Unusual Catfish Baits

April 27, 2007  This page has now been organized alphabetically by states.  Jeani from Modesto, California asked: "Is there any way you could make the listings sortable by state or geographic area?  I think that would be helpful, and/or at least interesting." Well Jeani, this is the best I could do with the time I've had lately. If I missed anyone's bait in the process of reorganizing, please and I'll add you back:

Alabama Al from Alabama says his best bait is fatback cut to size and sprinkled with garlic powder. Also pork cracklins when soaked in water over night as to soften them up for the hook Thirteen year old Jesse from Alabama catches catfish with lean pockets with mozzerella meatballs in them. Jesse's dad caught a 68 pound catfish ( he didn't specify whether it was a blue or a flathead) with pickled pigs feet. Arkansas Jacob Carey of Booneville, Arkansas writes: I caught a 37½ pound flat head catfish using Jimmy Dean Spicy Sausage cooked medium in a microwave. This will make it stay on the hook better. I also caught a  eight 5 to 8 pounders that day. Keith Bracy from Little Rock Arkansas writes: I have heard of a Mexican bar soap called Zote being used for catfish bait. The fishermen on the Rio Grande in South Texas swear by this bait. The scientific reason being that it contains lard. Zote can be picked up at many regular grocery stores, and can most certainly be picked up at any smaller Mexican grocery store. Scott Gregory of Alma Arkansas writes: I caught these catfish on a raw biscuit wrapped in a piece of bread with no weight, It was really fun to see them cats hittin top water. Thanks for the great site, keep it up. Click on the image for a larger pic. Arizona Jake from the Lake Powell area sent me this email: Hi, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Heres another good one. Strawberry star burst and one salmon egg knocks em dead in Lake Powell...dunno, guess cats like strawberries...has any one tried a real one??? Thanks Jake. John Eilertson of Arizona shares this: Here at Lake Pleasant, near Phoenix, my buddy and I tried EVERY conceivable bait recipe--you name it, we gave it a go, until we heard somebody mention "Chicken McNuggets." We thought, what the hell, and gave it a try. BULLSEYE!! California Amy of Sacramento, California loves catching catfish too: Buy that cheap Pillsbury dough (89 cents to $2) and right before you cast out, dip it in some tuna juice. It's oils adhere to the dough well. It seems like cats of all sizes like it, but the bigger the ball of dough, the bigger the cat. Works on carp too. I've gotten lucky using leftover marinated chicken from my chinese take-out too. Andrew McIvor reports his mother won a fishing contest at Clear Lake by catching a 13½ pound catfish with an inch square chunk of moldy swiss cheese. Bill from Lower Lake California catches his Clear Lake catfish with either one large marshmallow or 3 or 4 mini's. Greg from the San Francisco Bay Area says: I take the store bought variety of shrimp and soak them with chicken livers. The shrimp absorb the bloody aroma of the liver and it is a dynamite catfish bait in the slow moving waters of our own Cache Creek. I have taken my biggest fish with this bait,a 19 and a 16 pounder. Jeff Smith of Santa Cruz California soaks dry dog food in water for an hour then mushes it up with a potato masher and adds flour and oatmeal to make it into a paste (dough) bait. He says it's a killer bait for catfish and carp in the San Francisco Bay Delta. I believe him and intend to give it a try here at Clear Lake, maybe it'll outfish my strawberry doughballs : ). Joe Wakeman of Clearlake California says an old tried and true catfish bait is Ivory soap and I believe him since I have heard of soap being used successfully for cats before. Mark Seltzer of San Diego, Ca. relates the following: My friend Mark and I used used a mixture of chicken hearts and gizzards split in half, placed in a jar with some garlic(the minced soupy stuff you can buy at the store), and a liitle clam juice. Let it soak overnight. But get rid of the stuff after a couple days as it seems to become toxic! The Audio Wizard from Fresno California shares the following: A few years ago I catfished often with my grandfather. After cleaning our catch we noticed one of the larger cats had swallowed a chicken drumstick bone we had thrown out into the water earlier. Ever since we make sure to have at least one line with a chicken