill is perfect. You do well will cut bait for big blue cats. the head of a skipjack or gizzard shad is perfect. Circle hooks work well.
tallydude reply :
QuoteBig Flatheads tend to go for live bait. A bluegill is perfect. You do well will cut bait for big blue cats. the head of a skipjack or gizzard shad is perfect. Circle hooks work well.
Agreed. I cut my teeth catching catfish before anything else. The big ones prefer live bait at night over anything else. Bluegill are perfect. I hate trying to hook bluegill, however, and like to use cut up skipjack. Circle hooks are ideal. I prefer Mustad for catfish.
Sam reply :
Cut shad or live bream.
Live bluegills are excellent, too.
And anything that stinks, like liver.
ga_hawghauler reply :
Most of big cats have come off live bluegill. I have also caught some nice cats on herron and thread fin shad. My personal best is a 32 lb which came off a live bream almost the size of my hand.
T-rig reply :
Try small live carp if you can get them! They use them alot in Europe.
I heard that eels also work.
Munkin reply :
Sunfish and big creek chubs that I catch on a 1/16 rooster tail spinner work.
Allen
Sam reply :
Cut shad.
NEBassMan reply :
Those of you using live blue gill...are you weighting them to keep them on the bottom or how are you rigging them? Thanks.
Jason
RODBENDER reply :
Yes ... weight on bottom and make a loop up the line a few inches long to tie the hook to . like a dropshot rig .
In swift or hangy spots i tie the weight with light line so it will breakoff in case of hangups .
Deuceu72 reply :
It's not cheap...........Go to the grocery store and buy a cheap steak or 2.........Let them sit in your backyard for about 3 days in the sun, then use the bad(and smelly) steak for your bait......
NATHAN_JAMES reply :
I talked with a buddy of mine and he tells me when he would go cat-fishing they would lower a can of dog food with holes punched in it. He says the smell attracts the cats and then you would send down your baited hook and bang your on. I've never tried this but it sounds good. I did ask him however, why they din't use cans of cat food?
squid reply :
QuoteJust got back from Gander Mtn. buying a gift and on the bragging board I saw some huge cats! Those who fish for large cats, what are you using? I have never caught a catfish over 12 lbs. and it was on a nightcrawler.All I use are nightcrawlers and livers. I may go out there with a whole cornish game hen next time! ;D
DURING A BASS TOURNAMENT ON ST. CLAIR...MICHIGAN SIDE....I CAUGHT A 20lbr ON 8lb TEST....GREENPUMPKIN WITH PURPLE FLEX TUBE. DID NOT FIT TO WELL IN MY LIVE WELL....LOL :
nofishforme reply :
Yea cut up shad does work well..and not just for cat fish. this is really weird but i caught my PB (6lbs even) on cut up gizzard shad. the day before i caught it i had seen huhe pods of gizzrd shad so i decided to use a crank bait to fould hook them and i caught about 6-7 5inch ers. the next morning i cut em up and put on my cat fish rig and within 10 minutes i had something on which i thought was a nice cat but it turned out to be a 6lb bass which i could fit both my fists in..this thing was only 21 inches long but its head and eyeballs were ENORMOUS
Pond Hopper reply :
I know guys that use cutbait(bluegill and crappie heads) in Iowa and have had very good luck, even through the ice.
Sam reply :
Bluegills.
Catfish love bluegills.
Zonked reply :
Try rolling some chicken gizzards in strawberry cool aide...
roadwarrior reply :
Zonked,
Welcome aboard!
I have caught as lot of HUGE blue cats on cut bait (skipjack) on the Mississippi River. My PB (58 lbs) was caught a few years ago, very near the New Bridge in downtown Memphis.
Jerkbate reply :
I use a rig almost identical to a Carolina rig. This prevents the fish from feeling the weight when they take the bait. I have had my best luck on rod & reel while fishing with small bream.
If you have a boat & want to catch some catfish, go jugging. I rig a 2 liter coke bottle with braided, tarred, 200 pound line tied to the end, #1/0 to #2/0 swivel, and a #5/0 to #7/0 hook. Bait this with cut shad for blue cats, and live bream for flatheads. Only use about 12" of line. This is where most people I know mess up. They have about 6 feet or more of line out, and all they do is stay hungup. I've found that in river systems the cats will come up to the top to feed in the mornings and evenings. So, 12" inches of line is plenty. We've caught cats using this method from 5 to 60 pounds. When a big cat pulls that coke bottle under you will know it. It sounds like a 22 rifle going off. A cat weighing around 40 pounds can hold a 2 liter coke bottle under for about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. So when a big one hits keep your eyes open for the bottle resurfacing, and stay in the area. We lost one a couple of years ago in the Yazoo river that held the bottle down for a little over 5 minutes. We had it at the side of the boat but it was so big we had trouble getting it in the net. It finally came unhooked. I only wish I knew how much it weighted. It was huge.
iceintheveins reply :
Cutbait such as anchovies and suckers are some of the best all around catfish chow around, but often fresh chicken livers are even better.
mtnbasser reply :
me and my friend are going to Santee-Cooper the first week of April, we have caught a bunch of blue back herring for cut bait over ther do you guys think this will work good?
RiverRaider reply :
I've caught my biggest catfish using live sunfish.
fishinalldaylong reply :
hey guys, im 15 and i live in L.R. arkansas. my two biggest catches are a 15+ pound bullhead and a 5 1/2 pound bass. I have caught many bass weighing 3lbs or more. for the past week or two ive been fishing in a small 8 acre lake called cherrywood lake. the lake is stalked full of hybrids and channel cats. and there have been trophy sized largmouths 10lbs+ chugged out of this small lake. I have a question about channel cats... ive heard that a fresh bluegill can be a very deadley cat bait, what i need to know is how to cut the bluegill and how to present the bait.
Daniel My Brother reply :
fishinalldaylong,
Are you sure that 15+ pound catfish was a bullhead? 'Cause if it was, you broke the world record by more than 7 pounds!! 
Just having fun with you. Any 15 pound catfish is a hawg!
Daniel My Brother reply :
fishinalldaylong,
How you present a bluegill depends on the type of cats that are in your lake. Flatheads prefer live bait, either under a bobber or jug, or using a slip sinker. Big blue cats prefer cut bait, and though it sounds gross, use the head of the fish first.
Dan
Bladesmith, reply :
You DID say BIG catfish. First get yourself a regular hay-hook ( like we use for moving bales of hay ) and weld a barb on it. Tie it to 1/4 inch or larger aircraft cable ( the cable on your pick-up winch is ideal ). If you use your winch cable, leave it on the winch, if not tie it off to the back bumper of your pick up ( I would not recommend using a car for this kind of fishing ). Bait the hook with a 3/4 to 1 lb. carp or similar fish. Pull your pick-up as close to the river as you dare and throw your baited hook in. Get in the cab and go to sleep. When the rocking and jerking of the pick-up wakes you up, start it, put it in gear and drag your fish out. This is assuming you have access to a river with BIG catfish, and that you have enough sense not to park on slick or soft ground. My Grandfather used to take me fishing this way when I was a boy on Muddy Boggy Creek, in S.E. Okla. We caught several in the 60 lb. range over the years, and one 58 lb. snapping turtle.
NATHAN_JAMES reply :
Blade I like that idea, sick, but I like it. ;D
paleo reply :
use live perch up to 1lb here is the proof that it works
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