Fishing World

Posts Tagged ‘Success’

Don’t Let the Big One Get Away

Ken Schultz’s Essentials of Fishing is the new authority on the sport you love, whether you’re an expert or a beginner.

Organized by topic, this information-packed reference offers fast and easy access to all of the fishing facts, instructions, and tips you need to get more bites, land more big ones, and have a lot more fun every time you dip a line in the water. Whether you’re heading for a trout stream, the Gulf Stream, or points in between, you’ll find everything you need to know about the fish species you’ll be hunting, the fishing rods, tackle, and other gear you should pack, and the basic skills and advanced techniques that will boost your chances of success.

You’ll discover the latest advances in conventional, spinning, and fly rods and reels, and you’ll learn the essentials of knot tying, hook sharpening, and more. Schultz helps you perfect your flycasting, surfcasting, flipping, and pitching skills, and he show

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The right type of catfishing bait can vary because these cats eat a whole bunch of “stuff”. We’ll go over some of the more common kinds below, but be aware that this list can become quite long, especially when you consider some of the homemade varieties that have popped up over the years.

Overall, you’ll always be good to go when you use live bait. This is because catfish have a great sense of smell and that stinky bait will attract your newest catch quite nicely. While every angler has their favorite type of catfishing bait, here are some you’ll want to consider having in your arsenal.

Catfishing Bait: Chicken Liver

Chicken liver is bait that cats like to bite on because of its meaty smell. In order to keep your liver bait securely on your hook, be sure to cast out gently without whipping your rod too much. Be sure to use the proper sinker weight so that once you get this bait into the water, you can keep it along the bottom.

This is bait that can bring you catfish over longer distances. In order to keep that meat smell flowing through the currents, move your bait along the river bottom once in a while as you wait for the next bite.

Catfishing Bait: Shrimp

Shrimp bait (also called prawn) is another top notch bait for reeling in your next big cat. You can simply go down to your local supermarket and pick these up in the frozen area of the store (or go for the fresh variety). Using them from spring-time into late fall is an effective strategy to employ.

Unlike chicken liver, you don’t need to be afraid of long, hard castings or whether or not there’s a heavier current because shrimp is easier to keep on your hook. Whether you’ve purchased medium or large shrimp will determine whether you want to use the whole one or cut up in half sized portions.

Catfishing Bait: Blood Bait

Basically, you can use any kind of liver, beef or chicken for blood bait and it’s extremely easy to make. Just throw about a half-inch of beef or liver blood into a pan and then slice it up into strips once it’s had a chance to thicken up. Cut it in smaller sizes if you’re going to catch smaller catfish or larger strips if you plan on going to an area with the larger variety of catfish.

When you head out to your favorite fishing hole, put your blood bait on ice and tie it on to your hook with a small piece of line. This will ensure that it stays put when it comes time to cast out.

Catfishing Bait: Worms

Whether you’re using mini-crawlers, nightcrawlers, or garden worms, these are a great strategic move for catching catfish during the winter and early spring months. What happens is that catfish will lay in wait for worms as drainage areas and creeks are draining muddy water into the lakes.

Using the proper weight that allows you to drag your worm bait along the bottom with the current will make it irresistible to your future catches. Some anglers like to simply dig up their own garden worms. If that’s not your preference, then simply go to your local bait shop to pick up your mini-crawlers or nightcrawlers.

Catfishing Bait: More Ideas

As I mentioned at the top, catfish will eat a variety of items. It seems that if you have something of the vegetable, animal or mineral variety, catfish will bite down. Therefore, don’t be afraid to experiment and even make your own catfishing bait. You can use a variety of items, such as:Bologna, Hot dogs, Salami, Smoked salmon, Salmon eggs, Plastic worms, Cheese, Bread dough, And more…

One homemade bait that ends up releasing catfish attracting oils is mixing up crushed frosted or corn flakes with peanut butter. An added advantage is the fact that smaller fish will have a hard time removing this concoction from you hook.

Another homemade bait you can use that prevents smaller fish from getting at it is sweet corn and bread. Using a treble hook, put some sweet corn on each point with a piece of bread wrapped around it, covering up your hook.

Always remember that catfish eat based on smell, since their eyesight is so weak. Therefore, if you focus your catfishing bait efforts (bought or homemade) on the kind that creates that strong stink, you’ll be attracting catfish left and right and enjoying this great sport of ours.