Catfishing troubles

[aceman698]

This might sound like a really stupid question but i'm having alot of trouble catchin cats, i can get them at a close by community pond off power bait when i'm not trying but i've been going to Jordan River and i've had alot of bites but just reeled back empty hooks, i've tried stink baits, hot dogs and shrimp all with many bites, i've used treble hooks and circle hooks and just haven't caught a thing any advice would be appreciated thanks
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[pennyfarmer]

In the past week I have experienced a few problems getting the kittys in my boat. If you are using the circle hooks you need to modify your normal hook setting techniques. If you jerk the pole while using a circle hook it will come clean out of his mouth. The proper way is more of a constant pressure pulling back on the line. You may already know what I have just stated.

I tried just letting the fish take it and hook themselves, and sometimes that works. I also had one night that the only thing that worked was to pick up the pole while I was getting a bite and then judge when the fish had the bait and pull back on the pole.

Just know that I also have been having trouble this past week with uncooperative kittys.

good luck
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[aceman698]

i've tried setting the hook with a quick jerk and just lose the bait i've also tried just letting the pole set as it gets a quick bite do i need to float the bait off the bottom or let sit on the ground?
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[pennyfarmer]

This past week I used pork liver for bait and it was very durable. Using a durable bait is certainly a plus. We were fishing the Bear River and it is very swift right now, so we using about 1/2-3/4 oz of weight to keep the bait down. I rig the weight so that it slides on the line. This way when it is anchored down you can let out some line and have the bait further down stream while the line is held in place.

I am not sure where you are fishing but I have always had my bait on the bottom when I am after the kittys.
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[PDS]

A lot of times, cats will take the bait in their mouth and run with it a ways before attempting to swallow it. When you get a bite, open you bail and let the fish take line. When the line stops, reel up the slack and put it to them if using standard hooks. As stated above, it using circle hooks, just tighten up the line and the hook will pull to the corner of the mouth and nab the fish. Good luck!
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[blackhab]

One thing that I have noticed on my end of the Jordan is that the mudcats have the run of the river and it is hard to catch anything else. The bites may be from small (6-10 inches) mudcats and they can be extremly hard to hook just because of their size. If this is the case try a smaller hook that they can manage. Just my experience. Not saying you can't catch nice cats on the Jordan just seems the mudders are more prevelant.
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[aceman698]

i've been going by the jordan model airplane park and the water there seems to run very slow i tried shrimp on a circle hook and on a treble hook every cast within a couple minutes i had a bite i was using a 1/2 ounce bullet wieght and got a lot of hard bites off the bottom and i tried floating the bait under a bobber bout three feet and didn't get any bites i'm going out again thursday night and i'll try again i know i have the right bait just wrong technique i'll learn how to catch them eventually
thanks for the answers
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