need catfish bait ideas

[osage outlaw]

I'm going to be spending next week at my inlaws lake cabin and I need some catfish bait ideas.  We usually use chicken liver and nightcrawlers.  Somebody told me to use soak hotdogs in garlic powder and cherry koolaid.  Does anyone have any good recipes for some home made bait? 

[madcrow]

I leave the chicken livers out in the sun for a couple of days til they start to rot.  Its a nasty stinking mess, but the catfish love it.

[Fred Arnold]

Best catfishing days I ever had was using grasshoppers although usually a little later in the summer. Also had good luck with pork liver that was left out to ripen. It's tougher skinned and stays on the hook without having to wrap.

[gstoneberg]

I used to take the airgun to a pond and shoot small frogs. Let them ripen a day and they work great. Go another day or 2 and they won't stay on the hook worth a hoot.

George

[PEARL DRUMS]

I spent a lifetime chasing those things around up here. They are my fav-o-right fish to catch. I have my best luck using bite size chunks of whole frozen shrimp. I have tried it all and that works best up yonder on all the lakes and rivers I have fished. Even the Great Lakes. I never did much up here with stinky stuff. Our channels prefer fresh bait competely. Sliced up bluegills work almost as good as fresh shrimp. I use a baiting needle to thread my 30# leader through my bait so my circle hook is right at the bottom of the bait, then loop it off and use a snap swivel to attach it to my main line and a 1/2 oz egg and bead.

[Rick Wallace]

I agree with pearl,,shrimp,cut fresh fish work well here,,cheese filled hotdogs work to. Good luck!

[bowtarist]

Get yourself some of that soft velveta cheese, and some cotton balls.  pull the cotton balls apart until they are loose and smash the cheese into the fibers and create a ball of cotton fiber and cheese.  The cotton keeps the cheese on the hook.  make a whole stash of them, put them in a tupperware or something and keep them chilled in the beer cooler.  Get yourself a cheap can of sweet corn and drain it.  Put a ball of cheesey cotton on a single hook and cover the tip and barb w/ a piece of sweet corn.  This is all that works in the pay lakes around here.  I stole this from a buddy, so lets keep it between you and me.  good luck Buddy, dpg

[JW_Halverson]

Ditto on the frogs and shrimp.  Frogs can really stay on the hook well, too.  A friend of mine racked up 11 'cats on the same frog one night.  Mind you, towards the end he was stirching parts together with a smaller hook and some light monofilament. 

Up here in South Dakota the channel cats are much more finicky, they rarely lower themselves to a stinky bait, preferring the fresher shrimp. (50-60 shrimp to the pound are about the right size)

[cracker]

I try to catch a small catfish and use it for cut bait. Don't scoff it works really well. Ron

[mullet]

 I use shrimp or squid. The squid stays on the hook good.

[criveraville]

Down here cut shad or perch works well. I had about a quart of snake eggs I harvested from my last snake skinning. I put them in a gallan bag with corn meal and coated the eggs well with the corn meal. It's in the freezer until I can try it out as bait.

Cipriano

[PEARL DRUMS]

I try to catch a small catfish and use it for cut bait. Don't scoff it works really well. Ron

Bullheads are as good as it gets for flatheads up here. They are tough and dont stop moving all night.

[Kpete]

A-1 on the bullheads for flatheads.  OR little carp.   For channel cats cut bait or dead minnows is tops.  Cut bait of carp or sunfish if they are not game fish and it is legal.  Bullhead fillets or stone cat fillets.  Fresh, not rotten.  Live minnows are good too.

[wasanchez]

Catalpa worms are about the best thing you can put on a hook.

Walt

[cracker]

Walt they are really good down here we reserve them for big blue gill, and othe big pan fish. Ronnie