well bought my self some gear annnnnd.

[calebduff]

went over to the local walmart and got myself a new rod and reel and a big jar of Premo Blood dip bait and some rigs to go along with it. well i went out to a lake ive heard was pretty good for fishin and when i got there i realized i know nothin about fishin catfish. [shocked] i grew up with a spinning rod in one hand and a trout in the other but never really got out for catfish. anyways im still young (18) and got a lot to learn about the fishing game so anything will help. do they prefer lakes or rivers? whats the best tactics? should i cast and wait or cast and slowly reel? how should i set up the line? really just explain to me how to fish for catfish as if i had never been fishing before! [laugh]
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[idahoron]

I will give you that same info I just gave to another young guy.
I normally use cut bait. Our Snake River here in Idaho has cats and trout. I use trout for cut bait. The best advise I can give is get in the water. I use either a float tube or a inflatable pontoon. I mostly fish vertical and drag the bait very slowly. I use only enough weight to get it down. In most cases I am only using 1 or 2 pieces of split shot the size of a pea. I use a 4/0 hook and put a chunk of cut bait about the size of a silver dollar on it. I run the hook through the edge of the bait only once leaving a lot of hook exposed. I troll very slowly leaving a scent rail for the fish to follow. Float tubes and small pontoons can be found very cheep and are a valuable asset in finding and catching catfish. Here are some pictures of my son and I catching some cats in the boats. Ron










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[Tarpon4me]

Be careful with that walmart special gear when you are catfishing. Though, using stink bait, you probably don't have to worry much. Stink bait, small cut bait, hot dogs, ivory soap..... All favorites for channel cat and bullhead catfish anglers. Those species don't typcially get to terribly large sizes, though the world record Channel is over 60 pounds, caught in the Santee Coopers lakes here in SC. The average Channel is 5 pounds or less. (usually less)

Catfish like structure. Now, I use small channel cats and bullheads for bait, for larger Flathead and Blue catfish, keep that in mind. But channels and bullheads i've found like structure in the shallower areas during the day, when the bigger predatory cats are resting in the deeper holes. At night, the larger flatheads and blues tend to move out into the shallows to feed. Keep in mind, every body of water is different. Some things will be similar, but spawing effects the fish movement and feeding habbits, water tempurature, bottom composition, etc....

As you probably already gathered, I use live bait for catfish primarily. Live small channel cats, bream, crappy, shad, and one of my personal favorites, live american eel. I use 60 pound superbraid, 50 pound fluorocarbon leaders on a carolina rig, terminated with between a 8/0-10/0 gamakatsu J hook. (sometimes I use circle hooks) I can tell you now, if you're not getting snagged every other throw, you're not fishing where the big boys are.

I like river fishing for cats, because it's not terribly hard to find the fish. During the day, deep holes on the outside bends of the river, that contain structure and/or log jams. They LOVE log jams. Just having structure is not good enough. Needs to be deep, dark, and covered. Lakes are hit and miss, and you really have to put the time in the find the fish.
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