Choosing Your Catfish Bait

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Catfish Bait – Information on Catfish Baits

This catfish bait page will be a reference point and landing page for all of the information that we are adding . You will be able to use this as a reference point for much or all of the information that we have. When we add new articles and information we will come back and add links to this page. We are also working on product reviews that will help you in making choices.

This is a popular topic among anglers and I have heard and participated in great debates as long as I can remember. Some people use natural baits (like threadfin shad, gizzard shad or cut bait), some people use live baits like perch, bluegill or sunfish and some people use prepared, manufactured or homemade products like catfish punch, dip, dough or soap baits.

No matter what kind of catfish bait you use the best choice is one that will work for you.

We will provide general guidance on types for different species and also provide reviews, product links and other information to help you make an informed decision on what the best choice is to use on your next trip, hopefully that combined with the tips, tricks and techniques we are providing you will be much more successful on your next trip.

You can always search our articles by going to the search box or view articles that are tagged with catfish bait as well to find all the information that you want. If you have a question and we don’t have it listed here, feel free to contact us through our ask a question page and ask us your questions, we will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible.

Through my years as a guide I have used a lot of different baits and have had a lot of success and some failures, so I am going to pass on everything I have learned. If you are wanting recipes then check out recipes article.

 

Basic Kinds Of Catfish Bait

Natural

Natural catfish baits are those that are naturally occurring in the environment you are fishing in. The best examples of the most commonly used natural baits are fish like threadfin shad, gizzard shad, skipjack herring, worms and crawfish.  These  are often fished live or dead depending on what species of fish you are targeting.

• Threadfin Shad
• Gizzard Shad
• How To Tell The Difference Between Threadfin and Gizzard Shad

Cut Bait

This is typically a form of any natural bait (like listed above) that is fished in a cut form where the angler takes the fish (typically after scaling) and cutting it into chunks or sections. this is a very common for blue and even channel catfish. It is cut into chunks not only to tailor the size to the targeted fish but also to allow oils, blood and in turn scent to get into the water helping to attract fish.

• How To Cut Shad For Catfishing

Live Bait

Live bait is any natural bait like listed above that is fished live. Perch, shad, mudcats or goldfish are very common. These are very commonly used for targeting flatheads but are also used on occasion for blues and channels by some anglers.

Soap Bait

Some soap is made from old fashioned lye soap which is commonly used for fishing and is especially effective on setlines (jug fishing, trotlines, limb lines and bank lines). Catfish are attracted because they contain a lot of animal fat which in turn begins to break down in the water and attract them in. This is a common for channel and even blue cats.

Related Articles

• Redneck’s Soap – How To Cut It
• Redneck’s Soap History
• Bait That Stays On The Hook

Punch Bait

This is made from a cheese base and commonly contains some sort or fiber material to make it much thicker. It also commonly contains ground up fish like shad or minnows and even blood on occasion. It is popular because it is a “stink” bait but allows the user to load the hook without handling it and getting it on their hands. These are most commonly fished on a bare treble hook and is very effective for channels and can also be effective for blues as well.

Related Articles:

• What is punch bait
• How to bait a hook with punch bait
• The care and feeding of punch bait
• Choosing a rod and
• CJ’s Catfish Punch Bait
• Slip cork catfishing with punch baits

Related Reviews

• Sure Shot Catfish Punch Bait

Dip Bait

Dip bait is much like punch bait and often times contains many of the same ingredients. These are typically cheese baits and often contain other items like ground up bait fish but hog brains are also a very common ingredient. These are much thinner than the previously mentioned products and don’t typically have the fibrous materials to make them thicker so they are commonly fished on “lures” like dip worms, dip tubes or specialized hooks that have threaded material on them to help them stick to the hooks. When using these anglers typically insert their hooks into the jar or bucket and stir it up with a stick which allows it to stick to the “lure”.  These are commonly used for channel catfish and can be effective for blues as well.

I have not added a lot of other articles and information on these at this point because I rarely fish with them these days but I used to do a lot of fishing with them. I am going to start working on getting more information added about dip baits and I suspect that at some point they will probably have to have their own page as well.

Related Articles

• Secret 7 Dip Bait
• Bell’s Of Hell Recipe

Sponge Bait

These much like the dip baits previously mentioned but are typically thinner. They are  also most often cheese based and often time contains other materials like ground up bait fish and also commonly contain hog brains as an ingredient. They are typically fished on a sponge hook which is a treble hooks with a small piece of sponge. It is inserted into the jar and then stirred up which allows the sponge to absorb it. These are commonly used for channel catfish but can at times be an effective bait for blues.

Dough Bait

These are typically flour based and often times contains other ingredients to help add scent to the bait or attractants. Commonly the flour is mixed with water and additional ingredients are added like ground up chicken livers, or ground up fish. These are typically fished on a spring hook which is a treble hook with a spring wrapped around the shaft. The user takes some and forms the dough into a ball and then wraps the dough around the hook in a firmly packed ball. Some commercially manufactured products are also available that come in preformed chunks or balls, which reduces the handling of the user so they don’t have to form the balls. These are commonly only used for fishing for channel cats.

Catfish Dough Bait Recipes

Grocery Store Baits

Grocery store baits are baits that are most often natural but are not native to the environment. The most common and probably most well known examples of these are probably chicken liver, turkey liver, hot dogs and shrimp. Another example is beef heart which is used in many circles but is not near as chicken liver, hot dogs or shrimp. These are commonly used by many anglers because they easily accessible, very well known and on occasion can be effective. They are most commonly used to target channels but some anglers do on occasion catch other species with these baits.