If you enjoy fishing for catfish but struggle at times because you aren't sure what is the best bait, then look no further. In this article I will discuss the different available baits and how to improve the chances of catching a large catfish. Catfishing is a very rewarding endeavor but at times, can be frustrating if you are not getting any bites. Let's now take a look at what baits are available.
LIVE/CUT BAIT - Many anglers swear by using live bait. Live bait includes but not limited to shad, bluegills, suckers, shiners, minnows, chubs and herring. If these baits are cut into pieces, they are considered "cut bait". Anglers also utilize frogs, shrimp, grasshoppers, worms and crayfish/crawdads. I would say the most common cut bait would be chicken liver but many individuals find it difficult to keep it on their hook.
DOUGH//DIP/STINK BAITS - Since channel catfish are scavengers, they hardly use their sense of sight and mainly rely on their sense of smell. The stronger odor of the bait, the better the chances they will locate your hook. These products can be purchased or even made at home. It can be time consuming but worth the extra effort. If you don't want to make homemade dough bait, you can find online retailers that are avid anglers and sell their own homemade stink/dip bait. It's basic ingredients include flour, water and different kinds of items to add some odor. Some people use garlic powder/salt, cheese, vanilla extract and anything else that is stinky. After all ingredients are mixed, they are placed in a container and ready to be made into balls for the hook or just applied like a paste on the hook.
ARTIFICIAL BAIT - Some people find handling live or stinky bait disgusting, so they prefer to use artificial bait. That can include hard fishing lures as well but when you talk about fake bait, it usually refers to rubber worms or fish. These are the least of my favorite choices but they do work at times.
FISH ATTRACTANTS - There are many commercially made attractants that can be applied to your existing baits and lures. This substance is usually a more liquid form and can easily be applied with less of a mess. The only issue I have with attractants being used alone, is that the scent washes off pretty quickly.
Remember fishing is an art and there is no guarantee you will catch any fish on your trip. My advice would be to make sure to do some research in regards to the location you are expecting to fish. The reasons I enjoy catfishing is because they put up a good fight once hooked and two, there are so many different baits you can experiment with. Mix and match different baits listed above to see if you can reel in that big one. Making my own homemade catfish bait, I have made a dough bait but also added fish attractant to it. With those two mixed together, they formed an awesome bait that grabbed me a handful of 3 to 4 pounders in an hour.
I hope you found this article useful and will get your creative juices flowing on how to improve your catfish baits in order to catch more catfish. Whatever you do, don't give up. Do a search online for the best channel catfish baits and see what you can find. There are also many videos online of people using these different baits along with their opinions. After all is said and done, it comes down to your personal preference. Happy Fishing!
Visit http://BestChannelCatfishBait.com for further information and products.
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