Best Baits to Catch Channel Catfish
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Are you going fishing for channel cats? Then you are going to want to know what the best baits to catch channel catfish are. Channel cats will eat just about anything you put in front of them. This gives you lots of choices. Heck, they have been know to bite on everything from hot dogs to ivory soap. Your choice of bait will depend on a lot of factors. Water temperature, time of day, and weather conditions are just some of the variables when choosing the best bait for catching channel catfish. Here is my list. Every one of these has worked for me and every one has left me high and dry without a fish. You will have to experiment some to find out what works best for you in your local waters.
PREPARED BAITS: Prepared baits can be purchased at any tackle shop or your local Wal-mart. These manufactured baits can be very effective. You can also make your own. You can easily find hundreds of catfish bait recipes online and they all have one thing in common. They stink! Make sure you take something with you to clean your hands after baiting the hook.
WORMS: Night crawlers, garden worms and Catawba worms are all included here. These are the old standby and will catch catfish but are best used where they are likely to find them. Places where creeks and drainage ditches feed into the lake or river seem to be best. The downside to worms is that all fish eat worms and you may find you are losing a lot of bait to bream.
SHRIMP: You can purchase shrimp at your local grocery either with or without shell. I leave the shell on but most remove it. Depending on the size of the shrimp and the size of the bait you want you can use them whole or cut them in half. Many also soak them in vanilla extract to enhance their appeal. I am particularly found of the cut baits and shrimp because they stay on your hook and can be fished in fast currents when necessary.
CHICKEN LIVERS: These can also be purchased at your local grocery store and are a very good bait. I do suggest you take an old nylon stocking and cut it into small squares. You can use these squares to wrap around the chicken liver and attach it to the hook. They will stay on the hook much better. Fish on the bottom and check your bait every 20-30 minutes. If all the blood is gone replace the bait.
CUT BAITS: Cut baits cover a wide variety of fish baits. The most common ones are: shad, bluegill, anchovy, sardines, mackerel and minnows. Make sure it is legal to use them in your area. I know that bluegill is not legal in some states but is ok in others. I cut them into chunks depending on the size of the bait. I personally believe cut bait is the best bait to channel catfish. Especially if want the big ones.
Good luck on your next outing. Visit Catfish Bait Recipes to get more great homemade catfish baits.
Best Catfish Baits 1 – Chicken Liver
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One of the best catfish baits available at you're your local grocery store is chicken liver. The blood in a chicken liver gradually seeps into the water providing an excellent scent trail for the catfish to find. Channel catfish and young (small) Blue catfish both will eat this bait up.
As with most catfish baits, they should be fished on the bottom with a slip sinker. One of the drawbacks to using liver for catfish bait is that it is difficult to keep on the hook when casting. This can be frustrating when you think you have a good cast but you see the bait fly off.
There are three things that you can do to keep fresh livers on the hook. Keep in mind that I use # 6 treble hooks for all of these methods.
1. When placing the liver onto your hook try to work it so that you only puncture it once with each barb. The more you try to get it hooked the mushier you make it. You will still lose your bait at times this way.
2. Put your liver on the hook as above but now take about ten inches of thread and wrap around the bait and the hook. Make it firm but not hard enough to cut into the bait. This stays on pretty good.
3. Take some old panty-hose or potato netting (from a sack of potatoes) and cut a circle out of it the size you want to put your bait in. I make mine about three inches. Wrap it around the chicken liver and use a small rubber band to tie it up. You can cast a mile with this setup and it will not come off of the hook.
Chicken livers are one of the best catfish baits available and with these tips you will be able to spend more time fishing and less time casting. With catfish the best catfish baits are the ones the catfish want. This can change day to day or hour to hour so always take three or four baits with you.
Good luck on your next outing. Visit Catfish Bait Recipes to get more great homemade catfish baits.
Need Catfish Bait Fast?
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Last weekend at about 10PM on Sunday night my wife told me she wanted to take the kids and head for the lake in the morning. Furthermore I was told that we were going to take the jet ski. No problem I love to have my family with me at the lake but….NO BOAT and NO CATFISH BAIT. I decided not to worry about it I would make something in the morning. After all I did publish a catfish bait book.
We got up at 7am and I got the truck loaded with all the accessories, chairs, gazebo, water toys, fishing gear etc.. I thought I was in good shape time wise but Marlen told me we had to go pick up her niece. I had 15 minutes to put together my bait. Now I had a choice to make.
Take the ingredients to make baits at the lake or make something easy right then. I figured i wouldn't have more than a couple of hours fishing before the kids wanted me to take them on the jet ski so I decided to make something quick now. Here is the recipe for what I made and how I put it together.
Ingredients
- Wheaties (you can use any corn flake type cereal, I just have always used Wheaties) Garlic Salt
Get a large bowl and pur the wheaties in. Add a liberal amount of garlic salt and then crush the Wheaties. Add a little bit of water at a time until you have a paste. it should be very sticky. If done right you can put it on any type of hook and it will stay there. Put in a plastic bag and your ready to go.
Now I am going to brag a little bit. When we got to the lake and after everything was unloaded it was 9am and I was ready to get a couple of lines in the water. We had a picnic table not more than 30 feet from the water and I took my gear to the shore. I baited the first pole and cast it out. Before I could even get the other pole baited and in the water I had a hit on the first pole and I got him. A 2-3 pound channel, but a very good omen.
To make a long story short I caught 3 more all in the first 45 minutes I was fishing. I spent about an hour and a half fishing and did not catch any more but we had more than enough to grill for lunch. I also to be honest with you. I have fished the same spot many times and wheaties always seems to perform well so choosing the right catfish bait to make was easier than it would have been in a new location.
Had I been planning to spend more time fishing I would have taken more baits with me or ingrediets to make more if needed. You increase your chances of having the bait they are looking for if you have some variety.
Good luck on your next outing. Visit Catfish Bait Recipes to get more great homemade catfish baits.
