Best Catfishing Bait

[OBX-BASS]

What is your favorite catfish bait or what works best for you guys??? I know alotr of people use chicken livers but i have never really had much luck on those......the bait i rely on and use the most is clam snouts....they stink and they release alot of oils in the water which seems to attract them good...also the simple hot dog dipped in stink bait 8-)hahaha....what do you guys like to use the most??

[Castamasta]

i dont catfish that much but the few times i have done it i have been successful with a good old hotdog like you mentioned. lost a good 10-12 lber last weekend. line snapped >

[thetr20one]

Ya gotta let the chicken liver "ripen" in the sun for a day or two.

[powerman970]

I usually just use my hands for catfish. If I do choose to use a rod and reel then I usually go with good old weiners. I like to use the ones with cheese in them. If I get hungry it works out well too.

By the way though, try this.  Take a pair of panty hose and cut off a section about 2 inches long.  Tie one end closed and put Ivory soap shavings and a treble hook inside then tie the other end closed around the shank of the hook.  Fish this about 12 inches below a swivel with a weight above that (Almost like a C-rig).  Ivory soap floats up off the bottom and is irresistible to cats.  I also use Zoat soap which is available from many Mexican grocers and is made with actual animal fat.

[Alpster]

I use shrimp. I put about a 1/2 pound out in the sun until you need a rubber gloves and a gas mask to handle them. Great catfish bait. Pick up an old collander or fine mesh basket a garage sale to keep the cats, etc. out of them until they are ripe.

Ronnie

[NinjaFishin]

CHICKEN LIVER.    I never use anything but and it almost always produces in the rivers where I fish.

I've also heard peanut butter is supposed to work very well but I've never tried it myself.  

[brgbassmaster]

chicken liver is the best. either let it ripen in the sun or dont let it ripen works either way.

my brother caught these on chicken liver.

my brother me and my nephew with chicken liver fish.

[smcentee]

Trout chow used as a pack bait. Either hydrate the chow with water and a little garlic powder or garlic salt, or use cheerwine.

Chicken liver is always hot bait for cats. I lay mine in a food dehydrater for a few hours. This toughens the liver (somewhat) allowing for much longer casts, and intensifies the flavor.

If you fish "catch and release", please, avoid baits and baiting methods that the fish cannot digest.

[soccplayer07]

imo...the best bait by far is sunfish. if your using them live, which i recommend, you may want to trim their tail so they swim slower. i also scrape some of their scales off with a knife to make them look injured. if the sunfish you use are too large, cut bait always works well. using this type of bait weeds out the little ones as well. gl

[burleytog]

Catalpa worms.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i use big minnows or elwive

[Gone_Phishin]

Cut bait.  We use strips of discarded belly meat from salmon and trout from Lake Michigan.  We cut it into chunks.  It works great and it's free.

[Bankbeater]

I have used all of the above.

[Daiwa]

If you fish "catch and release", please, avoid baits and baiting methods that the fish cannot digest.

What kind of bait would that be? Im catfishing tomarrow and need some stuff. Will balloon bobbers work for catfishing?

[Avalonjohn44]

Gulp works well.  Chicken livers too.  A dead bluegill if cutbait is legal where you fish.

[Raul]

Ya gotta let the chicken liver "ripen" in the sun for a day or two.

YUP !  

When you open the bag and faint with the scent it means the bait is in it 's prime.  

[Lavrax]

the biggest cats i caught were when i was using experimental baits.. Squid (kalamari), and cuttlefish work wonders on on catfishing

[71Rig]

I use shrimp. I put about a 1/2 pound out in the sun until you need a rubber gloves and a gas mask to handle them. Great catfish bait. Pick up an old collander or fine mesh basket a garage sale to keep the cats, etc. out of them until they are ripe.

X2 on the shrimp.  I have a few spots that I can go and catch cats all day on shrimp.  Frozen or fresh, they all work well.  

[Ballpark Frank]

Nothing is better than natural for cats.

For channels, use shad(or bluegill if legal) cut-bait.

For blues, use live shad or cut.

For flatheads, a decent sized live bluegill.

I have tried all concoctions, stinkbaits, dipbaits, worms, hotdogs, cheese, chicken livers, etc. and nothing works like real fish.

[farmpond1]

The last time I deliberately fished for catfish, I cut off a slab of meat from a creek chub a friend caught a few minutes earlier.  It served two functions: first, to rid the canal of at least one bait thief and two, it made good oily smelly bait.

[Derek84]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned eel.. here in Va it tends to be one of  the most productive baits 'specially for the big'uns.  

[zo6fisherman]

fresh cow spleen  incredibly tough holds blood forever and takes scent salt garlic.  If you live around a slaughter house they can be obtained for free.

matt

[Pegleg]

I cure my chicken livers with garlic powder. Cut the livers in chunks and spred them on a old cookie sheet. Cover them with cheap garlic powder (buy garlic powder at the "Dollar Store") Then set them in the sun to dry. Turn them once during the day and sprinkle more garlic on em. Put them in a sealer bag and freeze em or use them that night.

                                                                                Pegleg