What's the best catfish bait?

I'm at a loss and am ready to throw in the bobbers.

Went catfishing a couple of times recently in a doggone farm pond, of all places, where I've had good success in the past with small but eating-sized catfish. The last couple of times I've used fresh chicken livers, hot-stanky-tough chicken livers, chunks of budget dollar-can spam - lot of oil in those! - and even punchbait.

Nada. Nothing. Caught one gorgeous bullhead and nothing else.

What's the go-to bait for you catmasters on the river or in ponds?

I like night crawlers myself. I'm headed to the G'ville dam on Sat and Sun if its not storming. You're more than welcome to tag along.

Thanks for the offer. If I don't go turkey hunting, probably for the only time this season/year, I'll let you know and maybe we can drown some of 'em.

Where do you live? You can go with me to Wilson dam sometime if you want.

Good bait depends on where you are fishing. for the river I like Skipjack fillets or shrimp. In ponds worms are good most times. Livers sometimes in the lake. Sometimes they just don't bite but it's usually good this time of year.

I used to fish over below Wheeler Dam on Wilson some with folks and would see guys up on top cutting up skipjacks, removing the guts and tossing the heads and remains over the rail into the water. I think they were selling the packages of guts to the bait stores.

Always wondered how many cats were under the rail there eating the fillets and heads.

I always had good luck with big night crawlers and cheese hotdogs in farm ponds fishing channel cats

I've always wondered if cutting cheap hotdogs in half and soaking them in minced garlic w/ juice and/or garlic salt would work.

Murrell Renfroe ran the Madison County Lake back in the 1990s and early 2000s. For the longest she would make her own catfish stinkbait by hand with cheese rinds and discards from a place in Ardmore along with cattails and I think anise and/or vanilla flavoring. She'd let the cheese sit for a while and get hot and mushy and stanky, then remove the cattail fluff and put it in the with the cheese, add whatever else, mix and squash and squish it all together, put it in jars or tubs and sell it. Lot of folks liked it.

May not be the best but get some cheap hotdogs. Cut into chunks. Put in a gallon bag and sprinkle with garlic powder and grape koolade. Just enough water to wet it. Let that soak a day or so. The guy that showed me this squeezes Preparation-H in his. But
I couldn't tell a difference. Nightcrawlers work good too.

Bream are about the best bail ive used. Seem to have good luck with hot dogs too

I've used old taters before with decent luck. Old being they had just started to get a little smell to them. Not rotten, just old.

I'm gonna buy a bag of frozen skrimps and try them out

I've seen the commercial catfisherman around here use small marshmallows on trot lines and jump boxes. They use rotten cheese in their catfish boxes. You can smell them at the boat launch long after they leave.

Heard a story years ago about some folks caught a big cat on a shrimp in the Paint Rock.
Clem, I wonder if the cats hadn't been fished out of your ponds. Aren't they kind of a put-and-take deal in a pond.

Cut shad always worked best when I use to run trot lines. Ran out shad one time and brought box squid back from gulf. Caught quite a few on trot lines baiting with cut pieces. When we used cut shad always threw head and tail away. Did not ever catch as many in hooks baited with heads and tails. This was all on tombigbee so I could not tell you about other waters

Night crawlers, fiddle worms or.........Ivory soap. Yeah, y'all go ahead and laugh.

Cut a square off about 1/2" x 1/2 " and put it on a cat hook. Commercial fishermen have been using it for decades

Know a guy used ivory soap on his lines. Never tried it

I've used shrimp on jugs on Eufaula and had good luck.

White soap works and so does marshmallows. For channel cats they eat any kind of junk food but blues and flats prefer fish most of the time. In a farm pond i'd try worms real shallow.

Guy I work with lives close to Cincinnati along the Ohio River. He swears by White Castle french fries. Says the cats love em. I think Krystal is about the same as White Castle. Just an idea thats out of the norm and cheap.

If krystals does to catfish what it does to my gut your gonna have one nasty cooler

Ive had better luck using whole, raw shrimp on gville. We may be fishing/camping outta goosepond this weekend if the weather holds off

Clem, is it likely that last years drought and therefore less oxygen in the water may have killed most or all of the cats in that pond? Or maybe what 870 said or a combination thereof? Liver should attract them in a pond.

I don't know if it really helps or not, (it helps in my mind anyway) but I used to let the liver sink then drag it a little way across the bottom to embellish a scent trail especially if there is not much water stirring.

Dunno what's going on in the pond. In the past it's been almost automatic. Toss out some livers and after putting on the second fresh one, it's game on.

Will have to try again. Thanks for all the suggestions.

3Toe, you say old taters. How old?

I'll second the old taters. Dangdest thing but it works, cheap too.

I know her. When she stopped running the lake, she gave me a picture of myself with a 5 lb bass I caught from there.

