Fishing Forum

I'm wondering if anyone out there has good experience catching giant catfish of any kind? We have great luck using chicken liver on liverhooks and treble hooks but they are smaller fish. Using pan fish has worked a few times but if Im gonna sit there all day waiting id rather throw them on a jug. Any tips make sure to list hook type size and bait. thank you.
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I wouldn't expect a whole lot fishing from the bank, in regards to big flatheads and blues. If you've got access to that spot, so does every other redneck with a truck and fishing pole. You need a boat to really be effective, and you need to use live bait or fresh cut bait.

OK, the boat thing........ Big blues and flatheads hold to structure near or on hard or sandy bottom. Both species also migrate and move around frequently. The tactics for targeting either species shifts depending on if you're fishing lakes or rivers. For lakes, we drift fish for them, primarily, but sometimes anchor up depending on the conditions. (like when they are spawning for instance) On the rivers, we always fish stationary. 85% of the time we hook up to an overhanging limb with a limb grabber, and the other percent of the time we anchor up using a break away reef anchor. We fish the deeper holes on the outside bends of the river, that have good structure below them. Log jams are excellent. We've caught fish upstream and downstream of the structure, but usually upstream is better sense catfish use their sense of smell the most when hunting. They have very poor eyesight.

For the rig, we use a carolina style rig, with enough weight to keep it on the bottom. Usually about 4oz or so in a river, and you can get away with much less on a lake. But, we use an entirely different rig when we drift fish. (slinky weight) Our main line is 65-80 lb super braid, heavy rods and reels, and my prefered hook is an 8/0 Gamakatsu. I like a long mono or fluorocarbon leader, and try to match the leader pound test with the main line.

Some of the best baits on the planet for catfish is eel and fresh herring or gizard shad. We keep our baits alive until it's time to cut them up, so that they are the freshest possible. If you're using stink bait, shrimp, chicken livers, or crap like that, the only thing you're going to catch are small channel cats and bullheads. The key to trophy cats is big, fresh bait. I've caught my biggest cats on live crappy and big live eels. Cut eel is also a great bait.

Now, go forth and prosper....... [cool]
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Don't eels have toxic blood?
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Na, fairy tale.
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Giant catfish you say? I heard those BLT's from subway work wonders on catfish [] oh big macs work too.
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Paulpro to the rescue dude.got my 18lb channelcat on 20lb power pro ,bait holder owner hook size 4,I was going for big bass,I used a live brim,I forgot if I hooked it in the nose or tail[sly],used weight with split shot 3 feet from bait.sometimes baitfish hide in rocks check bait to make sure you are not hung up.I just pull a little to feel if stuck.try 2 med live baits or small,hook one in nose and the othe by tail on same hook.Called the twisty treat,one time had out almost halfpound Mayan cichlid with good weight,near middle of lake on flat bottom,had something big ,real big, run with bait for sometime.my bait was chewed up head to tail,my hook did'nt rip out of baitfish,I should of set the hook the following dayI gave him almost 5 min before I pulled on him,felt him a little ,I had alot of line out,I was on my boat.that hurt boy,even Paulpro looses fish
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I would also recommend having the "team catfish" or "dynamic lures" fish grip to handle some of these bigger catfish. I found that carrying around a monster net is a hassle. These little grips do a great job, plus they float. I keep a pair clamped on my catfish bag so I have them wherever I go.
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remember rule number #1 and #2

[ol][li]bigger the bait the bigger the fish.[/li][li]location location location[/li][/ol]

Mine was hooked outside the mouth on the wisker actually.Next one I will just grab by mouth to land.I was caught by surprize,first ever I see this big.I was far from shore too.I used a 5gallon bucket to get him in,his head barely fit inside after a few desperate tries.mmmm,she was real tasty,fillet her up into a bunch of 6 ounce servings, I gave two to my nephew who just threw them out as I found out later,I was so pissed.
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