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.