Sorry, for the tangent.

I've brined both liver and shrimp in garlic salt before for catfish in creeks. Works good. Just put a layer of paper towels, bait, garlic salt and more paper towels. Store in fridge for a day or so adding more salt if needed. You can use regular salt to help cover the bait.

Curious about the old taters. Tell us more.

How do rotten taters stay on the hook?

If it's channels in the pond, go to Academy and get a jar of Danny King's blood bait. Warning, the smell cannot be removed from your hands. I use a paint stick to plunge a treble hook into it.

If I can figure out the wiring on my new ignition switch, I hope to be below the dam on Saturday. If you see a white Wellcraft CC constantly snagging the bottom, that will be me.

The cats are moving shallow. Two guys here at work went bass fishing last Friday. They caught more catfish (on spinnerbaits!) than bass, fishing the edge of the grass.

My kids and I caught several Sunday afternoon on Neely Henry with leftover Hardys chicken fingers.

More proof that no one should eat the nasty chit sold in fast food restaurants.

Brim for me, best all around catfish bait that I have ever used.

Saw Ms. Renfroe up at the lake last year, good people.

Catalpa worms when you can get them.

I like to let them get to the point of old and wrinkly, a little stink, and a few eyes growing 1-2" long. The cats must think its a critter of some kind because I wear them out on that bait.

I need to package and sell it.

Hotdog winniers and chicken livers have always worked well for me .

On the rivers, my brother and I have always had good luck catching flatheads with fresh bream heads. Them flatheads are some good eating too. My brother has also caught some nice flatheads at Guntersville using the fresh bream heads.

Like 3toe says...Old, NOT rotten, taters. That's important.

I've caught channel cat in a pond on mullet gizzards when nothing else worked...as previously stated, they'll usually eat pretty much anything.

Blues and flatheads like bream...plus there's a chance of a bonus; I've been catfishing with bream, before, and caught 2 real nice 15 lb stripers!

Go check out RSimms on TNDeer Fishing Forum, he is a guide and catches lots of fish species, but man does he wear out the big cats. I asked this same question on there years ago and he put three words.

Cut Chicken Breast.

I'll tell you one thing, I've never fished with anything else since.

I'll 2nd this. Known/known of him for several years. The man swears by chicken breast, and consistently catches a buttload of fish.

Chicken liver,red worms,shad,cut bream..back in the day when me and my dad had trot lines out he cut up some of the foam ear plugs from his job and soaked them in bacon grease.The blue cats loved it.

I know Richard and have fished with him. The cut chicken breast works like a champ.

Just plain chicken breast?

I have a friend with a pond and they wear them out with Gummie Bears. I kid you not. Try it, easiest bait there is to keep on a hook and if you need a sugar rush, just eat the bait.

Yep. There is a catfish guide in Texas that swears by them. Sour Gummy Bears.

It's been several years since I fished with him, like four or five at least, but I believe he either froze them and then thawed them slowly so they were semi-firm and stayed on the hook or he stuck them in the freezer just for a short time so they'd firm up.

I can't remember if he added any coloring. Seems I recall he had red food coloring or red Kool-Aid on the meat, but don't hold me to that. I know some other cat folks used red because they think the fish sees it. Catfish use their sense of taste and smell more than anything, though, until they're right on the bait.


I wonder if the red might help with the Rotten Taters, though. Hmmm ...

I have caught them on about everything.

My go to bait in the marina on Holt Lake was hot dogs. A 1/2" piece on a tiny hook would catch channel cats all day and blues when we baited them in with cat food. I caught two blues on consecutive casts that were over 25 lbs one night. Sprinkle the cheapest hot dogs with garlic salt, let it sit in the sun a little to dry out and toughen up and you were good to go.

Large bream heads work most places but never did work there in 4.5 years. I tried a lot and never got much on them. Ivory soap works as do green grapes, white raisins (they look like grapes after an hour in the water), worms, minnows, cut bait, dough balls from any bread, and french fries with Mr. French Fry salt.

Never used taters. Never heard of using them or would have tried them.

for pond catfish dog food. some spots I fish on the river they wont bite anything but pink weenies.

Fresh shad and bream is all I use. As far as store bought bait goes, I couldn't tell you anything besides chicken parts. If you have a chicken processing plant around, get a grocery sack of chicken hearts. Hands-down the best I've ever used.

You sure about that clark?

Shad cut in small chunks work good below Neely Dam today .

Went yesterday on Guntersville. Tore them up on cut skipjack. There are up shallow, chasing shad. I even had a "Wicked Tuna" moment where I'm surprised my rod didn't break in half. That's why I only have Ugly Stick rods.

Good catch. I missed that completely. I meant plain old taters...

We'll be after em this weekend up at gville (late friday through sunday) it should be a good weekend