How Do You Catch Catfish And What Is Good Bait For ThemWill They Also Sting You

Posted In: Catfish

Kendall Gregston says...

Hello there, I actually am very fond of Catfish fishing. Catfish like to hang around channels in most ponds, lakes and streams. You don't need to cast more then maybe 25 feet in front of you. Catfish look for their food mostly by using their scent glands... I hunt for worms and other stuff to eat based on scent. The more something smells, the more it will attract Catfish. They'll hit anything you can think of, and again the more it smells the more they'll be attracted to it. The bait that I use the most are Shrimp and Mackerel. With the shrimp I usually buy about 1 pound of shrimp or less depending on how much I am going to fish. Then I let the shrimp sit in the sun and let the hot sunhit it so that it starts to decay and rot (for stink purposes) Then I head for the lake..When you baitshrimp you want to make sure that the point of the hook still sticks out..(You don't have to peel it if you don't want to) Catfish will swallow whatever you fish with most of the timeso you must make sure the point sticks out so you get em' whenever you set the hook. Mackerel works great too because it smells salty and the Catfish love it. When you bait the mackerel you want to make sure that you hook it good enough so that it won't want to come off the hook when you cast. Catfish don't really care about what pound test line you use. What they care about is how you fish it... Let me explain... When you cast out, as soon as your bait hits the water hold your rod towards your bait, wait wait about...I don't no 8-15 seconds for your bait to hit the bottom (depending on how deep the water is.When your bait his the bottom you got to reel up some of the slack in your line, but NEVER reel all of the slack so that your line is too tight. you want a bit of slack so that when the fish is biting he can't feel your rod tip, but you don't want too much that you will miss the hit when he takes off. If you had too much tension in your line when you went to set the hook you would miss it due to the slack in your line, but the way I explained with a little bit of slack he'll take off and then your line will tighten so you can set the hook. If done properly you'll rarely miss the fish. There are a lot of fish attractants on the market...My personal favorite stinks like hell and is called "Hogwild" it's a dip that you use to dip your bait into it before you cast it out..Catfish can't resist it. But if you smell up your bait the way I told you that works a lot better. They just go crazy for it. Anywho I hope that I was helpful and I am really sorry for my answer being so long, I just wanted to be indepth since I enjoy fishing these great tasting fish..Goodluck!







OOPS! I forgot to answer the stinging part.... Catfish do have 2 ways to sting you and it comes form their Dorsal fin and Pectoral fin They have a very sharp shank there kind alike a sting ray, but if you get stung you wont die it just stings a bit.. The way to avoid this is to reach under his pectoral fins with your palm touching his white belly and then be careful that your fingers don't get it from his dorsal...That is all. They are slippery so I would recommend using a towel for a better grip and less risk of getting stung. When you reach inside his mouth to get your hook it is very common that he'll want to bite ya.. I doesn't hurt it just feels like a gummer.....They have very small teeth but it's more like sand paper for gripping. You will just feel slight pressure and that's it.

Posted on February 23, 2011