look at what this big cat has been eating lots of smaller fish I am removing catfish by the hundreds of pounds but still have too many. we have had two large groups catching them but still too many. be careful about stocking catfish

Those are larger backbone vertebrae than I would have expected... What kind of fish do you think that is(was)?

..... And what length was the catfish that this came out of?

I had so many big cats in my pond from the previous owner it was tough. We caught all we could with rod and reel but it was never enough. My pond was muddy constantly. This past year I started using trot lines and I THINK I finally have some control over them. Mine are breeding in my 2 acre pond. Last time I had the lines out, that's all I had on them. Come spring, I'll put them back out.

What did you bait your trot lines with to catch all the cats. I've struggled with trot lines.

I have found the best trotline bait for CC over 3 pounds is a small BG or green sunfish about 2.5 to 3 inches. I have done it in local rivers in the past and caught lots of them. Liver and such will get nibbled off by BG and turtles.

John,

I have found the same thing. I catch CC in my pond best on GSH and small SF. Problem I have is that the other predators, like SMB, eat the same things and I end up with gut hooked fish I don't want to harvest. Any magic bait that only CC will hit? I've caught CC on stink bait, crawlers, cut bait, etc. but not near as many as on live bait fish.

As far as I can recall, I have only caught a couple of LMB and one large crappie in my life on limb lines or trot lines. All the others have been catfish or long nose gar. Maybe there are not many LMB in the areas I have set lines, which was likely looking catfish habitat, which is different from LMB habitat. In a pond, YMMV.

We love harvesting our catfish via milk jugs. The younger kids like chasing the jugs around our ponds. We set them out about two hours before dark. Jug lines set 20-30" braided line 120lb test just incase they go under a branch. I use live bait for most 2"-4" panfish prefer GSF vs BG. Hooked just behind soft dorsol fin. I use over sized 6/0-7/0 circle hooks sometime offset.

If your wanting to try something other than live bait. Buy some chicken livers, lay on news paper heavily salt one side, the following day flip over onto a fresh news paper salt the other side. You want to then lay them on plastic mesh for the rest of day. Next day put in plastic bag and pop in fridge. Have chicken livers last months and become tough as leather. Catfish surely foul hook themselves trying to pull it off the hook. Especially with the gallon milk jug pulling up on the hook.

that was a ten-pound channel cat and i think that was a fairly large tilapia or bluegill. most of the catfish we catch have been eating fish. If you don't want to gut hook fish only use eagle claw barbless circle hooks which you can buy on amazon. the catfish are I think the reason my bass aren't growing bigger. we also don't have a surplus of bass and I think its because the catfish are eating them. we have too many catfish!

James,

I checked the forum this evening and thought there was something wrong when I saw this topic.

This was basically the title of my very first post on Pond Boss many years ago.

Too Many Big Catfish

It was only a few years after that when you provided coolers full of catfish, and some exceedingly sharp and fine filet knives, that we used at an early Pond Boss conference to teach people how to clean and filet them.

Although I'm not at my ponds much anymore, I still have my love-hate relationship with these critters. They grow fast with few issues. To me, they are one of the most versatile and delicious table fish available, being able to substitute for a wide variety of freshwater and saltwater species. But, as you and I know, they sure can make themselves very unwelcome as they become adults.

I had mine under control for a number of years. Unfortunately, I'm again dealing with some real monsters in the main pond. Mine know how not to get caught. One of my favorite neighbors, who has my written permission to hunt and fish my land at any time, let his niece and her boyfriend fish there a few months ago. He knows my rules, and has put similar rules in place on his farm. The kids (in their 20s) caught one of the monsters one evening. THEY RELEASED IT!

I've got a number of them in the +30 inch category, some that I'm sure are again over 36 inches. They take a real toll on every thing but my hybrid striped bass.

