# Anybody Know the Secret?



## Bubbathegimp (Jul 20, 2008)

Several years ago I was at a lake in ky. NOBODY was catching anything all night/morning, till a kid comes by and starts tearing up the lake with a jar of penrose hot sausages.

I've tried them a couple of times and not gotten so much as a nibble.

Dunno if there was something added to the sausages, If maybe the were "left out" a few days or what....

It was early in the season though........


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

Who knows with that stuff. There are so many different things you can use to catch catfish, and then on top of that its like you said, they might have let them sit in the sun for a few days or buried them for a month...haha who knows.

Catfish are sensory fish they like the "stinky" or oily stuff. Also though maybe it was just something new for the fish and thats what made them bite it. There have been days that I can't catch cats on shad, but strawberry chicken breast would.


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## AkronCATS (Nov 5, 2008)

My guess is that the kid with the sausages had a better spot to catch them in that anyone else. Maybe a deep hole or a sunken log etc.


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## ChrisB (May 13, 2004)

Yes I have slayed them too with sausage and especialy hot dogs. Take a piece of sausage, put it on your hook. Then heat it up with a lighter. I ran out of warmouths one night and we brought some italian sausage to eat. I figured what they heck and threw it out there. Suprisingly I caught a 17 pound shovelhead. I always have luck with kahns hot dogs as do a lot fo people who fish smaller lakes and ponds. Thats the trick. They dont work in rivers and large lakes. Its all of that grease and guts they put in those things. Ever wonder what a hot dog is made of? I'm sure most of you have heared back in the the early 1900's commercial catmen used chunks of ivory soap. Now this soap is different than what is made now. It contained a lot of animal fat. Grease=fish. Heck, Ive caught channel cats off of corn, trout powerbait, lures, you name it. Then again theres bbeen nights when Ive had live shad, fresh skipjack, live chubs, wormouths, largemouth bass and mullets and haven gotten a bite. Catfishing is a world of patience. Also trial and error.


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## striperswiper (Oct 14, 2008)

I Have Caught Plenty Of Catfish on PowerBait In The Winter Fishing For Trout Ive Caught thm on Roast Beef,Ham,DoughBalls,ChickenSkin, You name It You Can Probly Catch Cats On Anything you throw in they will eat just about anything they can get in their mouth the Key Is attracting them ive found fishing small rivers(Hocking,Shade)And Small lakes 500acers-ive found that bacon,mushrooms,chunks of raw hamburger,and of course shrimp work the best That Is My Oppinion


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

They will eat just about anything, Ive even heard of using marshmallows on catfish......go figure. Still nothing I have seen will catch as many as a 2-3 inch sunfish ( live and wigglin ) on the bottom with a slip sinker. Ive always used chicken livers if no sunfish are available. These days though I dont like to fish for cats but always catch them by accident while trying for perch or crappie.


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## Catman63 (Aug 25, 2008)

They'll bite on almost anything for sure. Many years ago some friends and i were catching channel cats left and right out of Darby Creek on Chicken Liver. We ran out of liver and had to improvise...and continued catching them on pieces of paper towels dipped in the liver juice and rolled into small spitwad sized balls. Ya never know.


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

I was in NC a while back and talked to a wildlife officer.....said he watches the same guy year in and year out sllaaayyyyyy monster cats.....finally asked the guy what he was using and he would take boneless skinless chicken.....either buy new or ask the meat dept. at your local store and they sometimes will save chunked up pieces they would throw out.....cut them up into nuggets.....put them in a plastic bowl and spray em down with WD-40. Put it out in the sun for 12 hours and put it too use....obviously you need to check the regulations on where you fish because of techincally putting chemicals into the water....obviously in a ridiculously small amount but just to be sure. Im yet to try the method but might do so this summer....
also another thing people do wrong...is use too large of a hook....smaller the better....plus less likely to cast out and lose your bait!!! goodluck!


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## CloudyWater (Oct 11, 2008)

We've used about everything out there while Cat hunting my personal favorites are:

cooked hotdogs soaked in red koolaid mix

salad shrimp

hickory smoked bacon (raw)

nightcrawler soaked in scotch (my personal fav, but i have never caught a fish with it) I just like drinking the scotch.

anyways, it always seem to me, that the location is way more important than the bait. althought i do like mixing it up, if a Cat has seen a million night crawlers, i think you gotta better shot with shrimp or cut bait.


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