How To Find Catfish In A New Lake?

[mathnerdm]

So I'm new to catfishing and was going tomorrow to a lake I've only been to once. It's a stocked lake and I just wanted to know what to look for when bank fishing for cat. I know from talking to others that there's a dam like structure, would that be good to throw around? I'll be using chicken liver and stink bait, is it smart to just throw it without a float and fish it off the bottom or should I use a float? I'll have 4 rods so is it smart to try both? Any tips would be fantastic! Thanks!

[MakoMaui]

If there aren't any plants where you're casting, you might want to set the bait at the bottom as a bases to find where the catfish are feeding. I actually only used one method for cat fishing so far, so I can't give you a myriad of information on different set-ups. I always used a 6-8 lb test of mono tied to a barrel or snap swivel; a #6 shelled hook attached to the other end of the swivel, and an appropriate sized split shot above the swivel on my main line. I always used live worms. Livers and hot dogs also work well. I'm not sure the rules regulating your state, but in Jersey, we're allowed to have up to three active rods at a time. With cat fishing, it may be a good idea to have more than one active rod to increase your chances, but if it is an extremely active day of fishing, you'll find that it can be overwhelming trying to set the hook (If you aren't using circle hooks, in which case, the fish will almost always hook themselves), and reeling them in. As for the float, I never used one when targeting catfish, but I heard of it being done with success on the last forum I made on cat fishing. I've received some great tips on it if you want to check it out.

[crazyjoeclemens]

Floats work, but I'm a big fan of the drop shot rig for catfishing.  They're not exclusively bottom feeders, so it helps to have the bait up off the ground.  If you're looking for fillet sized fish, stink bait and those tube worms work just fine.  If you wanna find the bigguns, I prefer fresh shad fillets on octopus circle hooks and the shad head on a large Khale hook.  The other option is whole live shad on the Khale hook.  Catfish mostly feed at night and lay low during the day.  So, if you are night fishing, try to find some shallow flats to fish.  During the day, you might need to reach for the deeper holes in the lake.  If you've had some recent rains, and there's a potential for baitfish to be washed into the lake, thats another good place to look into.  Where I fish, we have a 2 rod/reel at a time limit, so I keep 2 in the water as much as possible.  If your local regs allow you to have more lines out, go for it.  It never hurts your average.

[everythingthatswims]

Fresh cutbait is the way to go, stinkbait is just nasty and doesn't even catch big ones (cut bait catches them all and doesn't stick to everything you have). Cover is more important than depth. I'd target fallen trees in 5+ feet of water, if it is muddy they may be shallower. The more cover the better, trees and beaver huts produce the most for me. Mornings and evenings are best, but you can catch them all day.