# Catfish bait



## QueticoMike

I was just wondering what you all thought is the best catfish bait you can buy at a grocery or reatil store. Since the creeks are swollen still and I don't know if any creek chubs or shiners are even in my holes right now, so no cut bait. I thought I would see what you all suggest. I used chicken liver when I was a kid, just seems too messy and doesn't stay on the hook well, so I'm looking for something different. I have heard some people say shrimp or even chicken breast. Any ideas are welcomed. Getting tired of waiting for the river to go back down so I was thinking about doing some pond fishing while I wait.


Fish on.........


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## dinkbuster1

boneless chicken breast cut into quarter size chunks. the closer to spoiling the better (look for clearance items). i have used it side by side with shad and it outperforms the shad almost every time. 

theres also Jonny Morel hotdogs, big red smokies, anything with a high grease content. and of course raw shrimp but its rather costly. 

my favorite store bait is the boneless chicken breast.


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## Salmonid

If you can get to ponds and catch bluegills or crappies, those freshly cut up are golden as well. Dink hit it on the nail though, any meat product that is greasy will work fine and dont forget nightcrawlers. Always a good choice for pond cats. 

Salmonid


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## dinkbuster1

a little off topic but thought i'd throw this out there....

i read an article many years ago in a in-fisherman "channel cat" book where some university, and i think Minnesotta, done a study on why channel cats go crazy over chicken livers seeing how they have never encountered them in the wild. 

apparently chicken has an extremely high level of a certain Amino Acid that drives channels crazy, and the liver has a slightly higher level than the rest of the bird. 

i have seen all kinds of fish caught on chicken livers and you know its not on their regular diet either.

makin me hungry for some yard bird


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## HOUSE

I've been pretty successful using chicken livers on circle hooks in recent years. I usually pour the tub out the day before on my sidewalk, sprinkle them with salt and cherry koolade to help thicken them up, and then hide them from the animals overnight to let them dry out. If you don't have time to do it the night before, you can usually cut a strip off and poke it on your hook several times so it stays on. I dont mess with panty hose or bait cage hooks, just make sure you use the thick part of the liver.

Shrimp work great if you can swing for them...the oil spill really drove up their prices though. Cut bait usually gets less bites than liver in my experience, but the fish were bigger and usually blue cats instead of channels. 

No matter what I use for bait, I almost always bring some garlic to dip them in before I cast. Good luck with the stinky fingers  ...a few pairs of disposable nitro gloves from Walmart automotive section go a long way!

(as to the amino acid study, dinkbuster, I think it is folic acid. I wonder if I should shove a multi-vitamin or some leftover protein powder into my mix next time! I just might try that this year, thanks.)


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## River Anglin

Lil' Stinker catfish bait with a treble hook trailer. I used to get them at K-Mart when I was a kid. I think they still have something similar at Wal-Mart and Meijer. It's just a bulb that you squeeze a tube of stinky bait into.


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## JimmyMac

If You get fresh chicken livers, allow them to thaw and keep them cool before using, they'll stay on fine. I just bring a small pair of scissors and cut a nice chunk and run the hook threw it a few good times. If Your careful and don't mash it up, there is really no trick needed to bait up, just hook it. Thats how I've always done it, most of the time when I'm done fishing I need to smack my bait on the water really hard just to get it off the hook.


Very few baits work better for Channels in my opinion. Only thing I've found better is cut shad or creek chubs. Channels seem to prefer the oily/soft/fatty type of baitfish rather than the scaled type, though obviously You can catch them on just about anything, lol. Most of the time when I'm fishing for channels though, I'll be fishing for the bigger cats also, so once My live bait dies I normally cut it and throw it on the channel cat rod. Gives ya something to do while waiting on the bigguns.


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## OhJoe

All the suggestions already provided are right on. I have tried it all so far this year and the ONLY thing I have caught anything on is night crawlers....They stay on the hook pretty good too. Another option that should start working shortly is SPAM (cut it into chunks and freeze and it stays on the hook pretty well) and you can definately get it at the grocery. Good Luck!


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## jmackey84

th only thing i used last year was cow splean with garlic and salt, it may be aa little hard to find, the baitshop around here sells it but its not that hard to make, using that stuff all year worked better then the chicken livers i used, but i didnt let them get nasty and leave them out in the sun


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## JOE B

You could also try big goldfish. Many flathead river guys swear by them

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## wabi

Not "store bought", but last year I tried something different and had good success. The DRN stocks trout in our local lake, and they can't survive the summer heat. I'm sure the catfish take advantage. 
Last spring I had some freezer burned trout, so I chunked it up for bait. Caught 2 "fish Ohio" qualifying channel cats, and plenty of smaller ones on it. 

