Good Catfish Bait?

[Brand0n]

Anything reliable other than liver? Ive only tried cut up bream and livers. Cut up bream I only hook turtles and liver bream get to it quicker than catfish most of the time in the lake I fish. Just looking for maybe a good reliable dip bait or something I can order online or maybe pick up in store. Tired of catching turtles and bream.

[smr913]

Depending on the type of catfish and the watershed you are fishing will vary the bait you use. If you are after Flathead (Yellow) Cats I would use the live bream as they are more active hunters. Channel Cats I would go with stink bait, chicken livers, or worms because they are more scavengers. Blue Cats I would fish with live bream or some cut bait. Turtles have always been a problem when using cut bait for me. All of my largest cats, both Blue and Flathead, have come on live Bream on trotlines. I have seen dead shad sold at Wal Mart if buying your bait is the route you want to take. Hope this helps some. Good luck!

[Brand0n]

the lake i fish has alot of speckled catfish and occasionally ill catch some channel catfish. which i think the speckeld ones are some sort of channel catfish. i did catch a 14lb channel on liver one time there

[GoTakeANap]

you can use all kinds of things for bait. anything that stinks works well. i catfish more often than i bass fish. Shinners, shad, herring are the main bait fish you can buy in a store to fish with. try to find a local bait shop by the river you fish. walmart carrys shad in bags made by little sinker but IMO its not worth anything. you can always catch baitfish with a castnet. i would use bream but we arent suppose to use that in the state of sc the last time ive checked the law.

something that we tear them up on here are catawba worms if you can find them. do you deer hunt? one of my secret baits that works well for me is deer heart. save it if you deer hunt. just to many different baits to use. if you wanna know a few others just ask or send me a pm. hope this helps

[Bluebasser86]

If you're after the bigger cats stick with livebait or fresh cutbait. Live bluegill and green sunfish are hard to beat and the turtles won't get them as much. Cut shad and carp are great for big blues and channels and the occasional flathead but like you said the turtles will mess with you sometimes. Dipbait is very effective for the smaller eater size channels and blues and turtles don't seem to bother it. Get some dipworms and a tub of dipbait (I use Sonny's Supersticky or Lucky 7 if I'm using it) and just use a stick to stir the top portion of it and dip your worm without getting your hands dirty. Make sure to dip your worm about every 10 minutes to keep some bait on it. You might keep some paper towels with you to pat the worm dry as the bait seems to stick better to a dry worm.

BTW your speckled catfish I'm guessing are small ones? Less than 2lbs probably? Juvenile channel cats have spots so I'd guess that's what you're talking about.

[Brand0n]

yeah they are smaller than 2 lbs but super fat from cleaning my hooks!

[tholmes]

As far as prepared baits go, this is the best that I've found

http://www.bee-jaybait.com/Default.aspx

Tom

[georgeyew]

I use chicken gizzards for catfishing. They stay firmer on the hooks than liver and it's harder for the turtles to steal the bait off the hook. I also have good luck with bread balls, but 1/2 the time turtle gets to first...at least bread is cheap.

[bass or bass ?]

The bait that works best for me for channel cats is frozen squid. It is very tough and stays on the hook until you remove it. Get it at any Asian supermarket. For flatheads I like green sunfish best. They are hardier than bluegills and live longer on the hook. If you have access to bullheads, they are probably the best flathead bait.

[Brand0n]

picked up some catfish charlies blood dip bait at my local academy...hope it works!

[NoBassPro]

picked up some catfish charlies blood dip bait at my local academy...hope it works!

I've had good luck with that. It stays on worms well, even in current, doesn't seem to take a whole lot left on the worm to get bit either. The little catfishing I do is done from the pier, and it also is effective at keeping your area from getting crowded.

[Mad Fisherman]

I catch probably 95% of all of my catfish on frozen hotdog's. Leave them in the back of the truck and you should be able to just break off pieces by the time you get there. My biggest catfish, which is in my signature, was caught on hotdogs, sometimes I will be catching 1 every ten minutes, some being over 4 pounds.

[Missourifishin]

I use nightcrawlers, and catch alot of channel cats. The ones my local walmart sell are huge worms, and the channels seem to love them.

[Missourifishin]

I use nightcrawlers, and catch alot of channel cats. The ones my local walmart sell are huge worms, and the channels seem to love them.

[Bankbeater]

We use cut up bluegill, cut up shad, minnows, and dough bait.

[hbird]

I have luck with cheap cheap hotdogs, and buy some dog food and throw it out,

[wademaster1]

the dip stink baits sold at wal mart work great; chicken livers and boneless chicken breast soaked in garlic powder work wonders too; good luck

[Bluebasser86]

I have luck with cheap cheap hotdogs, and buy some dog food and throw it out,

Careful with that, chumming is illegal in some states.