Catfishing...a new life

[BensalemAngler]

Chatting with my son last night and we were talking about fishing and he made a comment about wanting to do more catfishing. He is 5, and has never caught a catfish and has only seen 2 of them in person.

We are giving exams in school today so that means I have the afternoon off, time to do some learning.

I use a circle hook -- swivel -- slip sinker for bait I love Berkley's Catfish bleeding gulp bait. There was this place we went to at the end of the Summer called linvilla orchards in Media that has a pond you can fish. Stinking wife stole my catfish.

Any thoughts or details would be helpful. Thanks in advance

 

[Quackrstackr]

Are you wanting tips and techniques?

Depending on the species in the pond/lake, you can't beat good old chicken livers for bait. If there are a lot of bluegill around, they make it hard to use because they will eat it off of the hook about as fast as you throw it out.

If I am fishing a pond, I will use my light action spinning rod with a 2/0 hook and no weight. There's nothing like fighting a big catfish on light (or ultralight) tackle.

If I am fishing KY Lake, I break out the specialized equipment in the form of a 6' light saltwater rod and 80lb test line. I generally use live bluegill or various parts of gizzard shad for bait.

A good alternative to the slip sinker rig that you are using is to tie a bell sinker on the end of your line. Come up about 12 to 18 inches and tie an overhand knot to form a 4 inch dropper loop. Run the loop through the eye of your hook, run the bend of the hook through the loop, give the loop one twist and run the bend back through the loop again. Pull the line tight. This keeps your bait up off of the bottom just a bit and helps prevent fouling and snags.

 

[BensalemAngler]

Are you wanting tips and techniques?

Thanks for the info, I am looking for anything anyone wants to say.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Since I know where you are likely to start fishing here are a few DE River tips

Your rig is ok - just make certain that you hook size matches you bait size. I personally do not like circle hooks - a large J hook or baitholder in size 4/0 and above gets the nod from me

I use a fish finder slide to my weight - just makes changing sinker sizes easy. Use enough weight so that you line remains stationary - it should not "walk" much after it hits the bottom or you will end up getting snagged up. If you do get snagged up right away let it sit - sometimes the fish will actually pull the weight out of the snag


Liver works well in the river near you - just messy and you have to practice hooking it so it does not fly off. Use the largest chunk that you can - even a small channel cat has a big mouth and teh more bait the more scent. . .

Nightcrawlers, raw shrimp and cut bait (fish chunks) will also work well. I prefer to use live bait such as smaller bluegills or anything else that I can catch Especially where you are fishing using live 'gills will give you a shot at not only larger catfish but also striped bass and maybe a big old flathead. If you are really, really lucky you could even run into a sturgeon but those are very rare.

 

[poolie]

Hopefully you can get your son on top of some channel cats. He will absolutely love it. Ocassionally I take my nephew over to a small pond that is loaded with channel cats and on more than one ocassion I have had to grab the back of his shirt to keep him from being dragged in. Those things pull like a freight train.

 

[KMixson]

Chicken livers work well. They do fall apart easily. Wrap them in a small piece of panty hose to keep it together as much as possible. Chicken gizzards stay on the hook better, but are not quite as appealing to catfish although they work well also. If you are wanting larger catfish, use larger bait like cut bait, bluegill heads or whole bluegill.

I like a heavy slip sinker on the mainline and a stronger leader on about the last two foot. I like circle hooks because the fish tend to hook themselves using them. My large catfish rod has 80lb PowerPro braided line with a 130lb mono leader. I cast it out and set the bait clicker. When a fish hits the clicker will start screaming.

 

[FishinsMyLife]

I have found in ponds for Bullheads, a fillet of the preferred baitfish works the best. Chunks don't work as well. More scent gets put out by the strip I guess.

 

[BensalemAngler]

Thank you for all your comments, it has been very helpful. I am actually pretty excited. Its fun to try and learn new things. I am not sure my 5 year old will like it as much as he thinks. There seems to be more waiting around than casting and retrieving.