drumstick bone tied on to the hook. Wade from Morgan Hill California sent me this bait suggestion: I like lightly freezer-burned salmon roe chunks (they're no longer good for Steelhead fishing but cats love them). They accounted for a 9 lb'er from a marina on the Willamette River in Oregon and 2 over 8# from Anderson Reservoir in Morgan Hill CA. Well it's my turn to add to this list of unusual baits: I was fishing off my back deck this morning (November 12, 2001) with a Colonel Sanders Potato Wedge and caught and released a 13 pound channel catfish.....Catfish Ed Florida Geno Knowles of Lake Placid Florida caught an 11 LB catfish with a cooked turkey tail. Click here for a photo of the catfish Mark Siebenaler from Florida catches lots of small catfish with dead fiddler crabs that he gets from local saltwater bait shops. Rick from Land O' Lakes, Florida emailed this recipe: Kentucky Snake Turd: 1 cup of water add 1 handful of mashed up dogfood, 3 cups of flour and 2 cups of water. Mix in a bowl until it turns into a dough. Add a handful of wheaties, work into the dough. Now add some left over beef roast, work into the dough by ripping it apart and rolling it up until the beef blends completely into the dough. Roll into balls and let them sit in a warm place like your garage for 1 full day. This is great for trot lines, drop lines, and bottom fishing. It's my great grandfathers trick. Ive caught 20 pound flatheads, blues, channels and even gar and carp on this bait. Use light weight when casting and you should have no problem. ..Rick Georgia Chuck from Cartersville Georgia sent this: We caught these off of good ol' fashion beef stew meat from Wal-Mart. They bite this as good if not better than livers, shrimp, soap, or anything else I've used. I caught the little one and my 8 year old son Matt caught the others.We caught 10 in all, 4 were so big, they broke our lines. Matt let one go because he thought it was too small. In the second photo on the right is my 15 year old,Blake.These were the first fish he'd ever caught and yes, they were all caught on beef stew meat. Also caught on stew meat, Chuck's wife Wendy with a 4 lb'er and Chuck with an 8 lb'er:   John McDuffie of Ashburn Georgia sent in the following: The best catfish bait is pork or beef kidney. I believe they prefer beef. I've caught flats, blues, and channels on beef. Several 30 plus pounders. It stays on the hook well. I've also stored it in a cooler with minced garlic and had good luck also.. Rod and Jeremy Walker of Hartwell, Georgia caught 10 catfish using chicken gizzards, one of their wives purchased gizzards by mistake instead of livers and the tough gizzards were attractive to the catfish but they could not rip them off the hook and consequentially were hooked every time! Idaho Terry "Cheppy" Paulus from Nampa Idaho says her husband caught a 9 pound catfish with a piece of hotdog soaked in Pepsicola. Indiana Cody Hill from Indiana sent this via email: I have one of the most unusual baits you have probably ever heard of. Myself and 2 friends have caught a lot of channel cats on this bait in small ponds, White River and Lake Monroe. Ingredients: 1 can of tuna, 5 cups of mustard, 5 cups ketchup, 1 cup onion salt, 1 cup garlic salt, 1 dill pickle cut into chunks, 2 slices bologna. Mix all of these together and blend until it is almost a paste. Then on a piece of wax paper, form balls of the bait, size depending on size of fish, and put in freezer for about 4 hours. Use after taken out of freezer and go catch fish. We have caught many fish in the 1-16 lb. range. It truly is good stuff. Good luck everyone..........Cody Dave from Highland Indiana caught an 11 pound channel catfish loading his hook up with bee moths. David Riley from Montpelier Indiana claims to catch catfish with scented candles. He says the dollar general brand candles work best for some reason and try to get the candles that are colored red or yellow. Mike from Indianapolis, IN adds this recipe: Take the little beef stir fry cubes from the grocery store and soak in in vanilla extract. You can also use Jello or kool aid. I guarantee the cats will not get this off the hook. You probably won't be able to either, so bring something to cut it off the hook when you're done. Shaun from Clifton, Indiana emailed this recipe: This stuff works. Take 1/2 pound chicken breast soaked in Mad Dog 20/20 grape wine, mix in blender with 1 can of tuna (in oil) 1 bottle clam juice, garlic salt,red