Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Catfish bait

Someone mentioned useing shrimp for catfish bait. I did a search but couldnt find it. If you see this, please let me know do you fish it on the bottom, and do I leave the shells on? Thanks

Yes and yes Joey!

When I finally started using shrimp to catch catfish -- and it worked real well -- I cut several shrimp in half or thirds, and then threw them into the general area I'd be fishing. Then I threw a shrimp, with a large circle hook threaded through the shrimp, into the area where I threw the pieces of shrimp. I put no other weights or anything on the line. I then put the pole in a pole holder that was stuck in the pond bank. I let it sit until the line really started to zing out.

I believe the tip to use shrimp for catfish originally came from
Shorty and/or Bruce Condello.

I use a slip bobber with a 1/2oz weight above a wire leader with a circle hook. I try to suspend it just a few inches to a foot off the bottom but sometimes will suspend the bait just a few feet deep. I leave my line to free spool so if I get a hit I don't lose the pole. You want to use uncooked shrimp if possible and I don't see any reason to peel them.

Thanks, Bought some shrimp yesterday to eat so I figured lets get some of these cats hopefully. Thanks will be trying tomarrow.

Joey, I do it like the Cat Man says; no sinkers and no weights. Chum some pieces around the area. However, I hang onto the pole. Cats will often hold bait in their mouths and then start to move away with it. I like to set the hook myself.

I do not use the stuff from the super market. I prefer that they come from the Gulf(here) with a strong salt smell. Toss pieces around like Cat says.

It's funny to see shrimp as a new found catfish bait. They sell bait shrimp here in the grocery stores, still with the heads and legs.

I think it is best to fish it on the bottom, but I run a trotline in my pond and I catch CC on parts not on the bottom all the time because the way the line is strung along the edge of a drop off.

I used to drift fish at night along flat bottom lakes and used a slip sinker to keep it on the bottom with a shot weight keeping the slip sinker off the bait. And lot of people use a slip sinker all the time but no bobber, on the bottom. And I agree that the less weight the better even with a slip sinker. I guess there are lots of ways different people prefer. Catfish will play with a bait a long time before finally taking it. In my pond lot of times I think it is just baby BG playing with it until the CC finally decideds to take it and go.

As far as shrimp goes as bait it is my favorite. Bait shrimp is not expensive really, can be refrozen, stays on the hook pretty good better than lots of bait. I put the hook through the head then string it through the tail with the hook comming out some like one of the little legs on the shrimp. It is not messy or real bad smelling either. And overall I think the catfish like it better most of the time over other baits.

These are good tips for catching catfish. Thanks guys for sharing.

Hey guys,

I did some on the water research this year on CC bait. I take a lot of people fishing that have no fishing experience. I found that using Sonny's dip bait with a loopers rig was by far the best bait to use with inexperienced anglers. One split shot, no bobber.

I could not get enough bites and hookups with shrimp. Other stinkbaits and other tubes, sponges, etc did not work nearly as good.

When I fish in the Gulf of Mexico, I almost exclusively use shrimp for bait right off of the beach. Redfish, flounder, whiting, sheepshead, speckled trout, black drum, sail cats and even sharks love to eat shrimp.

My dad and I used shrimp and/or catalpa worms running trot lines when I was a kid. Sometimes they loved the shrimp, sometimes they wouldn't touch it. Always caught them with the worms(caterpillars). Sometimes caught them close to bottom, sometimes always caught them near the ends of the lines tied to stumps. Point is, if you dont get a bite, move it to a new place, and change depth.

We have switched to squid. I use a float 30-36" deep and let it drift around. Sometimes the BGs bounce it around, a CC sees the commotion, investigates, the BGs disperse and a blob of stinky squid sits in waiting. HSB will also bite on it. Seems to hold up longer and we let the float disappear for 10 seconds before picking up the rod.
edit a local store sells a 2# box for $8.00 enough for several outings. Let it thaw and refreeze for enhanced odor...lol

Gave shrimp a try today. Tryed a few spots with no luck. Threaded the shrimp on the hook weightless. I then set the bait under where I was feeding the fish. The water is cold only 55 so I figured the cats might be slowing down but tryed anyway. Something darn near pulled the pole in the water, but I missed it. Either one of the three big cats or one of the big HSB. Will try again tomarrow for a little while. Thanks for the tips.

