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Catfish bait?

33K views 122 replies 75 participants last post by  aluraacker345 
#1 ·
I have been told that chicken livers are the way to go while catfishing. However, I haven't caught a single fish. Some research is telling me shrimp is better than anything else combined. What are your thoughts?


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#78 ·
So out if curiosity anyone ever use frogs?. Gonna go gigging and fishing soon thought hey why not use the left over me for some channel bait... anyone do this?? If so how does it work?

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I have never tried it before but I cant see why it wouldnt work.. If you do give it a try I would be interested in knowing if it worked or not.
 
#81 ·
You must not be hooking right. Mine never falls apart. Are you using raw with shell? Use a circle hook run through head to just tip of hook showing through tail.
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#83 ·
Run the hook through the tail first, then through the side of the body then twist the body a little at the end, where the head would be, and run your hook through it again leaving just a little bit of hook visible. Butterfly shrimp is all I can find sometimes and after trying different methods of getting it to stay on the hook, the way above has worked the best for me.
 
#86 ·
Go to any pharmacy and buy some expandable mesh tube dressing. Very cheap. Keeps lovers on the hook everytime.

Cut a small length off. Tie one end shut. Pit your livers in. thread line thru open end using your hook as a needle. Sinch shut, and put your hook through the sack. Done!

Mr. A
Not a Perv either. I like pantyhose for my liver lol
 
#91 ·
Lately I've been using chicken hearts with great results. Save A Lot had packs of gizzards and hearts marked down for quick sale so I picked up a couple packs. The gizzards didn't get a hit, but the hearts were slaying them. The hearts are fairly tough too. They stayed on the hook great, and lasted for multiple fish which was an added bonus.

I found a place online that sells all kinds of raw, frozen meats and entrails for the purpose of raw food diets for pets. I think I'm going to order some chicken, duck, and turkey hearts, then cure them over the winter in a 5 gallon bucket full of curing salt, and a couple containers of chicken livers. Should make them even more durable.
 
#92 ·
I've caught channels on all type of stuff , some other unorthodox baits that have worked for me are slim jims and ivory soap (plain white bar). The soap was tip from a co-worker that fishes a lot of catfish tournaments. Although I was skeptical at first we baited one pole with the soap and the rest with live bait,I'll be damned it worked.
 
#94 ·
Caught 5 channel cats this year( not targeting) and they all came on nightcrawlers, 3 of the 5 were eating 2+lbs sized......they actually surprised the crap out of me cause I was looking for gills
 
#95 ·
Shad or minnows, night crawlers, chicken liver, calves liver, hot dogs, cut up bluegills, shrimp,

My brother used to cut up bluegills, put them in a big jar with cooking oil and let it sit in the shed for a few days.
They worked great....messy though.
 
#96 ·
im another chicken liver fan for channel cats. but live bait is good for flatheads. when fishing for cats I like a bait on bottom with a barrel sinker with about a 12" leader and 1 on a bobber about 6' to 9' down with liver and no weight. for flatheads I like blue gills or gold fish on the bottom with a barrel sinker and about a 12" to 18" leader. but that's just how I do it.
sherman
 
#99 ·
I use boneless,skinless chicken breasts. Cut them in chunks, put them in a plastic bowl with ample amounts of garlic powder and salt(poor man's cure I guess) and a little vanilla extract. Shake the crap out of it and put it in fridge for a couple days. Stays on hook and full of protein. The garlic and vanilla make a great scent trail in the water. My go to channel bait.
 
#101 ·
I echo that of bigwhayne. I lived in central Florida for 3 years, yup, 3 years, (about 20 miles west of Orlando) The stories I could tell about gaters and snakes.
I knew an ol boy who set out trot lines for catfish. He supplied a lot of the local restaraunts. Every other hook was either cut bait or cubed Ivory soap. He'd stick it in the microwave a tad to make it pliable so it cut easier. Don't knock it, until you try it. What do you have to lose? It might make your hands as soft as a babies behind also? :)
 
#102 ·
Well, I catfish at Buckeye lake for 40 years and by far the best bait for channel cats is shrimp. Go to Aldi snd buy fresh frozen shell on shrimp. Thaw it and add garlic powder to coat all shrimp in a ziplock. Let marinate overnight in fridge. Then add some kind of oil. Fish oil or chili oil, is what is use. Again add enough to coat the shrimp. The oil is key because it creates an oil trail particularly when drift fishing. Catfish hunt by smell. They swim through the trail or slick and follow it to the bait.
 
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