pepper,then mix with corn flakes and flour set in sun 3 days, put bait on hook and wrap with panty hose. It'll catch you a mess son! Theresa from Indianapolis Indiana catches big flathead catfish up to 27 lbs using a combination of branflakes, banana's, and  strawberry  jello which she mixes with lake water until it's stiff enough to stay on the hook. Kansas Trevor Williams from Wichita emailed this bait recipe: I know this sounds juvenile but it has worked really well for me for the past 4 years, it's a really cheap but effective stink bait recipe. You can use any size of container but I use a 5 gal bucket. You crack 3 eggs, add 1 cup of steak sauce, 2 (really) ground up hot dogs, a bag of cheese (you can find at any supermarket), (this might sound weird but it works) 1/2 cup of ketchup and mustard and 15 cups of flour, stir it until it becomes a paste (you might need to add a little water). Set it outside in the sun for 4 days, stirring it every day. This recipe works really well catching bullhead and flat head catfish. Take the paste and wrap it in tissue paper to make it stay on the hook better. Kentucky Andy & Clayton from White Mills Kentucky wrote: I caught a 15 lb and 5 lb catfish also bluegill and 4 lb largemouth bass and two logger head turtles using deer meat with a nightcrawler on the same hook. I was out of chicken liver so I used some deer meat that I was going to dehydrate and make jerky with. Me and my son had a blast fishing in grandpa's pond. 13 year old Brent Hall from Ashland Kentucky sent in the following bait recipes: 1. Thaw out some frozen chicken breasts then put it in a bag and pour cherry kool-aid on it and make sure its cherry nothing else has worked for me. It will smell good enough to eat but don't . 2. If you take hamburger then put some wheaties cereal in there and add some wet cat food then put garlic salt and chili powder it makes for a very good bait. 3. Now this is my best bait right here: Put 3 leeches on your hook then put a dead bluegill head on there and don't put it on the bottom or you won't catch anything because the leeches hook on to the bottom and if it's not on bottom then you'll catch one. Don Rogers from Kentucky lists his favorites: Elderberry Wine and raw Chicken breast  fermented for 2 days. Shrimp soaked in strawberry Kool-Aid. Hamburger and Wheaties with 4 tablespoons of " Lucky 7 " blood bait ( use rubber gloves). Salmon steak marinated with beer Here's another recent email: Hi there Catfish Ed, this is Christy Rainwater and Alicia Clines from Lake Cumberland Kentucky. We have been taking our husbands' fishin' at Sputter Creek Pay Pond and we have been catchin' some biggins' and out fishin' them (our husbands that is). We have been using fresh raw shrimp marinated in the hottest hot sauce you can find. This can be frozen for the next trip. James Wallace from Kentucky catches channel cats with raw Treat ( I guess it's like Spam?) Jason Runyon from Kentucky shares the following: Several of my friends and I here on the Tug Fork river in eastern Kentucky have caught good sized mudcats on  Big Johns baked beans, Wheaties and horseradish sauce mixed together....killer recipe for big cats. John from Louisville Kentucky uses chicken breast soaked in anise with cherry and strawberry jello then some brandy. John in Kentucky catches his cats with Wheaties mixed with a little raw hamburger and dash of garlic powder. Mark from Louisville, Kentucky emailed this unusual bait recipe: Microwave some chicken breast until done. Cut to your desired bait size. Soak overnight in anise oil (you can get this at your local drug store). My brother-in-law almost lost his pole to a nice channel cat while fishing in a boat harbor off the Ohio River using this bait. We've also used just the microwaved chicken breast with good success. Ricky Shrout from Bath County, Kentucky writes: I have been fishing all my life and I have discovered one bait that blows the others out of the water!!!  The bait is shrimp soaked in vanilla extract.  I have caught more catfish with this bait alone than all the others combined.  