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CATFISH
BAITS |
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CATFISH
BAITS |
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Crawdads
Crawdads (crawfish) are one of the primary food sources for catfish
in Clear Lake. At times live crawdads are an excellent bait but more
often the meat from the tail is the top producer. Just remove the
shell from the tail of the crawdad and place the white meat on the
hook. Crawdad tails are best used still fishing with or without a
bobber since they don't stay on the hook very well. They produce the
best results from spring to late fall when they are readily available
to the catfish. You can purchase crawdads at several bait and tackle
shops around the lake or you can catch your own with a crawdad trap.
Shrimp
Shrimp or prawns as they are called in the fish markets are a perfect
substitute for crawdads. Although I have never been able to get a
catfish to admit it, I believe they taste just like a crawdad to
them. Depending on the size of the shrimp and the desired size of the
bait you can use them whole or cut them in half. You can use them
with the shell on but most anglers remove the shell. Unlike the
crawdads you can use shrimp in heavy current or for long vigorous
casting or even drift fishing without fear of losing your bait. They
can be purchased in most seafood sections of supermarkets either
frozen or fresh. I sometimes soak them in crawdad scent oil but I
can't really prove that it helps. They work best from spring to late
fall just as the crawdads do.
Cut Bait The word cut bait covers a wide variety of fish baits. The most common ones that are used at Clear Lake are: shad, anchovy, sardines, mackerel and silverside minnows. Cut bluegill are rumored to be a deadly cut bait but since it is illegal to use them in Clear Lake I have no idea as to the validity of the rumor. Cut bait can be a fillet or a chunk, it depends on your preference. I use them primarily for drift fishing in deeper water since the cats are usually feeding on shad or silverside minnows when they go deep.
Clams
Freshwater clams are another excellent bait for catfish at Clear Lake
and can be productive year round. Fresh clams are more productive
than the frozen or processed ones but if the fish are on the bite any
kind will catch fish. They can be especially productive for pan sized
catfish when fishing at night in the summertime.
Worms
This category includes nightcrawlers, minicrawlers and garden worms.
Most locals prefer a gob of garden worms or if not available then
minicrawlers. They are highly productive in winter and early spring
when the creeks and drainage ditches are pouring muddy water into the
lake. The catfish lay in waiting for worms and other food to be
washed into the lake with the muddy water. It is best to use just
enough weight to drift along the bottom in the current to provide a
natural presentation. Nightcrawlers and minicrawlers are available at
all bait shops around the lake but garden worms must be dug up by the angler.
Live or Dead Minnows
Live minnows, especially large or extra large are a good bait all
year round. The only drawback (or maybe not) is that you will catch
as many bass, or maybe more, as catfish. Most serious catmen kill
their minnows just before they put them on the hook for this reason.
They can be used under a bobber in shallow water in spring and summer
as well as drift fishing in semi deep to deep water all year long.
Minnows are available at only a few baitshops in the area so check my
list of bait and tackle shops and call them to see if they're available.
I truly believe that a catfish (especially a channel cat) will eat almost anything that is animal, vegetable or mineral. Here is a partial list of stuff that I have caught them on; bread dough, salmon eggs, smoked salmon, corn, hot dogs, bologna, german bologna, salami, green peas, Berkely Power Bait Trout Paste, plastic worms and grubs, and even crank baits. Hot dogs are a very good bait for catfish at Clear Lake. Many fish in excess of 15 pounds have been taken with hot dogs. Another good catfish bait that deserves a mention here is cheese, just about any kind of cheese will catch catfish but orange cheeses like cheddar or american work particularly well. As I already mentioned, I have caught a lot of cats with plain bread dough so I'm sure a prepared doughbait will do well. If you use your imagination I'm sure you can come up with a few new ones.....Good Luck.....Catfish Ed. |
Here is a list of Bait and Tackle shops around the lake that can give you up to the minute information on fishing at Clear Lake:
Clearlake Outdoors
FASTOP (Live Minnows)
Glenhaven Beach Resort
Clearlake
Bait & Tackle If there are any other bait and or tackle shops in Lake County that would like to be added to this list just and I will add you to it in a day or two....Catfish Ed. |
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Stink Baits/Dough Baits Stink baits and dough baits are not real popular at Clear Lake. I suspect that this is because very few fishermen are familiar with them. I have only used them a few times. I have heard a few reports of large catches of catfish using stinkbaits in the spring and early summer. I continue to experiment with them but I haven't had much luck. I have caught a lot of nice channel cats using vanilla and peanut butter flavored doughballs while fishing for carp. George Glasgow of Montgomery Texas sent me this dough bait recipe: GM Fiber One bran cereal, bread, Big Red soda pop, chicken livers, squeezeable cheeze spread. Blend the bran cereal, the bread, the cheese spread and the chicken livers. Add Big Red until the right consistency is achieved. This will draw them out of a deep sleep.
