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Match the bait's size to the fish you're likely to catch. In
waters where you don't expect catfish over 5 or 6 pounds, stick
to minnows or small chunks or strips of cut bait. Where bigger
cats are common, 4- to 6-inch-long baits aren't out of place.
Mash the head of whole dead fish so natural juices leak into the
water.
Night crawlers
Red worms are good for channel catfish work, but night crawlers
are better. You can buy them in bait shops or get you own by
raking through damp leaves in gardens, flower beds, compost
piles and woods.
"A three-way rig is my favorite night crawler setup. Tie your
main line to one eye of a three-way swivel and add drop lines 12
and 24 inches long to the other two eyes. Tie a hook to the
longer drop line and a sinker to the other. The sinker should be
heavy enough to hold the bait stationary on the bottom."
Another variation he suggests is to use a hypodermic syringe to
inflate the crawlers. Adding a shot of air in the body lifts the
worms up, making them more visible to catfish. Your sinker moves
along the bottom while your crawlers ride high.
Catalpa Worms
"The catalpa worm is the caterpillar of the catalpa sphinx moth.
In spring, the female moth lays thousands of eggs on catalpa
trees leaves. Within a few days, each egg hatches into a
caterpillar with a whale of an appetite for catalpa leaves. The
larvae grow fast and are soon one to three inches long and as
big around as a pencil.
"Slapping the leaves with a long cane pole produces a shower of
falling worms. Once they're grounded, they're picked up and
placed in a container with a few catalpa leaves. Catfish fans
like catalpa worms because they're tough and difficult for a
fish to pull off a hook. One worm may catch several catfish.
Once you've pinpointed a catalpa tree, you can gather lots of
worms quickly and inexpensively, another favorable
characteristic."
Blood
Catfishermen have long made or bought blood baits to tempt
persnickety fish. Almost any mammal or bird blood will work, but
most anglers use chicken or beef blood obtained from meat
processing plants.
To make your own blood bait, pour half an inch of blood in a
shallow pan, then refrigerate or pack in cracked ice until the
blood coagulates. The thickened blood is then cut into chunks
and stored in a suitable container. When needed, a piece is
pinched off and threaded on a hook.
Blood attracts cats quickly over long distances. Blood also
keeps indefinitely when frozen. Bait can be thawed and refrozen
as needed. Blood bait's most serious drawback is poor "hook
ability" it won't stay on a hook very well. Try wrapping the
blood bait in a small square of nylon stocking, pull the four
corners together, then thread the hook through the corners,
leaving the point uncovered.
Sutton readily acknowledges that other baits are effective on
channel catfish. "If you're catching catfish on a bait not
discussed here, stick with it. But when other baits fail to
produce, give fish, blood bait, night crawlers and catalpa worms
a try."
CAJUN MUD CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
in a blender mix 24 bad minnows, and 1/4 C of the juice they was
in along with 1/2 Cup parmesan cheese, 1 box cherry Jell-O 1/4 C
molasses, 3 Tablespoons of onion salt and garlic salt, 1 cup
bread crumbs, 3 Tablespoons of soy sauce, add flour to thicken
then work into a dough and place in baggies in 1 inch balls use
on a treble hook.
TRINITY RIVER CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
In 1/4 cup boiling water add 3 beef bullion cubes. after they
dissolve add 3 oz lunch meat, and 3 Tablespoons of garlic salt
and onion powder, 5 slices of bread, 4 Tablespoons of of melted
peanut butter, 20 crackers. Put it in a blender and mix. place
in sealable container in a cool place with lid on tight. Use as
a ball on treble hook.
JACKS CAT ATTACK CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
mix 1 lb of aged in the sun chicken livers and 1 package of hot
dogs together in a blender and mix. This may be best performed
outside or with wife gone. In a gallon jug place a half a loaf
of bread torn into bite size pieces, pour the liver and and hot
dog mix over it. add 2 cans of nacho cheese, 1 can corn, 1/4
bottle of Tabasco, and a dozen worms cut up, to the mix. next
get rubber gloves and pour this mixture out and knead good until
it gets thick and a dough like consistency. Store in the sun, in
a large plastic container, and handle with care.
CHICKEN LITTLES CHICKEN LIVER CATFISH DIP BAIT RECIPE
In a blender place a pound of chicken livers partially frozen, a
half a box of cornflakes, 1/2 cup garlic powder or two heads of
fresh garlic,1/3 cup of each: parmesan cheese-molasses-sugar.
Blend well place in small dishes and freeze what you don't plan
to use as this bait will spoil very quick. Best if used when
fresh.
SHADRACKS DIP SHAD CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
A use for the left over shad when you got too many. Place about
20 small threadfin shad in a blender with 1/2 Cup of cornmeal, 1
tablespoon each of garlic powder-sugar. blend well and place
this mixture in a jar and shake twice daily for a week and its
ready. Use with dip worms or sponges.
UNCLE DEWEY'S CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
Place about two pounds of leftover shad and a tub of chicken
livers with about two cups of bacon grease or vegetable oil in a
loosely covered bucket and allow to sit in the sun until the
shad liquefy.
Add about 6 cups of regular oatmeal,2 cups of yellow cornmeal, a
cup of brown sugar and a 4oz package of limburger cheese. stir
carefully but thoroughly. Return the bucket to a sunny location
for another week for more fermentation.
Thicken with flour or cattail fuzz for bait, or thin with water
for chum.
LEATHER LIVER CHICKEN LIVER CATFISH BAIT RECIPE
Take 2 lbs of chicken liver and 32oz. can of garlic salt.
Lay liver out in layers, sprinkle a hefty amount of garlic salt
on it. Add next layer so on and so forth until the liver is all
used. Let sit for a couple hours outside. It doesn't have to be
in the sun. After a couple hours take the liver and dump into a
bucket and start stirring, every 3 or 4 stirs add some more
garlic. Do this until you have about 1/4 cup of garlic left. Put
it in the garage for about 9 or 10 days, make sure its covered.
When you get ready to use it dump the rest of the garlic salt
in, stir, and go fishing.
The salt will make the garlic allot tougher. You can use a
single wire hook doing it this way. Instead of Garlic try Anise,
Vanilla or what ever you want. Just make sure you add salt because
this is what makes it tough.
CATFISH BLOOD BAIT RECIPE
Find a locker plant that will let you have a set of beef lungs
with windpipe still connected. Hang lungs up by windpipe. Pour
fresh blood into windpipe. When full hang in cooler until blood
coagulates. Leave in cooler 24 hours. Take out of cooler and
slice into cubes. Because of the consistency of the lung, the
lung absorbs the blood. When you put the slices on the hook, the
bait will stay on the hook, but the blood will still bleed out,
re-liquefying in the water.
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