Thanks for listening and good luck fishin....Ricky Terry from Campbellsville Ky claims to catch cats with roaches, horseweed worms, chicken breast soaked in Jack Daniels, jar flies, turkey fries and maggots. Thirteen year old Anthony from Covington Kentucky adds wild onions, locusts and raisins to the list. Tim Ballard from Louisville Kentucky catches channel cats from one to ten pounds in Floyds Fork in Northern Kentucky using stale blueberry glazed doughnuts and Cheetos Puffs. Louisiana Fourteen year old Kyle Ducote from Louisiana sent in this recipe: I have caught many catfish using spoiled deer meat. I also catch many catfish on dog food soaked in shrimp scent. .............. Kyle. Rachel from Gonzales Louisiana caught a 2-pounder on a piece of raw bacon soaked in vinegar. Massachusetts Chuck Barnard of Springfield Massachusettes sends yet another chicken breast recipe: Just last weekend my friend and I had caught an 8 pound channel cat and an 11 pound channel cat on boneless skinless chicken breast what u do is take it out the day before u go and leave it in the hot sun all day and just rip chunks off and put on the hook and u are good to go hope everbody has some luck like we did on chicken breast. Joe Medici From Massachusetts sent this: My Name Is Joe Medici from Massachusetts and I won a fishing derby by catching a 10 pound cat with a  Slim Jim Meat Stick. Michigan Jordan Chapin in Grandville, Michigan writes: I catch my catfish with my magic scent.  Mix in cheese powder found from easy mac, chicken liver, garlic salt, tabasco sauce, flour, vinegar and lemon juice all into a blender.  Paste it onto fresh chicken liver and dry them in the sun for 5 hours.  Set them on your treble hook and git-er-done. Missouri S.Hunter from Missouri writes: Four slices of bologna, ½ jar of peanut butter, 1 egg, 3 slices of cheese and ½ pound of chicken livers....pureed and used as a dip for dipping worms. The first night I used it I caught a 12 pound blue cat and several channel cat ranging from 4 to 9 pounds. Danny Conway from St Joseph, Mo. catches many catfish using a combination of chicken liver, flour and some anise extract worked together till it doesn't stick to your fingers, guaranteed not to come off your hook. I received this via email from Zach Patterson, Alba, Missouri: I caught a 8½ lb channel cat on a dough ball I made that includes bread, wheaties, cooked manwich and baked beans. Later that day I caught 3 others, 1 being a 6 lb flathead and 2 channel cats. K Lanham from Sunrise Beach, MO sent this email: I'm K Lanham from Sunrise Beach, MO and here is an unusual bait for catfish, especially for Flatheads. I take a live bluegill between 2 and 3 inches and fill it with squeezable cheese.  Another good bait for channels are to use soft meaty doggy treats and spray some hot shot breath spray on it.  I've caught a 12lb channel and a 28lb flathead with both of these baits. Jake, 14 years old from St. Clair Missouri sent this: For an unusual catfish bait I take a 1½ pounds of pork pieces off some pork steaks. The pieces should be about double the size of your thumb. Put the pieces in a bowl add 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 1 cup of cheese in a can "squirt cheese" , ½ of a can of corn (drain the juice into the bowl), and 1½ cup of yellow mustard. Mix it well and let it soak overnight in a gallon ziplock baggy. I've used this in the Lake of the Ozarks and in our pond. I've went fishing with this 3 times and have caught about 20 cats with it. This works best for bottom fishing.  I call it Hog Hash. Well.............. good fishing, Jake. Nebraska .I received an email from Jordan Elfers in Wayne Nebraska saying he caught a 10 pound 12 ounce catfish on raw bacon. North Carolina Brad from Maiden, North Carolina sent this unusual recipe: 1. Some large shrimp preferably old... 2. Pour grape koolaid in a bag along with the shrimp... 3. Add up to 10 tablespoons of salt....less salt if clear water...more if muddy... 4. Squeeze 4 whole limes dry into the bag also.. 5  Then let stay in the sun for up to 9 hours.. 6. Then your done with the bait 7. Spread on a plastic stink lure....or just put on a hook.... Be ready to catch some major catfish........Brad Brian from Pope AFB North Carolina has pretty good success using raw chicken skin with a squirt of WD-40. Christian (11 yrs old) from North Carolina shares this bait recipe: In a 5 gal bucket mix 10 cans of the cheapest canned dog food you can get and 6 eggs. Let sit for one day in sun, the next day add 5 cups of flour and 2 pounds of chicken livers with blood, mash in to a paste, let sit for 2 days in sun then the day before you go fishing add 12 frozen ground up shad. I have caught 2 flatheads 23 and 32lbs and a 67lb blue! Dale Bradshaw from Ellenboro, NC uses bloodshot deer meat (damaged deer meat that must be taken