Joey,

By far, the majority of catfish I've caught over the years have been caught after sundown, or during heavy overcast. That goes for river channel cats as well as my pond channel cats. Same goes for bullheads. I've always felt that the cats I've caught during the day were accidents.

One of the other things about catfish, especially channel cats and flathead cats is indecision and caution. They don't attack like bass or pike. To be successful, you've got to let catfish, particularly larger catfish, take the bait and run for a number of yards before trying to set the hook. Even then, I've lost a lot of them by pulling on the line too soon.

So . . . if the evening is calm, give it a try starting at sundown.

Good luck,
Ken

Gave the shrimp another try, also brought out a few big night crawlers. Nothing doing on the shrimp but the night crawlers got some action. Not the big cats I was after but I got two 14 inch cats. I thought for about a second about letting them go then I came to my senses and removed both. Looks like I have to go on a catfish removel mission.

Here is a very interesting bit of info. I use 4 inch power worms fishing for bass. I did break a few off last week. Cleaned both these fish both had power worms in there guts, they were past the stomoch. Not sure if they were the one giving me the bite or they picked up and ate the worm after the fact. I am curious if a bercly power worm or a piece of it would work on a trot line. hummm

I am thinking of making a trot line. Can anyone give me the "how to"... please

In my pond we do ok with shrimp for catfish but actually do better with minnows. I have a friend who has been coming out for the last couple of months on the weekends and is using minnows exclusively for bait. Threads them on the hook like you would a worm. Two weeks ago caught a 34lb. blue but mostly catches channels in the 3 to 6lb class. I have tried everything in this pond from soap to liver and consistently minnows are the bait of choice for our catfish and other species. He also catches crappie and largemouth bass as well with this method. I would love to show a picture of the big cat that my friend caught but don't have a clue how to post a picture. If anyone would be willing to post it for me I will be glad to forward it to you.

Here are Don's pictures.

I do pretty well using small 3" BG under the float rig I mentioned earlier. I use a large circle hook and a 1oz weight above the steel leader.

I think I'll try the steel leader - our mojo CC are bait shy for anything with a string attached...
I have some Berkley Big Game 30 lb test nylon coated wire - will that work?

I'm going to try to rig up some throw lines with a float to keep the bait off the bottom, as has been discussed.

Some guys say Dacron is a good leader material that the cats don't notice because it's soft. Jug fishing is pretty good as long as you have some tough bait. I use juice bottles that have an easy grip shape to aid in retrieval. Half gallon milk jugs work good too. Here's three pretty nice ones. The big one was on rod and reel using the bobber set up w/steel leader and chicken liver 20' deep. The two small 10lbers were caught on milk jugs baited with skipjack herring set 2'deep over 30 feet deep water.

If you have flatheads, crankbaits will work.

42" 40 lbs. 4 oz.

Heck I've caught channel cats in ponds on crank baits on at least a half dozen occasions. Can't say I'd recommend that if you're targeting cats though, I was always bass fishing at the time.

One thing I had a surprising amount of luck with recently is artificial maggot Powerbait. I was expecting to catch bluegill, but after dark I caught nothing but channel cats on them. From 14-15" up to a couple 6-7 pounders, which I still can't believe would even consider eating something so tiny. I was just putting one of them on a hook, about 2' deep under a bobber in 3-4' of water.

I have been trying a few differnt things the past few days. The best thing working for me is a night crawler. I am fishing it weightless and not leaving such a long tail, hooking and coiling the worm up and just leaving a inch tail. The bass are grabiing it a little and monster sunfish but mostly the catfish.

We run jugs quite often on the Cumberland River. Typically we use minnows, shrimp and night crawlers. Might try taking the shell off the shrimp. Stays on the hook better.

I don't think that all of these photos are pictures of catfish. Some of them look more like baby Manatees.

My wife loves to fish for cats and usually uses shrimp or the occasional small BG. Usually the BG was trying to steal her shrimp. What can I say, she is vindictive that way. LOL This summer using shrimp suspended from a bobber she caught a 6lb LMB in our pond. I didn't even know I had any that size. Go figure.