I have a question. I've been catfishing for a little while and have caught a handful of decent catfish. I usually catch the little guys. I use chicken livers, nightcrawlers, and have even tried carpmeat and the other prepared baits. I am a wiz at catching the 5-10 inchers. Any tips on catching bigger ones? Should I use something different? Fish someplace else? I'm fishing the Bear in Cache Valley and near Garland. I would like some help in catching a big one to eat... The biggest so far has been 25" and about 6 lbs.
Thanks for your help fellas
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[cool]While I'm not a huge catfish expert, I can think of one thing that you haven't tried that seems to work well around here, and that's using a number one or two hook, and rigging a FRESH shrimp on it followed by a nice fat night crawler dangling from the bottom of it. I rig a 1/4 or 1/2 oz. egg sinker about 18 inches above that above a swivel. There are some good experienced catfishers on this board, and a couple that come to mind that you might want to p.m. are TubeDude, Cat man, Ocean, Tibbz, and a few others that I can't think of right now.
Good luck.
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The one thing I will suggest ( I'm sure this will get some arguement) is put your wieght on the bottom of your line then tie your hooks above that. I use at least #4 but 2s are better. My bottom hook is 12" to 14" from the wieght and another 16" above that. Bigger cats would rather not feed on the bottom.
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hey try this get a 4/0 or 5/0 bait holder hook get some chub,carp,sucker or very big minnows and put it on.. if your useing chub, carp or sucker get a cut strip that is about 5"to6" long and 2"to 3" wide and leve the skin on the strip.. put the whole thing on with a egg sinker about 18" up the line..that way the smaller fish cant get it in there moulth but a big cat will not have a problm getting it down.. try whole carp,sucker,chub if you can find some in the 5"to 8" size.. and experament with fresh and stink meat..try leveing some of the meat out in the sun in a bag for a day and take some fresh and try both and see what the fish want.. and the most inportent thing i have found for big cats is fish at night!! big cats come out at night to play so get out as the sun is going down..
good luck
dude on fish?
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Try fishing the boat harbours or the mud flats near some kind of structure at night. Use minnows or cut bait. I like to use #2-2/0 hooks. I never use worms for channels, it seems they really attract the mud cats.[
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For rivers find the deep holes and fish the shallow runs on both sides of the holes at night.
Get a second pole permit and try acouple different kinds of meat. Good Luck!
Lots of good advise for you here. Have you tried anywhere else? Utah Lake is a super place for big cats. I also spend quite a bit of time at bountiful pond. Good sized cats can be had here as well. Ive pulled out 9 lbrs out of there. One thing is for sure. The night time is the right time![sly] I read a post and received some info on drifting. I havent had the chance to try it yet but it seems like it would be extremely successfull. Maybe you are already using this technique on the river though. Willard is an ok spot for cats as well. As far as the baits go I think your right on target. As far as a rig goes ive tried several different ways and been successfull. You just have to try these different techniques till you find what they want. The one key thing to remember is let your drag loose. If its one thing big cats dont like, its tension on the line. Use slide sinkers, never permanently affix the weight to the line. If I am using heavy bait in still water I dont even use weight. The bait is heavy enough. I hope this helps a bit.