from the wound area, this meat is unfit for human consumption and would otherwise be wasted) He says: "It is very good for catfish bait and stays on the hook even in strong current. I have caught 3-4 cats off of one bait. You need to cut the deer meat into the size pieces you would other cut baits. I usually package it in small ziplock freezer bags and can take one or two bags per trip." Isaac from North Carolina claims that he saw a man catching some big catfish in a stocked pond with mice. Zack Mock of North Carolina caught a 18 pound 3 ounce catfish with raw squid. New Jersey Adam from New Jersey sent me this: I have caught 10 lb catfish of all kinds on dried pineapple.  Weird but it works.  I live in New Jersey (you don't get a lot of catfish in new jersey). Adam Doyle Chris Farms from New Jersey says he catches catfish 10 pound plus with squid cut into strips and soaked in chicken liver blood at Maurice River New Jersey. Ohio 14 year old Adam Stevenson of Lima, Ohio says he's been catching "tons of channel cats" on 2 to 3 inch frogs, he says leopard frogs are best but bullfrogs will also work. He has caught 4 channel catfish over 25 pounds using frogs. Adam just emailed me some more unusual baits on August 18, 2002: (1.) Fresh eel cut into chunks works real nice(best on hot sunny days) (2.) Creek Chubs cut or whole, live or dead(best when drifted)--You can just goto any local creek and catch them! (3.) Pork brains if you can keep them on the hook,Keep them in the sun to dry them out!(Good fished anyway) (4.) Salmon eggs(Bobber fishing clusters) (5.) Sardines are excelent chum and flavor Bryon from Columbus,Ohio emailed this to me: Ed... one of the best catfish bait's I have ever used here in Columbus,Ohio is Cube Steak you get from your grocery store.. a little expensive at times but the big cats love it.. there are 2 kinds beef and pork I find that beef works better more flavor than pork caught alot of channels on this... Also have a doughball Recipe for everyone to try.... NO certain amount of any one of these items but i mix Wheaties....peanutbutter.. and pepsi.... and have also had alot of success here in the local river with that combo...thanks alot Bryon from Columbus,Ohio Eric Guess from Athens Ohio uses chunks of beef liver soaked in butter flavored crisco. He puts it in the microwave untill the shortening melts and then lets it soak overnight. Greg age15 from Lancaster Ohio caught a 10 pound blue on limburger cheese mixed with raw hamburger and flour. He says make a doughball out of it and you will use it every time after you see the results. If anyone catches cats on this, email him and tell him how you like it rapen61@aol.com Here's a couple from Martin in Ohio: I've got 2 for ya, I use chicken breast with strawberry koolaid and a nice big shot of Jim Beam Whiskey. The second is chicken breast with Baitmate Real Craw Attractant, let them both soak overnight and get ready a feeding frenzy. I fish for cats at Taylorsville Lake, The Ohio River, and a few farm ponds. Both of these work great....Martin James of Eastern Ohio writes: I have caught a nice 12 pound channel cat out of the creek close to my house on bbq rib shaped patties made out of pork. You can buy them at any local grocery store, in some stores they are called rib-quicks but may be called something else where ever you may be... Cut them into 1 inch by 1 inch chunks and cast them very gently. I have found they work best on creeks, ponds, and small fast flowing rivers.. Lee From Lancaster Ohio sent this: One night we were using our usual bait (chicken livers) and ran out, we went to the car looking for ANYTHING and low and behold we found a small block of Velveeta cheese.  In the chicken liver tub we mixed the cheese and the leftover liver "juice" and...well...cigarette butts (for texture and staying on the hook) and we caught a ton of small muds and channels on this, personally I think it was the cheese but we never have tried just plain cheese and the butts really, really helped keep them on the hook! Tom from Ohio shares this recipe:  Gutterballs: Tuna (canned or fresh), molasses, vanilla extract, hotdog, cream cheese, broken up hot dog buns and/or hambuger buns ( Im sure any kind of bread will do), limburger cheese, american cheese, flour. Combine this monstrosity, into a thick disgusting sludge.  