What is the best bait for catching catfish? I've always used chicken liver and have had decent results. Do ya'll have any other suggestions?

When I fish Conroe, I mostly use shrimp, shad and chicken livers and do very well. I am not really one for using that fancy bait in the stores, but I know guys that swear by it.

Channels will eat all kinds of stuff. Live and dead minnows and shad, blood baits, livers, dough baits, shrimp, hotdogs, about anything.

Blues will eat most of the same stuff as channels

Flatheads will occasionally take a smell type bait, but usually opt for live fish or cutbait.

i think is called DAN KINGS PUNCH bait... good stuff

chicken liver

week old congealed 5 gallon bucket of beef blood.

works well on the lake setting it up on lines 20-30 yards off the shore.

works well setting in on lines in the river.

going to be fishing the Red pretty hard in three weeks and this is what we are using.

nwhoustonag,

I use both a cork and bottom rigging. Depends on where I am fishing.

Man there really isn't an answer to that question. Flatheads- perch, goldfish, carp
Channels- minnows, worms, blood bait, shad gizzards, and most anything else that resembles food and puts out smell. Blues- see channels

I fish in the Brazos and we use strictly perch! 2 weekends ago, had 21 hooks in the water, checked the lines 3 times, caught 23 fish, 18 keepers and all of them ranged in from 7lbs - 16lbs (blues and yellows).

Can't go wrong with cut perch, live perch, shad, gizzards, chicken liver, and shrimp. I never use stink/dough bait, but it works too.

I like to cut the fin off a perch, enough to get it to bleed, and swim around like a moron, but not enough to kill it. attracts the hell outta catfish.

I havent really gone catfish fishing in a long time, but I do remember my dad used to throw out dog food and big red before we were going to fish. I have no idea....

I havent really gone catfish fishing in a long time, but I do remember my dad used to throw out dog food and big red before we were going to fish. I have no idea....

Hmmm, I always thought dog food/big red combo was more for carp. The reason he did it was for smell though. That is what cats go off of.

I chum the water with range cubes from a feed store (about $7 for a 50 lb bag), then fish with Danny Kings punch bait (blood), live/freshly dead shad and sometimes frozen head-on shrimp. Just depends on the day, but all three will catch fish.



All caught on Danny Kings

Hmm, like I said, I've never really used stink baits, but that picture kind of makes me want to try some.

That pic isnt that great. We caught about 20 others and released them, I just dont eat enough fish to keep everything I catch. Punch bait is great stuff, especially DK's. The real key is the range cubes. I had some fish in the boat, you would look down their throat and there was undigested cubes in there, hadnt even swallowed them down to their stomach yet.

Where did you catch 'em at?

secret lake within an hour of CS, email me and Ill let ya know, its in my profile, Im always looking for another buddy to go with too, need help launching the boat

You don't need bait. Just go noodle for them.

Had to add my latest catfish experience from Lake Tawakoni, SE of Dallas. This big one weighted around 50 lbs:



This is a 55 gallon cooler. Damn thing weighed about 150 lbs at the end of the day.


My son's hooked!



[This message has been edited by K2-99 (edited 4/17/2008 4:26p).]

Bill's Catfish Bait, Brains & Cheese.

J-Pig stink bait fished over soured maize chum works well for channels.

Six of the ten we caught on shrimp one evening.



I took this shot because I didn't think my son would land him with 6lb test but, he did.



And, I had to fillet them all.

coot gizzards

K2-99, how did you pull those in? What were you using?

We were drifting along the flats using cut gizzard shad, dragging it along the bottom. Even used a drift sock in fresh water!

Obviously this was a guided trip, so I can't take credit. Fed close to 30 people, and still have fish left over. I'll be doing this meat run annually after this trip.

Chicken liver wrapped in some old panty hose to keep it on the hook. No kidding.

When my dad, grandpa, and I used to trot and jug line a lot, we used perch and (believe it or not) grasshoppers.

K-2 99,
What guide did you use and how much did it cost?

35chili,

How do you prepare the beef blood? just catch the blood in a bucket and let is sit for a week?

I don't really like my neighbor... Must it be beef blood?

For a boat of say 4 people, the price is around 300 I think. However, my neighbor (old man in the pic) has a sweet set-up with the guides because the always call him when someone cancels and he gets a discount. I paid 100 bucks with the discount.

The guides have a monopoly on that lake. Google it and I'm sure you will find them. They also service a few other lakes in the Dallas area.

Also, the big ones are caught during 6 weeks in the winter, so going in the summer you will get a bunch of 2 lb yellow cats (better eating), but not as much meat as the blues! BTW, they have some underwater feeders in certain areas, so it's a sure thing.

[This message has been edited by K2-99 (edited 4/18/2008 3:22p).]

its fairly easy for me to get it, as we have a meat market in my home town. what i do is call them about a week before i want to pick it up. when they slaughter, they fill up a 5-gallon bucket and then sit it aside. it takes about a week to congeal.

the last time i did it, it was still a bit to soupy to put on the treble hooks, so we poured it out on some cardboard (think consistency of jello) and let it sit in the sun for about an hour.
it actually worked really well, the edges got hard enough to hold on the hooks, and the inside was still juicy enough to weep blood (what you really want, because they sure seem to love that smell)
then we just cut some willow branches and set a line up off shore about 20-30 yards (about neck deep) with the blood sitting about a foot or so off the bottom. check them every hour or two. we caught most around midnight.

another time we had the blood frozen (though i doubt my buddy's mom knew he had a 5-gallon bucket of blood sitting in her deep freeze). it worked really well to get it on the hook.

we usually let the bucket trail behind us when we set up lines on the river, let it kinda leak out as you go, like chumming the water.

will be going around may 9th or so. hopefully i can get some good pictures. and fish of course.

We use Punch Bait (stink bait) when we go to Lake Conroe, Livingston or Somerville. Usually have great results.