quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
. . . I noticed the same thing. They are easier to catch than catfish with corn.

I wish corn worked on catfish. The channel cats in my pond are loath to bite any baited hook. I keep trying to get them all out of my pond.

I end up 'training' them to come to the edge with floating pond fish pellets then net the bastards. Still got about a dozen to get out yet.

quote:

I wish corn worked on catfish. The channel cats in my pond are loath to bite any baited hook. I keep trying to get them all out of my pond.

Try molding a pellet of soap over your hook; it works for our catfish and some of the largest Vundu have been caught with chunks of soap.

quote:

Originally posted by fulvio:

quote:

I wish corn worked on catfish. The channel cats in my pond are loath to bite any baited hook. I keep trying to get them all out of my pond.

Try molding a pellet of soap over your hook; it works for our catfish and some of the largest Vundu have been caught with chunks of soap.

You have obviously never seen the folks attending a MAGA rally . . . you are not going to be catching many diehard MAGAts with soap.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
. . . I noticed the same thing. They are easier to catch than catfish with corn.

To catch catfish with corn, first sour the corn by soaking it in a bucket with water, some sugar and yeast. Maybe add a can of beer. Let 1t ferment (foment for MAGAs) for about a week. It will sink so use it for chum. Bait the hook with something like Charlies stink bait.

Cubes of ZOTE soap works well on a trotline, left over night.

You're correct, Mike, MAGA would never use ZOTE soap. It's Mexican. So, use Ivory - it's white.

What does MAGA and catfish have in common? They like stink and bottom feeding.

So, bait with something stinky and fish on the bottom.

Catfish feeding topwater also have something in common with MAGA. Floaters. As Ann explained - Trained Opportunists, easily captured en masse by a demagogue's Caste Net.

https://www.motherjones.com/po...thright-citizenship/
Trump’s American Caste System
If the administration’s birthright citizenship executive order is implemented, “there will be a new kind of stratification” in the United States.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385547383
Their Accomplices Wore Robes: How The Supreme Court Chained Black America to the Bottom of a Racial Caste System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...s_of_Our_Discontents

You can catch catfish with soap as bait I never knew that … why would they find soap attractive ??

We catch them here on chunks of processed meat or oily fish, anything smelly/ oily, but these are European Wels catfish that get huge, 5 ft isn’t uncommon and they have been caught up to 7-8 ft and 100kg.

Old style soaps are made from fats. I guess thats why it works .. don't know. And never tried... white cheddar popcorn on tiny hooks gives fantastic results for pan fish

I guess that makes sense - learn something new every day

quote:

Originally posted by nute:
You can catch catfish with soap as bait I never knew that … why would they find soap attractive ??

We catch them here on chunks of processed meat or oily fish, anything smelly/ oily, but these are European Wels catfish that get huge, 5 ft isn’t uncommon and they have been caught up to 7-8 ft and 100kg.

The best catfish bait I ever tried was a catalpa worm. They live on catalpa trees, eating the leaves.

We used to catch channel cats on spinning lures regularly.

Guys, thanks for the catfishing tips!

Damn things are good eating but damage the banks so they gotta come out.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:

quote:

Originally posted by nute:
You can catch catfish with soap as bait I never knew that … why would they find soap attractive ??

We catch them here on chunks of processed meat or oily fish, anything smelly/ oily, but these are European Wels catfish that get huge, 5 ft isn’t uncommon and they have been caught up to 7-8 ft and 100kg.

The best catfish bait I ever tried was a catalpa worm. They live on catalpa trees, eating the leaves.

We used to catch channel cats on spinning lures regularly.

Jeffee's correct about the old time soap, it has organic fat as base ingredient. It also has additives to make it smell good to us. It must not smell bad to catfish. I've read the the big bars of Ivory soap work, but I've only used ZOTE, both pink and white - I see no difference in results. Some say there is a difference, but I haven't witnessed it.

It's easy to deal with and cheap and clean. Just cut into chunks and bait up. In my experience I have only caught fish using soap on trotlines. It works all year here. I speculate the reason is the trotlines I use are baited overnight, and they feed best at night. I bait up late afternoon and get off the river before dark, and get up early to check lines. My theory is that the soap needs to soak a while and disburse the scent.

I have caught catfish on bare hooks recently baited with soap and all but the sent washed away. So, when I don't plan on checking lines on a particular day, I remove the hooks the previous day and leave the main line until I'm ready to quit for a while..

Another thing or two --- in my experience I've caught practically all channel catfish on soap. Maybe a blue or two - I don't remember for sure. But I've caught zero flathead on soap. So I figure it won't work well on all species. I've tried cut bait, chicken livers and breast soaked in jello, and other commercial sent concoctions, fish oil, etc. and for channel catfish in this region nothing produces as good as ZOTE.

Another thing is that soap doesn't catch turtles or gar or mud fish. Cut bait does.

Cut bait will catch most species, but blues best and flathead sometimes. I've had good luck with the heads off bream or crappie - leave the guts attached. But that catches turtles in summer too.

Live bait is for flatheads, and the big channel and blues.

When I fish with a rod and reel, unless I'm after flatheads, I use those plastic worm-like thingys dipped in a stink bait, refreshed often. There's several on the market, Secret 7, Charlies, and others. I hate treble hooks - too hard to remove. I use circle hooks, Carolina or Santee Cooper rigs. That way I can remove the hook from the fish with a tool and a flick of my wrist, straight into the cooler or livewell or released and not have to touch it right then.

When I was a kid, we used to hunt for the catalpa worms and go to great trouble to get them. Of course they are seasonal, and they are not as plentiful as they used to be - too many ag pesticides and such. I still have catalpa trees in my yard. Crawfish are really good bait too. Of course there is always earthworms or night crawlers. We used to grunt them out of the soil. I have used tomato worms too, and grass hoppers.

Soap and bait purchased at the local bait shop is much easier.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Guys, thanks for the catfishing tips!

Damn things are good eating but damage the banks so they gotta come out.

Could it be some other critter damaging the banks?

Such as: nutria

BTW, I read/hear nutria are good eating too.

https://www.google.com/search?...sclient=gws-wiz-serp

We had a meeting yesterday with the Courts and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services here.

The belief is Medicaid cuts will reduce medical care to children in foster care.

As for catfish, Tobby Warms. They are yellow and black and found on catalpa trees.