Catfish help

Waterdogs man!! Or some live newts work untill they die, then not as much!! Try to find the waterdogs!! Youll kill em!!

free line live blue gills, about the size of your hand
circle hook behind the dorsal
5 gal bucket of blue gills will get you through the nte
fish shallow right on the weed beds     keep moving
dont stick around and wait unless your tired.

I can attest to this proven method as I had the pleasure to fish for catfish w John
and caught a 12 and1/2 pounder

Waterdogs man!! Or some live newts work untill they die, then not as much!! Try to find the waterdogs!! Youll kill em!!

 Haven't seen a water dog in years ! I forgot about those bad boys

Chicken liver is a great warm-water catfish bait.  So is cut bait (fish) of just about any kind.  When the water cools, I use cut bait almost exclusively.  Carolina rig your bait, then sloooowly drag it along the bottom.  This can be very effective during the day, when cats might be chilling in a hole on the bottom and not actively prowling.  Channel cats love structure, so try to get near some rocks or sunken timber.  When they go on the prowl at night, fish shallow--as in, a few feet of water.  When the sun's up, fish a bit deeper because catfish are very sensitive to light.

I've had success with live minnows for catfish, but in my experience, cut bait outfishes live minnows 4 to 1 (however, my biggest cat from Clear Lake last year fell to a live minnow).  I think it's because of the cut bait's scent trail.  Among the many things that make catfish distinct from other fishes is the number of taste buds on them.  Think of their entire body as one giant "tongue", because they are literally COVERED with taste buds well beyond the whiskers.  Try to capitalize on their water-tasting ability by using smelly/oily baits that'll produce a scent trail.

Good luck out there Kris!  I love me some good ole fashioned catfishin  .

. Awesome thank you definitely will give it a shot thanl you for all the words of wisdom! 

Where you heading for them Kris?

. More than likely New malones

Any of those shallow coves, use chicken liver or anchovies, both work. As little weight as possible. Should catch a bunch.

I've had good luck around sunset with a 1/2 oz. chartreuse chatterbait.

Love it when you catch'm with a lure.

We are going to be up there tonight being that the ocean is blown out, I will post up how we do Kris! 

Kris here is what works for me. Short  leader with a solid tied hook on the bottom and a sliding hook above it . Cut the head  and tail off of an anchovie  slice it from  the bellie to the backbone but don't cut all the way leave the skin in tact. Take the bottomed tied hook up from the skin side of the butterflies anchovies then the sliding hook from the half of the butterflies  anchovie. Attach the leader to your line and cast without any weight leave your bail open let the fish run until you can't stand it no more click in your reel. This system works well .

We caught a bunch of small ones sat night. Two cans of chicken livers used up in about two hours. Talked to biologist, she said angel creek arm is the place to go. Hope that helps 

Waterdogs man!! Or some live newts work untill they die, then not as much!! Try to find the waterdogs!! Youll kill em!!

Waterdogs or salamanders are illegal statewide in California. Pretty sure

Yep, Bottom of page 6

Kris, fresh chicken livers work great for me. The trick is getting them onto the hook. I wanted to show you a simple roe loop knot at Albion but never got around to it. With this knot you can lasso a big gob of liver onto your hook, and it will be heavy enough to easily cast out w/o any weight. If there's any wind it could mess with your presentation, then you might have to use some weight.
Another sweet bait is freezer burnt salmon. No need for the loop knot then. A NCKA pal also turned me onto cooked shrimp as a good bait. You can eat it too!
I also prefer large, barbless circle hooks.
Oh, I just remembered, slip bobbers with your bait are also very effective and great fun.
Let us know how you do.