I plan to put the farm up for sale next year and don't know what to do with this particular pond. The big rogue cats have destroyed my pride-and-joy trophy bluegill. They have nearly wiped out the LMB population. The only good thing is that the black crappie that neighborhood kids snuck into this pond years ago, now seem to be gone.

I'm thinking I may drain and lime the pools of this pond next week when I get back to the farm from here in North Carolina. Then start over -- with only HBG and HSB.

Thankfully, I've the smaller put-and-take pond above this pond with very small numbers of channel cats, hybrid bluegill, hybrid striped bass, and winter trout. Everybody knows that any and all catfish, no matter their size, don't get thrown back. This pond is now about six years old. So far so good. Lots of fun. Lots of good eating.

James, I don't have any good answers for your dilemma. I can only sympathize, but on a much smaller scale.

Regards,
Ken

I like it! Kind of like making chicken liver jerky! When you are doing the salting steps, do you leave the livers out at room temp? Do you salt the side next to the newspaper or the side away from it?

I've found I have to change the bait up from week to week. One week livers, next bait shrimp, next small BG. Sometimes even a .22!

Ken thank you for the comments! I wish that i had read them when I was stocking my pond I would never have stocked catfish. I had read somewhere that catfish very rarely reproduce in a pond and are more of a put and take species that is easy to control due to the fact they dont reproduce well in a bass heavy pond. Wow how far from the truth that has been! they have really taken a toll on my pellets and my forage. We remove every single one we catch which really keeps the racoons and buzzards well fed. your right they are fun to catch and good to eat but they are very invasive breeders!

Bill, room temp is fine don't let it sit in the heat though. Won't find much left after those yellow jackets get to it. I tried salting both sides, but it makes it almost to hard to hook. You may have different luck than me though.

Thanks SB. IMO you are the man when it comes to catching catfish!

Since we are talking chicken livers, my experience is the deep dark red colored ones are way better on staying on the hook as well as tempting the cats than the light red, almost gray/brown, ones. Do you see the same thing?

I just enjoy the challenge I guess. Bill, I agree not ever piece of liver is the same. I usually have a knife handy if I don`t plan on harding the livers via the salt. I just pinch the livers with my fingers some seem more stable/tougher other parts just break apart.

I also use turkey livers a fair amount. I don`t know if you have used them in the past. Turkey liver is normally a bit more expensive, but tends to be larger and tougher pieces. I have yet to salt turkey livers, which may take less effort/time.

Thanks I will try Turkey livers if I see them in the store. BTW I tried beef liver many years ago and that did not work at all for me.

The "pro" or "semi-pro" catfishermen in tournaments don't use liver. Punch bait is far more effective on channels than liver, according to most experienced catfishermen on public waters. The site catfish1 dot com is a good site for catfish catching info.

Sounds interesting...but I admit I'm not familiar with punch bait. What's that?

Punch bait is basically stink bait with some kind of fiber, like raw cotton fiber, worked into it. You punch your line with a small treble hook on it into the bucket of punch bait with a stick, then pull out a gob with the hook, and cast (or drop) your baited hook into the water. I've used both CJ's and Danny King's punch baits. They work best on channels and bullheads of less than 5 pounds. Not so much on Blues or Flatheads.

Try using circle hooks. They should help reduce accidental mortality of non-target species.

Thanks Nebucks. I use circle hooks when kids are fishing sunfish. I never thought about trying them with baitfish for CC. I will give them a try.

Years ago we could go to the local slaughter house and buy beef blood by the gallon. Cure it with salt in the sun. Cut in strips. That was the very best catfish bait you could use on channel cats and blue cats!! Anyone remember doing that??

Thanks John. I've never seen punch bait in stores around here but I'll look for it. My favorite stink bait is G&S. If nothing else, maybe I will try ripping up some cotton balls and working them into it.

I catfish public waters almost religiously for catfish. I travel the entire midwest, southeast, and northeast for large catfish tournaments. Take it pretty serious. A few things I have noticed and key in on for tournaments:

Punchbaits work very well for small channel catfish but not for the larger ones.

