# fav tec for ice out catfish



## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

well now that the ice is coming to a end what are your fav ways to hook on to catfish right after ice out 
well mine would have to be fishing skeeter with a normal split shot and night crawler still fishing or slow drifting in the 15-20 ft range


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

in lakes i like to go to the back of a wind blown bay and fish the shallow flats where the dead shad are getting pushed into the corner of the bay by the wind. i use SHAD of course on a standard bottom rig !!!

in Rivers i use cut shad and fish the first deeper area below sandbars or fish the outside bends in deeper areas.


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## joadb (Feb 19, 2007)

cut shad is key to catching cats right now.


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## poormanspalmbeachfishing (Feb 19, 2007)

can large minnows / shiners (3-4") be used in place of the cut shad or chubs? i have no real way of catching any shad right now - so i guess these would be my next options - would i hook them thru the dorsal fin or the lower jaw thru upper jaw?


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

id use cut bait right now not live bait !!! but thats up to you, i NEVER catch any cats for about another 3 weeks !!! this year im gonna get out earlier so im hoping to catch some cats SOON !!!


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## poormanspalmbeachfishing (Feb 19, 2007)

yeah, just trying to think of some ideas - never fished with live bait much other than for bass in the farm ponds ive always used stink baits / night crawlers for cats. time to step it up and get to the real deal..


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## joadb (Feb 19, 2007)

natural bait is always the best option in my opinion.shiners will work right now if you cant catch shad,though not as well i dont think but i did catch them last year at this time on shiners.I fish with two rods and i usually hook one shiner through the thick part of the tail-one right through the eyeballs[they will live like this 4 awhile].let the fish tell you how they want the bait and ajust.


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