Let it sit out in a closed and completely sealed ziplock bag in the warm sun for at least 12 hours. Click on the image on the right for a larger photo of a nice flathead cat that Tom caught with "gutterballs" T-Rav from Ohio emailed this one: Me and my buddies catch channel cat all the time off of little cheddar smokies, the tiny smoked sausages stuffed with cheddar cheese. Occasionally we catch a nice shovel or blue, but it seems the channel get to it first. Thanks and good luck..T-Rav. Oregon Bill from Oregon fishes the Snake River and catches lots of cats with large crickets. Pennsylvania Chris Cirillo from Pennsylvania caught this 26 inch, 9¼ lb catfish with feeder goldfish. Before you try them for bait, check you're state and local regulations as they are illegal as bait in many areas. Jason from Pa. uses peanut butter bread dipped in chicken liver juice. Marc Gibbas from Philadelpia PA sent this email: Liverwurst soaked in chicken liver juice works really well. Add flour to make it stiffer to stay on the hook. I caught a 15 lb channel catfish using this bait......Marc. Nate, 18 years old  from Perkasie, PA emailed this recipe: I caught monster cats on the Nock with this recipe. I don't have the measurements of the fish but they were huge. 1 can tuna whatever brand you have, it doesn't matter. 2 cups Alpo dog food (the dry kind), grease from bacon (optional, just happened to have bacon for breakfast), rotten banana peel, half cup coffee grounds, 2 eggs stirred up like you were gonna scramble them with a bit of veggie oil, mix together thoroughly, should make a dough kinda like roll out cookies. You need to blend the tuna and now banana peel. If too dry add more grease or oil, preferably grease. If it's too wet add more dog food. Good luck and good fishing.~Nate. Tennessee Chris from Knoxville Tn. sent this one: Hi my name is Chris and I'm a Security Guard who fishes in Knoxville Tn. I came up with a new pickled hotdog bait; that works well for cats in the 2-8 pound range: You take a un-clean mayo jar large (mayo helps), and fill half way with hotdogs cut into 1/2 inch pieces, then add sardine oil from one can of sardines,  one tsp vinegar,  oils from one can of tuna, oil from one can of anchovies, one medium shrimp whole, one pack of powder cheese from mac& cheese, one tsp garlic powder, one spoon red jello and a couple of drops of anise oil. Seal and let set in bottom of refrigerator for 2-3 weeks then go get em. When the hotdogs are gone you can use the oils left over, put any bait on the hook and dip it in the oils just as good, Enjoy Frank Wilkerson of Nashville TN relates the following: A couple of years ago in a catfish tournament my partner and I had an accident in which a can of cherry cola rolled into a bag of shrimp. As my partner began to catch fish after fish on his bright pink shrimp it didn't take long for me to make the switch. But more important than the bait is the hook. A cat will hook it's self on a sharp hook. don't spare at the point! Larry Hudson of Dyersburg Tn. says: We use shorty party hot dogs cooked with garlic we have caught up to 70 lb with these. Leo from Tennessee's newest hot bait for 2004 is shrimp dusted with garlic powder-and a small drop of liquid cinnamon, he's caught 3 catfish over 30lbs so far. His son Ron suggests the following: Form a cotton ball the size of a dime up to a quarter. then coat the balls with silicone, red clear or blue, you will have to do this 1/2 a ball at a time.Now you can attach the balls to a few hooks using a touch of silicone if you'd like, now for the scent.. use an old hypo outfit and needle to inject liver blood..shrimp juice from a frozen pack or any thing that stinks especially cimmamon flavoring or even vanilla extract. By making 2 small holes in the silicone bubble you have a cat bait that leaks all day long in the water and never comes off. You can even squeeze out the left overs and reinject it again next trip out-we are using some that have made 4 trips out fishing. Texas Ben from Dallas Texas writes: I catch many 10lb channel cats on Kraft's garlic cheese spread. Sometimes I put any type of meat like porkchops or hotdogs or chicken from my moms chicken casserols with the garlic cheese spread on top. I always have better luck with the garlic cheese spread because I think it disintegrates gradually and acts as chum. Doug Eason from Duncanville TX sent this tip: I have caught several nice channel cats on raw pork and garlic powder, cover the pork steak or pork chop or any other cheap cut of pork with the powder and let it set in the sun for 6 to 8 hours. It smells