For "store bought" bait I've had about as good of luck with the chicken liver "dough balls" sold in plastic bags at WalMart as anything else. It works best in warmer water, though.


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## fredg53

Frozen Cooked shrimp from Aldis 3 bucks a bag good for a night of fishin I usually let em thaw the night before and or leave em out in the heat with a ton of minced garlic in a zip lock bag gets real stinky and works great I have some marinating in pickle juice over the winter cant wait to try it out


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## lumberjack

Unless your better half loves to catfish I would mix this up outside 
1 carton of limburger cheese
1/2 pound of hamburger
Regular box of corn flakes
1/2 can of beer { if you can pry it from your hands}
Some garlic powder
2 containers of chicken livers and use the blood only
1 container of Long Cut Copenhagen
Mix it real good and put in a coffee can with lid on and set it out in the sun for a day or two. The smell will take your breath and the cats.


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## ajangsta04

Liver is a good all around bait IMO. I've been messing around a lot more with shad (tends to get the bigger fish)

My 2 cents:
River - Cut Bait or Liver

Lake - SHAD SHAD SHAD

Pond - Anything with an awful smell


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## FISNFOOL

I use chicken liver. I do not let it rot to get it to stink. The amino acid in it is enough to work. But in colder weather, I cut a few nicks into it to increase the scent dispersion. Sometimes I cut a small pocket into the liver and push in some fresh chopped garlic.


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## fredg53

lumberjack said:


> Unless your better half loves to catfish I would mix this up outside
> 1 carton of limburger cheese
> 1/2 pound of hamburger
> Regular box of corn flakes
> 1/2 can of beer { if you can pry it from your hands}
> Some garlic powder
> 2 containers of chicken livers and use the blood only
> 1 container of Long Cut Copenhagen
> Mix it real good and put in a coffee can with lid on and set it out in the sun for a day or two. The smell will take your breath and the cats.


Oh I gotta try this one anything with a little cope has gotta work.


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## Evinrude58

My son tried squid recently and did really well with it. He said it stays on the hook better than chicken liver which he also uses.


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## mpratt411

I take my chicken livers and stuff them in panty hose then tie it off by wrapping thread around it. it make them stay on the hook great. I caught 6 cats lastnight on the same sack, all bullheads though i think im going to try cutting up some sponge and soaking it in a bowl with the chicken liver and trying that next,


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## Star1pup

ajangsta04 said:


> Liver is a good all around bait IMO. I've been messing around a lot more with shad (tends to get the bigger fish)
> 
> My 2 cents:
> River - Cut Bait or Liver
> 
> Lake - SHAD SHAD SHAD
> 
> Pond - Anything with an awful smell


I caught a couple gizzard shad in my landing net the other day and put them in the freezer. How do you use the shad? These are about 8" or so. I plan to use them for cut bait, but this is my first time to try it.


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## samfishdyt

Star1pup said:


> I caught a couple gizzard shad in my landing net the other day and put them in the freezer. How do you use the shad? These are about 8" or so. I plan to use them for cut bait, but this is my first time to try it.


I would lay the fish horizonally and cut it vertically. Maybe 1-2in depending on the size of fish you're trying to catch. When I fish in the ohio I cut the tail off, and beat the spit out of the shad with a meat tenderizer.


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## ezbite

gander mtn has 3" shad in a vacuum sealed bag, would i be wasting my money tryiing it? its not dried, its in its normal state.


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## rustyfish

I have used lots of normal cut bait and also larger fish cut (Carp, readhorse) too. I have had just as much luck with carp as I do shad or sunfish. One carp taken with the bow make alot of bait chunks. This spring Iv been using 2 bags of old freshwater shimp I found in the back of the freezer and it has been working very well, after I used it all I went to kroger and found shrimp on clearence but it didnt work out for me.


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## Star1pup

Rustyfish: Did you use the carp cutbait on flatheads or channels. I fish for channels and having a good use for carp would be great.


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## ezbite

has anyone ever had any luck with beef liver?


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## rustyfish

Channels, I use live bait for flatheads. I cut the carp into chunks the size I wanted and bagged them with all the blood and guts I could scoop up inside it. I Think I added a little chicken liver blood. Then let them sit in the fridge a few days.


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## KWaller

Besides the spoiling part


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## catfishnut

I never use store bought bait, 90% of the time I use bluegills, just cut a hand size bluegill behind the gills, cut open the belly(leaving the guts hanging) and hook it toward the tail. If it's a small gill(3"-5") I leave it whole, cut the belly half way up and tail hook it so I get a little action. This second way works great once the cats have started moving in. I also find that when fishing small lakes or ponds that spending some time catching gills and bass seem the bring in the cats looking for an easy meal.