December 1, 2003 Mike S. from Central Arkansas sent me this stinkbait recipe:
This is my dads old recipe, it's smelly but gooood.
Step 2:
Step3:
Also useful in removing unwanted inlaws from your home during the holidays.
Chicken Livers I just added this paragraph today because I have received several emails asking why I didn't mention chicken livers. I have never got around to using them but I do know several anglers that have good luck with them here. Several channel catfish weighing 20 pounds and more have fallen for chicken livers. One problem with them is keeping them on the hook but if you cover them with garlic salt and dry them in the sun for 3 or 4 hours they will toughen up quite a bit and the garlic salt seems to make the cats like them even better. Dusty from North Carolina says if you take an old pair of the miss's panty hose and cut into little squares and make a pocket out of this you can put it around the liver and it will stay on even longer than you want sometimes... Ron Brown from Asheville North Carolina wraps sewing thread around the livers to keep the catfish from stealing them.
March 12, 2008
Paul Sturgill, Wise, Va. emailed this tip for keeping liver on the hook:
August 25, 2007
I received this email from Brent: in California: July 26, 2002 Kerry in Dallas Texas gives a detailed answer to the problem of keeping liver on the hook: All you have to do is use a wire leader or a snap swivel and a #4 treble hook... with the hook in hand, (not snapped into the swivel or leader) push the eye of the hook through a couple of solid pieces of chicken liver, then gently place the hook into the snap of the swivel or wire leader. Snap it shut and hold the hook by the eye, next wrap the liver with about 18-24 inches of everyday household cotton thread. The stuff your wife sews your buttons on with. Wrap the thread tightly around the liver so that it cuts into it a little bit, and I guarantee you cannot throw it off. I've been using the method forever and can't imagine doing it any other way. You can even bring your liver in to check it and throw it back it out... it works that well. The only downside is after 2 or 3 bait ups you have to take a second to cut the accumulated thread off the hook with a knife. It's easy, it takes no prep. work (throw a spool of thread in your tackle box) and it's environmentally friendly...
December 27, 2002 Tom Radovich from Union City CA shares his method of keeping liver baits on the hook: The ultimate thing to use for wrapping liver baits on a hook is the wrapping inside of golfballs. It stretches and you can use a little or alot, personally I've caught many large catfish on 9/0 to 10/0 hooks with 3-4 chicken livers wrapped on. It's fantastic in waters with no current. Don't use any weight, big channels and blues cant resist it and you wont usually be bothered by smaller catfish. Big bait for big fish!
May 2, 2003 Don Rogers from Kentucky shares his method of keeping liver baits on the hook: I can bait up with chicken livers and make about a 40 foot cast consistently without throwing it off the hook. the key is to use them fresh from the market. I buy a fresh container still partialy frozen. Don't allow them to sit in the hot sun. Keep them on ice when possible. And most importantly don't tear off pieces of liver with your fingers they turn to mush. They also turn to mush after being in the sun all day unless kept cool. The best way to use the liver is to use a very sharp knife and and gently cut off 1 inch size chunks to use and never thread your hook through them more than twice. Just thread the hook through a chunk all the way to the eye of the hook and bury the point and barb into what is hanging. I have found that trying to put a hook through it more than twice results in bait being thrown off or it being reeled off. I have been catfishing for around 20 years and never had trouble with liver coming off the hook and I don't use thread or panty hose to keep them on the hook and like I said I can consistently make 40 foot casts without losing the bait. As far as bluegill stealing your bait, well I fish at night to avoid them being in the shallows. Here where I live, once it gets dark the bluegill fear for their lives and retreat to deeper waters to get out of the way of what I am after. Hope my tip helps you and anyone else that looks at your web page. Thanks, Don Rogers
January 2, 2005 I received this email tip with no name or location but it sounds like a good method: Use any paper coffee filters, take one filter and place the liver in the middle. I recommend cutting a piece of filter to the size of catfish your going for and fold the ends over the liver then just pierce the top where the folds come together and wala you've got an ever seeping bait which has a good texture and doesn't fall off that easy, especially great with chum and stink baits.