really bad but works really well and be sure to take a knife to cut the bait off the hook because it will not come off  good luck and good fishing. Francisco from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas catches lots of big catfish with chicken gut marinated in vanilla. George from Lake Tawakoni Texas uses a bait made of cattails, peanut butter, maple syrup, garlic powder and cheese to catch channel cats during the warm weather months. Jarrod from Central Texas catches lots of big flathead catfish with this recipe: He mixes eggs, flour, bananas, lunch meats, peanutbutter, cornmeal, Big Red Soda Pop and a little garlic and makes it into doughballs. Mark Merchant from Texas catches lots of cats with catabla worms and has caught many cats with sow bugs (pill bugs) in their stomachs. Mike from Cleveland Texas shares his secret: You wont believe what cat food will do.. get the cheap dry kind and use the ones that have the circle shape with a hole, slip several on your hook (hole is small so you may have to work them on carefully.. we were pulling the catfish out faster than we could take them off the hook...Mike Mike from Fort Hood, TX sent this email: After reading the one from the guy in Afghanistan, here is one I formulated called Mess Hall dough bait. I caught 6 and 7 pound cats, carps, and whatever else in Saddams Lakes on Camp Liberty/Camp Victory outside of Baghdad. Here is the recipie, get two "To Go" Boxes from the chow line, fill one small compartment with grated cheese and the other compartment with bacon bits from the salad bar. Add eight slices of bread (wheat works best), then spoon in about 4 or 5 heaping spoons of boiled eggs. Take it out of the mess hall, go to your tent, mix it all together until you get a good dough consistency. Let it sit on the hood or back of the hummer during the afternoon (cooks it up real good especially in August). Put on a treble hook and have fun. Those insurgent fish dont know what hit them......Mike, Fort Hood, TX Rdzlucy@aol.com has caught catfish up to 65 pounds in the Rio Grande with a combination of ground beef and parmisan cheese. Russell Cryer of Hico, Texas says the best bait for channel cats is snails (shell removed), they are good for muddy water or clear and they stay on the hook very well. Thirteen year old Kody from Floydada, Texas and his friends catch channel cats and mud cats with rabbit meat. George from Texas__Colorado River between Lake Buchanan and Lake LBJ: After running out of meal worms for panfish, my kids used assorted fruit jelly beans to get a few 4-5 lb cats. Utah Steve from Corrine Utah near the Bear River writes: My brother-in-law and I have been catfishing this river for several years. We've always used chicken livers and/or night crawlers in the past, but this year we hit upon a real winner.  You go out the morning or afternoon before, and catch as many carp as you might need. Here in Utah, carp are a non-game species, so there is no limit. Gut the carp and save both the guts and as much of the meat as you want. If you have a strong stomach, let it sit in the sun for several hours in a closed container. If not...refrigerate it.  We've yet to find a bait that gets more hits. It's the soft part of the guts that they like, they will ignore the gills. However the gills have some cartilage in them that holds to the hook very well. So we feed the softer stuff onto the hook and follow it up with the gills right at the barb. Makes it harder for the cats to steal the bait. They seem to work well either when fresh or left to "ferment" for a day or two. I prefer them fresh for my own noses sake, but the cats will eat them either way. The meat works also, but not as well on it's own. If you store it in the same container as the guts, it will work pretty well and stays on the hook extremely well.  