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## FISHIN216

Shrimp.....period

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## Dave_E

Agree with fishin216.

Shrimp. Uncooked, leave shell on.

If you price it out, the 30-40 count are much cheaper than nightcrawlers.

P.S.
You can also use these shrimp for smallies. Rig and work similar to soft craws.


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## cat_reaper90

That shad from gander is junk it doesnt have the natural shad smell anymore and it floats so you have to use a good amount of wait to hold it under water. dont throw your money away just buy them or catch your own.


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## Fisherman123

to keep the chicken livers on use black string and tie it around the livers. works like a charm. just keep wraping the liver and it will stay on. you dont need to tie it off ether. i hope this helps.


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## Ripley

i have to agree with cat reaper on the shad from gander... i've used a couple of bags and haven't got a hit on them at all....


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## rustyfish

Dave_E said:


> Agree with fishin216.
> 
> Shrimp. Uncooked, leave shell on.


I Have never caught a cat on shrimp with the shell on, I have tried this many times just because i am lazy and it never works for me. I get them with the shell and take it off before I hook it. But this can be a pain if there are bluegills around cause they will pick it apart. I guess my channels have soft mouths lol.


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## carpslayer

Shrimp gets tore up by other fish before the cats find it! Livers work great if you can keep them on the hook.. also trout is a killer!!!


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## Catstobass

Take a string or something and wrap it around the chicken liver in the hook you don't have to tie anything just wrap it around and that should help with the flinging off


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## blc976

Its not store but groundhog and raccoon liver works awesome as well!


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## JohnPD

Raw shrimp or chicken livers work best for me for channels, never caught a flathead yet so I can't speak for them.


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## Silent Mike

my top 3


Fresh cut shad
chicken livers
secret 7 dip bait

these 3 have produced pretty much all my channel cats....the occasional cut blue gill will get a cat every now and again for me


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## Star1pup

Just the other day my boat was at the dock and I decided to throw a line out while I was sitting on it. No bait so I found some GULP! green wax worm things and stuck a gob on my hook. I caught a 21" channel catfish. Later I had no more bites so I grabbed another rod with a Hoffman spoon and threw it out and retrieved just for the heck of it. Wham! Caught a 18" channel on the spoon. Who knows what fish will do as this was during the heat of the day.


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## OhioCatter

Ok you asked from the store, here ya go. Wally World shell on shrimp (med $5.99) add a can of tuna in oil and let sit over night in the fridge. hen go have at it,it works great. Shrimp give off pheromones similar to Crayfish and we all know kitties love crayfish.


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## Jayhat

Buy one of those balls of rubberbands and wrap a couple around bait on hook shank. You can also buy stretch thread at a craft store like Michaels and wrap the liver a few turns with that.


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## Dawgus

I've been catching a lot with pork liver. It was dirt cheap at 89 cents per pound. (Got mine at Duma's in Mogadore) I just sliced them into chunks about 1".

At first, nothing would touch it. I noticed that after 5 minutes or so in the water, it had virtually no odor at all. I left it in an old cooler for about 2 weeks; still on ice; but just let it get old and stinky. I've been hitting channels every morning for the past 4-5 days on them now.


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## FlatKat

Salmonid, crappies are a ohio gamefish pretty sure they illegal to use.


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## pendog66

FlatKat said:


> Salmonid, crappies are a ohio gamefish pretty sure they illegal to use.


so are bluegill, carp and bullhead.... Just saying theres ways to legally use them for bait


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## FlatKat

True but it is stated in the regulations that bluegill are exceptable along with carp and other forage fish im not sure about the bullheads. the ODNR could be alot more specific about the legal baits in my opinion


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## cattin15

Any bait is legal as long as its of legal size for that water its being fished because you are technically possessing it. I don't know how that works for cut bait that has already been cut up. The only thing i would be careful with is using invasive species as bait. That could cause issues i guess

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## Burks

cattin15 said:


> Any bait is legal as long as its of legal size for that water its being fished because you are technically possessing it. I don't know how that works for cut bait that has already been cut up. The only thing i would be careful with is using invasive species as bait. That could cause issues i guess
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Correct. I talked to a warden the other day regarding this exact same thing. Said as long as it was legal size, legally caught, and not being transported from one lake to another, it's fine.

Guy sat there watching us until we hooked a cat, then came and checked our license. He was cool though. Said he enjoyed his AC while we were sweating. But hey......we were the only ones at the reservoir fishing. Not like he had a lot of people to watch or anything.


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## FlatKat

thanks for the info, wish that the website or the regulation brochure would be more detailed about baitfish.


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