All larger catfish of any species will feed on fish almost exclusively (as verified by that large vertebrae you got).

My suggestion is get some Danny King punch bait online. Set jugs or trotlines. Should get your fill of the smaller channels. For the big ones you need some good fresh oily fish. My top three (and really all I fish with in tournaments) are: 1. Mooneye 2. Skipjack 3. Gizzard Shad. I am almost positive you don't have mooneye in your area. I am not sure about skipjack. If you have them go hit the tailwaters of a dam and get a few. They get big and you will get 15 baits out of a single fish. They are super oily and big channels can't resist them. If you don't have a local source, your best option is to castnet some big shad. I find the fillet's work the best in colder water and just cut chunks in warmer water. I bet you can put a serious hurting on the big channels in your pond with some cut shad/skipjack on a trotline with a circle hook. I prefer non-offset eyes with a loop knot to the shank. Eagle Claw L2004 is a good hook and a cheap price online.

Hey Max,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like you fish for the big cats exclusively with cut bait. I can buy shad in bags but not live ones. Have you ever tried the bagged ones you can get in the bait dept of stores?

Bill D -

For cats say 8lbs and smaller I've found almost anything works - cheese dogs a favorite, cut fish, nightcrawlers, etc. For cats larger I've found fresh cut fish works the best. Crappie, bluegill, shad and trout. Catch the bait morning/day of, or if not feasible the day before and keep alive and then cut it before hooking it.

The favorite baits around here for big blue cats is cut shad or skipjack herring.

Bill D-

I do not use the bags you can buy. Tried them a couple times and fresh bait outfished it 25-1... literally.

I would go to a local lake and cast net some shad when you wanna set lines. Put directly on ice with a heavy dosh of kosher salt.

I do not fish exclusively for big cats with cut bait. I actually love live bait for the big blues and flatheads....but I wouldn't want to risk putting a live shad in my pond so I've make sure they were dead.

I make a trip every winter down to TN to stock up on skipjack. Usually fill a chest deep freeze full. But we go through a ton of work to keep them 'potent'. Soaking in a salt brine, icing, draining water, then spending a fortune vacuum sealing.

I will say that you need fresh shad/skipjack that have not been just laying in water. Drain that water and keep them on ice! It leaks the oils and blood out and they become really ineffective, really fast. People thing cats are bottom feeders but the big ones are very efficient predators. Have caught 50 pound blues cats on live bait drifting it 5 feet below the boat in 50 FOW. Seem them bust shad on the surface just like a big striper too. My number one suggestion is to get some really fresh shad and use those. I think you will be surprised by how much the catch rate will go up.

Thanks for all the tips guys. My plan was to get the CC out at 3 pounds or less but I fell down on the job of getting the angling done in time. Last one we caught this year was a 5+ pound bull. I don't have a lot left. Maybe half a dozen bigger ones that will be 4 to 5 pounds next summer and half a dozen that will be pushing 2 to 3 pounds. I don't want to eliminate CC totally from the pond. I would like to get all/most of the current herd out and then ladder stock 2 or 3 at a time just for a bonus catch.

I kind of did the same thing Bill. Fell down on the angling part later in the season. We took a bunch out early in the year and have more fish in the freezer than we will eat (maybe need to have a fish fry and invite some friends) and I was having fun catching BG so just did not get the cats out I anticipated. I'll blame it on Carolynn. She is the one that usually fishes for the CC and she fell down on the job. Kind of literally (had a knee replaced and slowed her down a little).

There is no chance of extripating the CC in our pond. I have two year classes or recruitment. Only a few of the larger size but I have caught (while fishing for BG) at least a dozen 6" CC and moved them to the old pond. Definitely not going to get rid of the CC which is fine. They are sure good eating and get a lot more meat from a 3# CC than a 3/4# BG.

Snrub, So the CC are reproducing in your pond? If so, did you intentionally put in spawning habitat for them?