As a stand-alone bait, especially when fresh it's not as effective. Virginia Mike Corder of Virginia writes: I fish small lakes around wise VA. I have good luck using chicken livers soaked with soy sauce. I soak them for at least an hour then I spray them with garlic&salt fish attractant that you spray on plastic bass lures after I put them on my hook, I also do good with 1 pack hot-dog weenies cut up into 1 inch chunks put in container then put just enough water to cover the weenies then use cool_aid brand strawberry cool_aid  no other brand has worked. use the whole pack let it set for at least an hour then your ready to fish. My biggest is 18lb channel cat that I got this year in South Carolina on Lake Moultre using my hot-dogs but that is small for that lake. Sean Kim of Fairfax, Va. writes: I caught a nice 20 pounder on a breadstick from a local pizza joint........Sean Kim Washington Keith from South Eastern Washington uses stir fri steak cut into bite size chunks on a size 4 hook and catches lots of cats in the Snake River. West Virginia Andy from West Virginia (Iraq & Afganistan right now) shares his baiting secrets: Ok heres one for ya.....currently in Afghanistan but live in West Virginia near Big Sandy and Ohio River . ok heres what to do, go to the store buy chicken liver fresh and cold, case of budlight  ... and buy a variety pack of flavor-aid.....not kool-aid.......its much cheaper if your poor anyhoo it works better than kool aid ....grab a stick......take a whole package and mix it up good...not stirring too hard cause of tearing the liver...caution will stain the shirt your wife just bought you....(the beer is for drinking)  ...bait hook and its on!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now with the variety pack you have like 6-8 flavors...but the only two that I have found effective were cherry.......and lime......the lime flavor aid always seemed to take a lil longer but within in 25-40 minutes man I have caught some nice ones......the cherry always catch some they seems to be smaller though.....I took my brother in law and we went fishing..ok hes old fashion just good ole worms or plain jane liver.............well he fished for a few hours and he caught nothing....I had already landed 2 ,,,lost one and broke my 20# test on one........well to say the least he always buys the liver and calls me to get the flavor-aid.........he ended up catching more than me that night................hey guys I cant be fishing for a while due to I'm in Iraq and Afghanistan, but when your out there on the bank or on the boat...just thank a soldier or airman that you're able to fish with out worrying about some crazy terrorist coming up and doing a suicide bombing.........have fun this spring and summer..............Andy from WV.........    andyblake@gimail.af.mil   feel free to send me pics guys of some nice ones you've caught.......later Jeff Dillon of Huntington West Virginia catches catfish up to 20 pounds with french fries from McDonalds. I guess they like the grease. Vesper Hanshaw of Summersville WV has a few to add to the list: "I like your list, but I have some additions: live goldfish, the bigger, the better,will nab you large flat heads, especially in summer months. Canned cat or dog food, tied in 4''x4'' pieces of pantyhose. It is best to weave the hook through the hose several times. This brings in the BIG CATS!!! both my son and myself have caught record cats with this , also it works in both rivers & lakes. Licorice candy whips, red or black,ensures a cooler full of small (pan size) channel cats. Groundhog liver, is cheap & sometimes free & is great for channel cats!" Unknown Locations C. Irwin has caught several cats up to 10 pounds using sour dough french bread. Chad claims that a friend of his caught a 68.10 oz bluecat with raw hamburger mixed with shredded wheat. Eric Schaeffer claims to have caught a 14 pound catfish with a chunk of Milky Way candy bar. Here's an email I received recently: My name is Ben Woodruff, I'm 17 and have been fishing cats since I was old enough to cast. One time a fish took the chicken livers I had on there so I took a piece of big red gum out of my pocket. Still in the wrapper and I rolled it up and tore back some of the paper in the middle and stuck the gum right to my hook and amazingly pulled in a cat within a few minutes. It was only a 4 pounder but hey if I can catch a fish with big red gum it works for me. Kristof Tigi claims to catch his catfish with saltwater taffy and bubble gum. (I suppose it's possible : ) Patrick Thibodeaux caught a 7 pound catfish with a hunk of pepperoni stick. Shane Pawich claims that he catches most of his catfish with winter green Beach- Nut tobacco, he puts it in netting from old nylon stockings. I guess the catfish aren't aware of the health warnings on tobacco. Ty Freeman has caught several channel cats in a farm pond with candy gummy worms.

If anyone catches a catfish on an unusual bait that is not already listed on this page,
and include your name and where you're from and I'll add it here.

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