# Favorite bait for catfish?



## goose killer

I like to use a night crawler or chicken liver.


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## dogdigger

liver!! good stuff :beer:

mark


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## Ryan_Todd

i have the best luck with big frogs. a couple of my friends went out last summer and caught 4 over 20lbs using huge bull frogs.


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## Blake Hermel

Flatheads prefer Live bait...Sunny's (dont get caught), Bullheads, suckers, etc. Channels prefer cutbait... Suckers, Goldeneye, Liver, and or just about anything soft and stinky.


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## Goldy's Pal

Just a red worm will do.


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## glatz

dough balls , or frosted flakes and coca cola mix-- uke:


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## win4win

Cutbait on the Red!

Down south you can get away with sunfish when going after the big flatties. If its in still water I might go with a prepared bait like Bee Jays or Charlies Blood Bait but you will probably find me using a hot dog more often than not.

If you are really into catfish check out the Brotherhood of Catfishermen at www.BOC.com. LOTS and LOTS of info there.


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## JRB

In my opinion the best catfish bait for the Red River is Cut bait, goldeye is best and second choice would be suckers. Other fish will work but these make the best cutbait.
Later in the season, August or so, frogs uasually start to do better than cutbait. But every year is a differnt!

"Set em and get em!"


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## goose killer

I also like to use crappie minnows or frogs.


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## rockinmichigan

I'm simple, I use nightcrawlers more times then not. I sometimes use chicken livers. Here's an idea for you, take a container of chicken livers, open it up and take a nightcrawler that you all ready have on your hook, then dip it into the container and cast it to wherever you like. Works like a charm and white bass also love that set up. I caught tons of white bass, channel cats, and yellow bullhead doing just that.


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## christopher

I like to use smelts for channel cats


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## johnsona

I fish the knife around stanton and hazen, and the fish around here go absolutely nuts for cut shiners. we usually just troll with small spoons on the way up to our usual hole, reel in a few of em, and cut em up into 1" by 1" pieces and put them on a size 4 circle hook. the best part is that you don't have to pay for bait. I haven't ever tried frogs, but i've heard they're great.


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## rockinmichigan

I haven't tried shad before but from what I'm told they work pretty good. Frogs work good for bass I know that but I haven't tried them on cats yet.


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## gaddyshooter

Cut shad works really well for larger cats, mostly flatheads or blues. The best bait for channel cats is to use the liver/guts of the shad or some other fish. At our old cabin on the lake of the ozarks in Missouri, while we are filleting our crappie we always throw the fish parts into the water right under the sink. We bait a couple of lines with some of the fish guts and usually always catch a few cats while cleaning the crappie.

Also, someone up there said Sonnys and then had don't get caught in parenthesis. Don't know if that was suppose to mean they don't catch anything on Sonnys, but I have had real good success with Sonny's catfish bait. Only thing that I have found annoying about using Sonnys is that the fish usually swallow the whole plastic worm outfit with using Sonnys and is very hard to get the hook out. I usually change the hooks on the plastic dip worms from the treble hook that comes with the worm, to a regular hook because of this.


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## rockinmichigan

Just about anything stinky will work for catfish and bullhead no matter the species. Chicken liver, greasy cooked up leftover beef scrapes, etc. Flatheads though do love the shad though, seen that work on them real well.


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## PanfishHunter

For cut bait I cut up suckers into chunks and shad. I use chicken livers to and stinkbaits. And bluegill heads soaked in pig blood.

:sniper: PanfishHunter


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## Mojo^

Cut-up bream, chicken livers, bacon or Ivory soap have always turned the trick for me. Another reliable bait is mice. Hooked through the backbone they make real good bait for trot lines.


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## cutthecashflow

Try taking a minow or two and stepping on them, so they are bloody.

I've found that the catfish along with ling go crazy for crushed bait.


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## DOGKILLR

I'm with gaddyshooter on this one. Cut shad/bream for big blues, live shad/bream for flatheads and anything stinky for channels.


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## PrairieMedic

Up here we're catching 32-36" on tiger shimp left out for a few days.
We have to keep one rod in the water max at a time :wink: 
It's a good thing they take off for the winter, we'd have a tough time
getting them through the hole!

--PM


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## Ben VW

Shrimp marinated in Vanilla


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## KSwaterfowlJHP

goldfish bluegills cut up catch us many good 8 lb plus channels and then for flatties we use the same but live and scale a side for them for better luck :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: also :spam:


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## bluesman

Goldfish are good at reservoirs. Almost forgot about that.


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## bowcarp

I dont fish for cats but did have some guys that fished the local river that swore by frogs you just had to step on them to crush them before casting them out


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## tattooedreefer

cut suckers on a circle hook...cut goldies...frogs work good in the later part of the year...grass hoppers...pink soap...bacon in the fall...beef heart soaked in garlic oil...thats what i use on the red in north dakota...oh and raw unpeeled shrimp, hook them from top to bottom so the circle hook comes out right by the tail...18.7lbs this year so far by the center ave bridge at 1:30 am the other night


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## bluesman

Last year I went out to my pond and cast black crickets and the channel cats were tearing them up. Crickets are good too. In a pond anyway.


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## Shaine Swenson

FROGS


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## mshutt

I refuse to go catfishing unless we use frogs for bait. yeah some days we catch one or 2 cats on the red with cut bait(goldeyes)...but nothing beats an afternoon with frogs catching atleast 10 cats...

I caught what woulda been the state record with a small frog...what else is there to prove? :lol:

If you can find the frogs, i recommend cutting off the legs from the knee's down. slit open the stomach, shove the circle end of the treble hook up threw the stomach and out the back, then put the treble w/ frog onto a swivelsnap....and cast it out there with a 4 oz weight!


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## duckslyr

its probably not legal in nodak but back in missouri we always used live goldfish for big ole flatheads/blues and cut up bluegills for channel. In Idaho the best bait we found was fresh cut yellow perch with cricketts coming in a close second.


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## triwithzinger

I've been a bit confused lately as to what is legal bait on the Red. Based on what I read in this forum, goldeye is legal as cutbait, but I was talking to someone one time while they were fishing, and they were told by a C.O. that goldeye is not legal bait.

The MN regulations simply say:

"Using whole or parts of game fish, goldfish, or carp for bait is unlawful."

Is goldeye considered a game fish?

What about bullheads? I understand down in southern MN on the Mississippi they use 6" and smaller bullheads, but larger one's are not legal. I don't see that anywhere in the MN regulation book.

I guess I have been using goldeye because it has caught bigger fish for me (my first 30 incher just the other day), but I want to be legal too. Crawlers only tend to get me 1-2 pounders and goldeye. I've also had some luck with crayfish. They are easy to catch, just put a minnow trap out in a small creek with the bones of a filled fish in it and in a few hours you will have a couple of dozen. It helps to crack their claws before putting them on the hook.


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## specialpatrolgroup

Goldeye is not a game fish and leagal to use as cut bain in ND and MN, do not confuse goldfish with goldeye.

I never figured out why someone would pay money for chicken livers\smelt\dough or other stink baits when gold eye and frogs are available for free, and seem to work better than anything else. Plus I dont have to keep a fridge full of chicken livers.


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## catfishguy

Chicken liver + shrimp


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## SportingClub

You know you're a catfish freak when you eat at Red Lobster and all you see on the plate is potential bait!

Last night I experimented with cooked shrimp from the grocery store. Didn't pull anything in but they ate it from the hook pretty ravenously. Also tried a nightcrawler PLUS shrimp and this generated a good bite and fight, which I ultimately lost.

Any night on the river is a good night.


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