Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Catfish bait

I've been using chicken liver wrapped in pantyhose. Very simple and very effective.

Jeez sometimes I crack myself up. Is it wrong to laugh at your own jokes?

When at LL2 someone caught a sunfish (can't remember who or what type of sunfish) and I think it was Bruce that cut the fish into chunks. We then used the sunfish chunks as bait. Seemed to work great.

Ive got some shrimp "aging" in the beer fridge thats getting pretty ripe.Hopefully I'll be eating catfish this week end.

I have always had the best luck with chicken liver. I cut off a large chunk of UNDAMAGED liver (usually half a liver) and using a snap swivel, I remove the hook and then I run the loop end of a treble hook through the thickest liver portion and fold over the extra liver and run the loop though the center of the extra so the liver remains pretty solid and lays around, completely surrounding the hook points. This is the best way to keep it from coming off the hook I've ever found. The fish often suck in and spit out the liver before swallowing but rarely feel the sharp points.

One other tip, you have to use a long, smooth cast to send out the bait. Any sort of "snap" at the start of the cast will pull the hook right through the fragile liver or leave the points exposed.

Shrimp for catfish? I rarely can afford shrimp for my self. Catfish have been proven to eat almost anything you put in front of their face when they are hungry. I'm thinking shrimp would be good for any specie.

Bait shrimp are the dead on arrival shrimp that are not sellable for human consumption. They are pretty cheap.

As someone mentioned; match the hatch. Or, more correctly, use the hatch. Catch your bait from your pond. That is what they are used to seeing and eating. In my pond, before redigging and stocking, I would always catch large BG and my CC better on a silver shiner hooked under the dorsel and free swimming than on anything else. Very light shot, just to keep it underwater. Use this, especially in smaller ponds.