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[cool][blue][size 1]Hey C&R, allow me to toss in some alternative suggestions. I done my share of beatin' up on kittiefishes, and I have a fair number over 10 on my resume.[/size][/blue]
[#0000ff][size 1]First, I am not a Bear River expert, but have taken a few...mostly at night or in the early or late months of the year. Bear River cats WILL eat crawlers, but, like big channels elsewhere, they respond better to baits they might normally find on their preferred menu. My best success has always been on slabs of FRESH fillets from other species indigenous to the same waters. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Carp are universal, and most cats accept a chunk of carp meat. Suckers are prime. Their flesh is softer, so it is best to leave the (scaled) skin on sucker slabs. Whole chubs or fillets from bigger ones are good too. Whole minnows of any kind are good...and you can use whole ones up to 8 or 10 inches for the big boys. Whole big sucker or carp minnows are excellent.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Wherever it is legal, use a slab of bluegill or green sunfish. Scale it, fillet it and cut out the rib cage...just like you were going to fry it up. Same for yellow perch and (in Utah Lake) white bass. A whole fillet rigged with a stinger hook is well received by the big boys.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]If you can find some mackerel, use a big chunk of that stuff for smashing strikes. Channel cat candy.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Where my advice veers off from most other you have gotten so far is to forget the sinker and/or bobber. Of course, if there is current in the river, you will usually need some weight to keep the bait where you want it. But, for baitin' the big boys in slow or still water, tie your line directly to the hook...and use hooks that are SHARP (and strong).[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]I like to slow drift and drag a big slab of meat behind my tube, but also do well lobbing it out and letting it set...without sinker or bobber...while bankin' or anchored in a boat. I leave the bail open on my spinning reel and when a fish picks up the big bait, I let it run off some line. It will usually stop to chomp and swallow. After it stops, flip the bail and reel down until you feel weight. Or, the fish will often take off on a second spurt. Set the hook.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Big cats sometimes gulp a bait on the take, but more often they chomp it to kill it and then move off with it in their mouths to be sure it is dead before swallowing it. If you haul back and the hook is not in a good spot, all you reel in is a big shredded chunk of bait. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]If you let the fish hook itself, If you use a circle hook, the hook will end up in the corner of the mouth, where the tissue is tough. If you use other kinds of hooks, you will often have to cut them off if you plan to release the fish. Even if you don't want to release the fish, it is better to cut the hook off and retrieve it later while filleting your catch. Big cats have strong jaws and can munch a finger if you shove it down their mouth to get the hook. And, if it is dark, it is difficult to find and remove a hook with pliers too. Just tie on a new hook and get back in action.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Probably the best advice for catching big cats is to fish where they are known to hang out. Second, be prepared with the right tackle. That not only means stout line and good hooks, but having a good drag and having it properly set. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]The biggest mistake made by most guys when they hook a biggun is that they get impatient. Once they see the size of that big ugly dude they get glazed eyes and start hauling to drag it in. WRONG. That is the time to be sure you have the drag set right, to allow for those last second surges. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Big cats are tough and they have stamina. They keep on keepin' on long past the time you would like to have them in the net, and they can muster up some impressive gymnastics to either break line or rods, or tear off the hook. I read about losing big cats on this board all the time. In most cases, I suspect those are preventable. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]So, find them first, fish them right, hook them right and fight them right. Pretty simple, huh? Yeah, right.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Great advice on catching good cats. I'd try the Bear River Bird Refuge. This is a favorite place for a lot of guys hauling in good cats. I've fished the river between Collinston and Dewey and around Honeyville and hauled in some dandy cats up to 31". All were caught at night most were caught on dead crawdads or carp meat. This, of course, was all private land but permission and gate keys/combinations were fairly easy to get.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]The only bad thing about the river below Cutler is that the flows will fluxuate to the extremes depending on what Cutler dam is doing. Most of my bigger cats were caught at the dam's full current . It seems to move stuff around and the fish don't seem to have a problem moving around in it even though the river is racing. [/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Fisherman is exactly right. Fish the up river edge of deep holes when the river is raging. If the water is at a trickle, then I'd move to the holes and fish them.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Plan on heavier gear and heavy weights to hold up against the currents. Stay away from round sinkers because they have a tendency to roll on the bottom and come back to the shoreline. a 4-6 ounce pyramid sinker will stick in place better because of the flat sides. [/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I guess I'm going to have to break out all the catfishing gear and try for a decent cat. Besides a tiger and a mack, it's one of the bigger fish around here to catch and it would definitely help my fuzzyfisher challenge score![/size][/font]
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