How do you catch big catfish?
by outdoor on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 | 9 Comments
What method do you use to catch big catfish? What I do is first catch the smallest bluegill (we call them bream) that we can. I use this lime green 50lb test line. Take an egg sinker and put above one of my trotline hooks. I throw it out as far as I can. I leave slack in my line. I watch the line as it moves out when it gets moving good i pick up the rod and when they hit the end I set the hook as hard as I can.
Now how do you catch big catfish.
With this method I usually catch 14-20lb catfish.
Thx in advance.
Yea john i like that method the only problem is that the turtles eat all my bluegill.
The only kind of stink bait i have had luck with is dip bait
Charlie how do you use the circle hooks vie got no clue???
Your way of catching big catfish is a good way to catch them.
maybe use a bigger bream to catch bigger catfish.
You can also use dead fish as bait
here’s what i would do is take a barrel swivel, egg sinker for catfish, and 2 circle hooks, cut about 1 foot of line tie a circle hook at the bottom then about 4 inches up tie the egg sinker then 5 inches up tie the other circle hook and at the other end put the barrel swivel it will work and i would chum the place you fish for about a week then go fishing it will bring a variety of catfish to the spot but spread the chum out don’t dump in a single spot then use stink bait or shad for bait and there you go
Catfish will go for almost anything I have caught one with nothing on the hook but I have found bread works really well and is simple.
Live 6″ – 7″ bluegill, 11/0 circle hook, 3oz egg sinker, 65lb braid, heavy action rod, reel that holds at least 200 yards of 20lb line.
big bait big fish
I knew you would most certainly get the big bait big fish bit, so I’m gonna go in a different direction with it. I like to put my hook about 1 1/2 ft above the end of the line, and then put a tear drop weight at the bottom. I use 20 lb test to give me enough strength and far casting capabilities. As far as bait goes, I like to use bream and shad. I also have some pretty good luck using livers. I keep my line tight and wait for the rod to bend. I also do most of my catfishing at night, and when I do this, I like to put bells on my rod since I can’t see it that well anymore. I usually get about the same size as yours sometimes they are smaller, and sometimes bigger, but always fun!
Good luck in your fishing adventures.
I use a medium length, heavy action baitcaster. Around 10 pound test will work but you never know when the Big one is going to come along. I use a heavy liter with a heavy sinker. About a foot lead to a over size hook. About 3/4 inch shank. On the hook I use little fillets of fresh sucker. No other cutbait seems to entice them. Where I live they go crazy for this. And we seem to get the best action after 9 pm in the spring/summer.
When I fish for Catfish I go for Channels. They seem to be more into the messy/terrible smelling stuff. I do use Bluegills for them but i use them as cut bait, not live bait. On several occasions I’ve pulled up big Channel Cats by cutting my Bluegill up then putting it in a jar of dip bait and letting it sit over night. It takes quite a stomach to put up with the stuff at times but the Catfish can’t seem to resist the stench of these 2 things.
For flathead cats i like using live bait like blue gill, shad, small carp or carp suckers, sometimes even drum pearch.For channels, and blues they dont care if its alive or not. I like using cut bait like shad or bluegill or whatever i can cut up. In rivers another good bait to use if you can get them is crawdadas. Ive had good success catching nice channels with them. Patience is the best thing to have. Ive caught flathead as big as 48 pounds. I have hooked a few bigger ones i believe to be in the 60 pound range but never got them int he boat, but they sure did pull the boat. In my experience with stink bait is that i seem to catch alot of pan sized one and not a lot of big ones. If you fishing a good pond with big channels ive had better luck with stink bait.I use everything fron 10lb test to 50lb test line. My main way to rig my line is egg weight, bead, then swivel then a leader i make with fishing line about a foot and a half and usually a #5 kahl hook. Hook size i use depends on what size of fish im catching. I like to drift fish in a boat if at a lake. The best time to fish a river in my oppinion is when the water is rizing or dropping at a slow rate and the water is real muddy churned up. A fast drop or fast rise in water seems to make the fishing suck. I also run bank lines if i have time to do that. I use pvc pipe, Cane, or willow branches. you shove them in the mud about foot and a half at an angle and use nylon string with weight and swivel. I winde the line arround the tip so the weight is just a little off the bottom. I like using live bluegill.Its best to use the steep bank side of the river banks to put a bank line. Near tree roots seems to work good or even near beaver holes. Ive caught alot of nice flathead this way and channels.