December 12, 2004 Joe from Tampa Florida shares this recipe:
Ingredients
(*=No measurement required; **= No measurement required, but use sparingly) Happy fishin, Joe :) Haftriniboi91@aol.com
Since I've been posting a lot of photos of catfish caught with strawberry doughballs I figured I better add a section explaining what they are and how to make them. I originally started using them as carp bait but I started catching more catfish with them than most fishermen around me were catching with more conventional catfish baits. A strawberry doughball is simply a doughbait flavored with strawberry, usually strawberry jello or kool-aid is used as the flavoring. A simple dough can be made by taking equal amounts of regular white flour and either white or yellow cornmeal and adding kool-aid or jello (in liquid form), then mixing it until it becomes a doughy mixture, then kneading it until it no longer sticks to your hands. You should now have a dough that can be molded into a ball and put on a hook like you would Power Bait trout paste or any other dough or paste bait. I usually make the koolaid or jello mix very strong (lots of powder to water ratio) in order to make a strong flavored bait. I also have good results with other flavors such as vanilla, maple and blackberry.
Stinkbait Recipe
Scott Jones from Burlington, Kansas sent me his very successful
stinkbait recipe: Get your liver cheerios out of the catfood and put it in a big mixing bowl (red cheerioes). Pour in the can of shrimp pellets......you now have two ingredients dry in the bowl. If you have 6 inches of ingredients...pour in 3 inches of water....and pour the chicken livers through a seive to get the blood.....mix it all up so the catfood is wet....DONT make it a paste...just add the water and blood and let it set in the fridge overnight. The catfood and shrimp pellets will absorb the fluid. Take your shad and put them in the jar in the sun all day...they're going to smell some kind of bad when you open that jar so you should do this outside. Next day...The catfood is mushy now because it has absorbed the fluid......put the shad in a blender and puree the dickens out of it until its nothing but fluid...no big pieces or bones you want fluid. Now you're going to have to experiment with amounts and exact measurments...i dont know how much of what...i just "eyeball it". Ok mix the stuff together...REALLY GOOD!!!! You will have a mushy mess that WONT go on a hook now....that's when the cornmeal and cornstarch comes in. Add the cornmeal and let set for about three hours...allowing the cornmeal to absorb excess moisture. You're getting closer to the consistency you want....now just a LITTLE BIT AT A TIME....because it doesnt take much....add the cornstarch...a sprinkle and then mix it up...a sprinkle and mix it up...repeat until you have the doughy stuff you can put on a treble hook.....good fishin.........Scott
Doughball Recipe
Trevor Shofe from ?? sent me this rather vague recipe. He says it
works really well for him: According to Trevor; "measurements are whatever you have". This makes no sense to me so I would guess you should use just a tablespoon or so of garlic salt and vinegar and mix with the rest of the ingredients until you have a stiff dough. I haven't tried this so use it at your own risk.:-)
June 4, 2007
Richard O. King (Indianapolis,
IN) emailed this recipe:
June 27, 2007 - 3 New Baits Chris from Tennessee sent these three:
1) Super cheese dough
January 14, 2008
Jeff Pierce from Wheatland California emailed this bait recipe:
April 8, 2008
Scott from Kelseyville, CA has an interesting bait system:
July 7, 2008
Will from Virginia sent this recipe: 1½ cups of flour 2/3 cup of water Some old meat such as roast beef,turkey,ham,bologna,etc...
2 strips of pork bacon
Take the meat and bacon and chop it up. Put chopped meat in a food
processor or blender, grind fine, let sit for a few minutes while you
mix the oil, flour, water and garlic powder until a doughy paste.
After you have the paste, add the ground up meat, mix meat into
paste, put onto a slab of wax paper, put that in a gallon sized
Ziploc bag. Refrigerate, let it sit in there for a few weeks. If your
dough is really loose, put in a panty hose and hook the panty hose on
a hook when your ready for fishing but if it is really pasty and
doughy and sticky and will stay on a a hook, you can also do that.
Warning! I would not make this
in the house! June 17, 2009
Kelly in Indiana writes:
That sounds like a winner to me...................Catfish Ed June 29, 2009 Dustin Dutton from Centre, Alabama wrote: Fresh Liver One whole container of garlic salt One whole container of red pepper
Just mix all this together and let it set for a couple of hours.
Some people put recipes on that i've tried and well they really
didn't work. This stuff we mixed together worked well, we had
people coming to ask if they could get some from us because we were
fishing everybody else out. It worked well for me maybe it'll work
for you. November 20, 2011
I caught a nice 26 lb blue cat on chicken breast marinated and coated
well with grape kool-aid! They seem to love it here on the Ohio River!
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