Catfish?

[ChinCheck]

Does anyone know of what to use to catch catfish? I have heard using liver works real well. I have also heard that they feed at night if anyone has some helpful info let me know.
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[Kayote]

I like to use a chunk of cut fish flesh. A one or two inch square of sucker meat is ideal. Dead minnows can also be very effective. Rig on a sliding sinker with a swivel, maybe a two foot leader and your favorite large bait hook. Move if you don't get bit right away.
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[polokid]

Shrimp!!!! shrimp!!! shrimp!!!! Shimp!!! shrimp!!! shrimp !!!! Shrimp!!!
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[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] I have used nightcrawlers, shrimp, chicken liver, hotdogs, fish chunks, they all work. Just depends on what they like at the time.[/size][/red][/font]

[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3] AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[Theekillerbee]

Nightcrawlers, Shrimp, Liver, Crawfish, and blood bait have all worked well for me. Seems like Utah lake is the place for big cats. Good luck when you go out.
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[anyfish]

Like everybody has already mentioned, SHRIMP. Usually the day before or even 2 days before I plan on going fishing for cats I will swing into Albertsons and ask them for some older shrimp for fishing and every once in a while they will discount them. Throw them in a ziplock bag with some catfish attractant overnight, them take them out to Utah Lake, 2'-3' under a bobber near Bird Island and just hold on there are a few fatties out there.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]I keep suggesting fresh mackerel, but only a couple of guys have tried it and both let me know that it worked well for them. It's cheaper than shrimp, it has a powerful fishy smell that drives kitties nuts and it is usually available in most fish markets...especially asian oriented.

That being said, I probably catch more cats by accident, on my "bait bugs", with a small piece of worm or fish flesh...during the daytime...than most people do who fish all night with the "nuclear" baits. And, both in Willard and in Utah lake, some of the biggest cats are oriented to eating live fish. They will chomp on crankbaits, spinner baits, jig and pig, twisters and about anything else you fish for the more glamorous species.

Fishing Bear River and Cutler above the dam can be a different proposition. The cats in these waters act more "traditionally"...feeding in low light periods and responding to baits with a bit of "character". But, again, mackerel, squid, smelt, anchovies or other odoriferous salt water tidbits are worth trying...along with the ubiquitous shrimp, chicken liver, nightcrawlers, sucker meat and whole chub minnows.

When fishing for the big boys, use big baits. And leave the bail open on your reel, to allow them to run a few feet without feeling the tension. When they stop to mouth and gulp the large bait, then you can set the hook with some degree of confidence.\

I used to have lots of fun with the Willard Bay channels all through the middle of the day, by tossing out unweighted baits and then setting my rod down across the rocks...with the bail open. If I felt a snooze coming on, in the warm summer sunshine, I would make a couple of wraps of line ahead of the reel around an empty aluminum can. If a fish picked up the bait and started pulling out line, the can would tip over and make noise to alert me that I had a customer. That works great at night too...especially when you are fishing multiple rods with several cat anglers. When it gets noisy, the fun is in full progress.

By the way, if you fish a whole crawler or a dead chub at Willard, don't be surprised if you pick up the occasional walleye or wiper. Sometimes those glamor species just got no class, and don't know that your bait is meant for catfish.
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[Hoobie]

[]Ever cut open a catfishes stomach to see whats in there I found for rocks it the stomach of a catfish once along with a lot of minnows. As for bait just about everything mentioned obove will work but if you use chicken livers dont plan on getting anywhere near her for a week because that smell takes a long time to go away[] GOOD LUCK CATFISHIN!
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[wiperhunter2]

A 13 inch cat I caught at Willard last year had a crayfish in it, boy did that stink. It was the biggest cat I caught at Willard last year but I was trolling and usually the cats we catch trolling are 8 or 9 inches. I've heard stories that bigger cats are caught while trolling but I've never caught one over 13 inches. Has anyone ever caught any big cats trolling at Willard? WH2
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[polokid]

I was actually curious myself, I always have caught those small 9-11 inchers. I actually went up there a couple of times, just to shore fish for cats, and caught and released approx 100 9-11 inchers in 3 hrs. I also would like to know if there is big kitties in willard!!!
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[TubeDude]

[cool]There are still some channels to over 20# in Willard, but the average size has plummeted. In the days BW (before wipers), the average cat was between 2 and 3 pounds, and there would usually be a few over 5 in a day's outing. Most of the 10 plus fish were caught at night, or at least in low light conditions.

With the introduction of shad and wipers the whole ecosystem changed. The days of over 100 nice crappies...30 to 50 chunky kitties...twenty or more walleyes over three pounds...you are not likely to see that anymore. But, I can't think of many folks who would not rather wrestle with a few four pound wipers than a whole bunch of those other "has beens".

Onward and upward. HAIL PROGRESS. Long live wipers.

Can I have an AMEN on that?
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[wiperhunter2]

I'll say Amen to that one also Brother, but I would like to see a few more of those 4 pound wipers, them were few and far between last year. WH2
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[SturgeonKid]

I'm going to have to agree with TubeDude about the fresh mackerel then free-lining it with no weight at all. It's been a few years since I specifically fished for big cats myself (darn bass takin' over my life...LOL), but I originally got the mackerel idea from an old codger I saw at the small lake by my house here in CA one day. He had a stringer holding 3 of the biggest cats I'd ever seen...they weighed...12, 16, and 22lbs according to his digital scale. He told me how he had caught them and it was by taking a good chunk of fresh mackerel and just sticking it on a big bait hook, no weight or anything, casting it out, and flipping the bail over on his spinning rod to let them run with it. Well, needless to say, after I saw those 3 cats, I got pretty excited and had to try it myself. The result...a 15lb kitty...and this is just out of a little lake that is really not known for big cats. LoL. So I imagine that if such a technique were to be tried at someplace like Utah Lake...the results would be great. I will also vouch for Tube Dude's suggestion of the fact that a lot of those big Utah Lake cats are accidentally caught while going for the more glamorous species. I have tried fishing for cats at Utah Lake a few times and the results have always just been those little 10-13" bullheads. However, the biggest cat I have caught at Utah Lake was caught while I was bass fishing with a chartreuse crankbait...12lber. I have also caught 3 or 4 other cats in the 5-10lb range at Utah Lake with other bass lures.
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