03-07-2003, 11:31 AM
[cool]Almost any bait will catch some fish on some waters at some time. The prepared "catfish baits"...blood, cheese, chicken liver, etc....work very well in some waters. But, I have never done as well with them in Utah as I have with "natural" baits...worms, minnows and pieces of fish flesh.
Catfish are legendary for their non-squeamish appetites. I have been amazed at some of the things reportedly used as catfish bait...and at some of the things I have found in the gut of cats at the cleaning station. But, my experience has been that I catch more and bigger fish using live or freshly dead items from within their "normal" menu. In utah, this includes crawlers, crawdads (a vastly overlooked bait), dead chubs and carp minnows and various members of the perch and sunfish family...where legal.
Some guys do very well with sucker meat or carp meat. Again, the fresher the better, in most cases. And, even though it has a natural fishy smell, a shot of smelly jelly (anchovy) doesn't hurt. I have always done very well with mackerel strips. It is cheap in the fish markets, it has a great fishy smell and it draws cats in if you fish in an area for a long time. Kinda like legal chumming.
So, the prepared baits WILL work...but often not as well as the other stuff. They were originated in the south and midwest, where catfish fishing is more traditional. That is, muddy water, fishing at night and the fish more accustomed to feeding by smell. It's surprising how "sight oriented" cats are in some Utah waters. I have taken hundreds of cats from all over the state on a wide range of lures...including flies.
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Catfish are legendary for their non-squeamish appetites. I have been amazed at some of the things reportedly used as catfish bait...and at some of the things I have found in the gut of cats at the cleaning station. But, my experience has been that I catch more and bigger fish using live or freshly dead items from within their "normal" menu. In utah, this includes crawlers, crawdads (a vastly overlooked bait), dead chubs and carp minnows and various members of the perch and sunfish family...where legal.
Some guys do very well with sucker meat or carp meat. Again, the fresher the better, in most cases. And, even though it has a natural fishy smell, a shot of smelly jelly (anchovy) doesn't hurt. I have always done very well with mackerel strips. It is cheap in the fish markets, it has a great fishy smell and it draws cats in if you fish in an area for a long time. Kinda like legal chumming.
So, the prepared baits WILL work...but often not as well as the other stuff. They were originated in the south and midwest, where catfish fishing is more traditional. That is, muddy water, fishing at night and the fish more accustomed to feeding by smell. It's surprising how "sight oriented" cats are in some Utah waters. I have taken hundreds of cats from all over the state on a wide range of lures...including flies.
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