He fishes with mainly shakey heads and plastics, casting and retrieving picking up what I miss so I am not sure if he will be able to cast out and sit. Even if its for 5 minutes he always needs to be on the go, lol. We usally always have lunch when we are out I am thinking this might be a good time to set up the poles for some catties.

Regardless I want it to warm out, no ice, no snow, to spend time with him catching whatever makes my line tight.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I cannot sit still to catfish either - so I bring another light rod and catch anything else that might be around - you can usually pick of various panfish (Crappie, w and T Perch, 'gills, etc.) out of any catfish spot

So i kill time fishing by doing more fishing :LOL2:

 

[Monarkman]

Does anyone in here practice noodling for catfish. Being from S.E. Wisconsin I find this type of "fishing" AWESOME as well as it falling into the "If I did not see it with my own eyes I would not belive it" catagory...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=noodling+catfish&search_type=

 

[caten in wv]

i use liver and night crawlers as well i take a treble hook and prebait it i run the liver over the eye then put it in to the frezer and take them out when i am ready to go caten i just put them all on ice untill i am ready to use them it works well for us we do alot of flat head fishing with the liver and use the night crawlers for the channel cats last year my 11year old son got ahold of a 38lbs flathead and he was hooked ever sence and now my wife is as well so the nights of catching cats with the boys are gone well not gone just two more with us and if i have to say so myself i love haveing the extra company and she smells better to but cat fishing to us gives time to set and talk about the day and school and things that just come up and yall with kids you know that there is alot of things that comes up lol good luck and hope this helps

 

[Andy]

If he doesn't like to sit for extended amount of time, find some swifter water, use lighter sinkers and "drift" the bait through the faster moving water, I've caught lots of cats that way. You may get a few more snags than just sitting in deeper/calmer water, but you hook a 10 lb channel cat in some current, you'd better be ready for a fight.
And if the faster water leads to a deeper pool, channel, or an eddy that makes it even better. My favorite bait for this method is big ol' minnows whole or cut. The whole ones tend to catch some pretty good bass or muskie too.


Good luck!!
:beer:

 

[stinkynathan]

A good alternative to the slip sinker rig that you are using is to tie a bell sinker on the end of your line. Come up about 12 to 18 inches and tie an overhand knot to form a 4 inch dropper loop. Run the loop through the eye of your hook, run the bend of the hook through the loop, give the loop one twist and run the bend back through the loop again. Pull the line tight. This keeps your bait up off of the bottom just a bit and helps prevent fouling and snags.

Check your local laws on this. In some states drop shot rigs are illegal.

If it IS legal I'd also think about using a palomar knot instead of the overhand/lark's head combination as described. I'm willing to bet that the palomar is stronger.

 

[nbaffaro]

My most successful catfishing has been with live bait or from cut bait. Flatheads love live bait, channels and blues will eat about anything. Chicken livers are just about nasty, I used them once, but probably won't again. Best bet is to catch some smaller fish from where ever you want to catfish and use them as bait. For some reason shrimp works well too.

 

[BensalemAngler]

For some reason shrimp works well too.

Shrimp would work for me too. :LOL2:

 

[Quackrstackr]

Check your local laws on this. In some states drop shot rigs are illegal.

If it IS legal I'd also think about using a palomar knot instead of the overhand/lark's head combination as described. I'm willing to bet that the palomar is stronger.

Say what? :?

I've never heard of a drop shot rig being illegal anywhere.

Learn something new every day, I suppose.

What I described is not a true "drop shot" rig like you would use for bass fishing. You need the loop with the hook dangling away from your main line so that the catfish can suck the bait into their mouths. I can't see a palomar knot being any stronger than simply looping the line around the shank of the hook. There are no stresses involved in the line at that point at all since you aren't cinching down a knot.