Catfishing experiment

[DEER 24/7]

waffles try this place http://www.catfish1.com/forums/forum.php

right now channels and blues should be spawning(shallow water around brush,rocks,reeds,ect
fish accordley

 

[Deer Slayer]

If you go to the catfish forum search for jug making and you should find the post on making jugs out of swim noodles. You need the "giant size " which is 4" in diameter and purchase orange,lime green and yellow or pink. Orange and lime show up well at a distance.

 

[wkenneth]

Had pretty good luck at Cleveland Lake and Pawnee Lake this last weekend. Caught about 15 or so. Saturday night went out for about 3 hours and caught 8 or 9. Last night I went out and caught 6. Was using chicken livers.

 

[wkenneth]

Hey guys, What suggestions can you give to a newbie fishing for cats? I want to run jugs and fish rod and reel at my local lakes(Wes Watkins and Shawnee Twin lakes) Is there a sight maybe that tells me how to set up jugs? I figure I may get a few jugs from walmart,seems like an easy way to start. I know most everyone makes their own but like I said I am new to fishing for cats.

Right now I'm set up using a 6'6 rod and a spincast reel strung w/ 8lb flourocarbon line and I think 4/0 catfish hooks. (I'm considering going up to 12-14lb line) I personally prefer the offset hooks, but some people like regular hooks. I feel like I get better hook sets with the offset. I like the spincast reel better because I put the line around my finger and can feel the catfish hit better. Only thing that really takes practice is knowing when the catfish is biting at your bait vs taking the hook. I have yet to try the hotdog trick posted in this thread but I think I'll give that a shot soon. Dropshot rigs are also handy on turbulent water or on windy days.

I dont use any of the premade baits or pastes because I havent found that they work terribly well. I've tried a handful and made the decision that its not my thing. Lots of people also swear by cut shad. Never had much luck with that either although I'm willing to try anything again and again. Because some days, you never know.

Currently use chicken liver due to personal experience that it works really well. For some reason I also pour some of the blood from the container into the lake. I'm not sure why I do that. I like to think of catfish like I think of sharks, they come running when they smell blood. I dunno. I currently think its just superstition...like paying a toll to the fish gods or something. Besides, what do I want with a quart of chicken blood anyway. I'd rather have a beer.

In the end, do what works for you. Maybe try treble hooks if you dont like the catfish hooks, hotdogs, corn, dog food, worms, I've even caught catfish on rooster tails.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Deer Slayer]

A buddy that I catfish with has been trotlining for the last several nights with garlic weinies and he caught 20 tonight, many were 6-8#s each, and 8 last night. He figures he has between 60 - 70 lbs of fillets in the freezer since Saturday. He is hooked on weinies now because shad are hard to find. He said he is making almost a daily trip to the store for cheap weinies. I have created a monster. LOL. Just wait until the hoppers are big enough. I expect his catch rate will triple.

btw wkenneth "what do you do with a quart of chicken blood?" You dip sponges in it and use for bait. You are right catfish are like sharks when it comes to having blood in the water. I sometimes use chunks of congealed beef blood that I make into cubes the size of a small twinkie and drift with it. Those blues hammer it.

 

[wkenneth]

btw wkenneth "what do you do with a quart of chicken blood?" You dip sponges in it and use for bait. You are right catfish are like sharks when it comes to having blood in the water. I sometimes use chunks of congealed beef blood that I make into cubes the size of a small twinkie and drift with it. Those blues hammer it.

Sounds like I need to learn how to make blood twinkies. Tonight while I was fishing I considered the possibilities with the leftover blood...I thought about adding flour and/or cornstarch to make some sort of blood paste. Thats about as far as I got. It was pretty decent fishing this evening.

 

[Deer Slayer]

wkenneth- There are several ways to make blood bait. The method I use is to go to a meat packer and ask him if you supplied a 5 gallon bucket and lid would he catch the fresh blood when he has killed a cow. Tell him to please catch the fresh hot blood as it is draining until it just starts to get watery. Pull the bucket out from under the cow and immediately put on the lid and place it in the cooler for a day. This allows the blood to clot into a big chunk of "jello". Place the bucket on a piece of plywood or similar surface and gently ring the bucket with a fillet knife or hack saw blade to release the clot from the bucket. Now gently tip the bucket over and allow the surface water/material to drain off. Gently let the clot slide onto the board and start slicing the clot into "pies". The clot will remind you of a giant can of gelled cranberry sauce. I cut my slices approx. 2" thick and lay the piece on the board and slice into strips approx 2" thick. Now you have a 2" X 2" strip which I cut into pieces approx 3" long. Place the chunks into a empty ice cream bucket or plastic pail and frezze it until I am ready to use. The freezing and thawing process dehydrates the blood drawing out additional liquid.It toughens the bait. You can use and refreeze the baits several times and it will continue to toughen. You can add some rock salt/ice cream salt too and this helps.
To drift fish these blood baits buy some #1 or @ #2 treble hooks and find some flat dacron fishing line. The dacron line does not cut the blood bait like mono does. Next take a piece of bailing wire or I use a piece of wire from survey flags(thin wire) and bend a tiny hook on the end with a pair of needle nose pliers. Next tie on a 8 - 10" leader of dacron line to the treble hook and then add a real small swivel to the end of the leader. To install the blood bait chunk on the hook just skewer the chunk with your wire bait needle and hook the swivel on the hook. Pull the swivel thru the blood and slide the chunk down onto the treble. Now push the hook completely into the blood completing the package. DO NOT CAST THIS or it will fly apart.
To drift fish the blood gently lift the chunk out of the bucket into the lake with your hand and pay out your line some 80' or so depending on the depth you want to fish. Hold on to your rod the cats thump the bait pretty hard and you set the hook immediately. Remember where is the hook? at the bottom of the bait. How do you know the fish has fully engulfed the bait? Catfish have no hands. The blood will stay on the hook quite well while you drift. I use a drift sock or two to slow my drift if the wind gets above 10 or 12 mph. I have drifted in 25 mph winds dragging a sock and and an anchor and clobbered the channels in a shallow lake in Nebraska. BTW I set my plastic pail in a plastic dish pan so as not to spill or drip blood on my carpet when I am baiting up. Trust me you do NOT want to spill your bucket of blood in the boat. Been there and done that.

 

[wkenneth]

Ralphs meat packing co is just a stones throw away from work. If you can throw a stone from Stillwater to Perkins I guess. I might hit them up and see if they can get me some blood.

 

[Deer Slayer]

Wkenneth- LOL, Ralph's is were I generally get my blood. The fellas there know exactly what you want and how to do it. It has been a couple of years since I made any blood bait and there was a man at Ralph's that was a great help to me. He may have left I dont know.

 

[brennan]

How many jug lines is good to set out and how often do you check them?