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Shad, cut shad, Shad guts


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This. Also, minnows will catch any of them.

Cubed Cantor?

Because of the possibility of introducing something we don't want, Idaho prohibits using live fish for bait along with stuff like leeches, frogs, & shrimp. An exception is crayfish and only if caught in the water where you're fishing.

As mentioned previously catalpa worms are good. One thing I used to do was to take a kitchen match..(if people still know what those are..or maybe..were) push it through the worm and turn it inside out. Lets the juices flow.

we fish the palmunkey river near richmond va. last week for 2 days and came home with 40lb of fillets. we use cut eel. we buy them live at the bait shop . they are about a foot long,cut the in 1in chunks. they almost impossible to pull off a hook. some use shrimp,clam snouts,cut perch,herring,shad. any kind of fresh fish works really well. catch what ever is available and cut into chunks. use cicle hooks and they will hardly ever get off the hook.

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Yep..... and Catalpa skins are tough enough to withstand being chewed on by quite a few fish.... I do however like fishing with cheese dogs or cheddar brats..... raw of course..

Catalpa worms.

You can also take a wad of chsitty terlot paper and cinch it up into some panty hose

Mmmmm, and fish below the WWTP outfall

Zote is right on soap... or homemade bait soap, with Anise if possible for channels

Amazed no one mentioned, that I saw, regular old worms, use em all the time. And any grasshopper but the green ones seem not as good as regular grasshoppers.

Best by far for channels are helgramites

We always use O'ROYS dog food chunks for our trot lines and have always had good luck with it.

On a side note, I don't know how many channel cats I've caught with Ivory soap, but that was always on bush hooks and trotlines.

We had a piece of piano wire strung between 2 nails in an old stump that we used to shave pieces off the bar with.

^

If you wanna use soap, Zote is the ticket.

I think I have used Zote before. It's been awhile. I think we used that some on the Chattahoochee.

Should add that soap worked better in the rivers.

My grandfather fished for Channel cats for decades. His bait of choice was rotten nasty smelling liver.

I have also taken the first bluegill or bream I catch and hack em up. Seen channel cats chasing sunfish before as I reeled em in while strictly panfishing.

Made me think, hmmmm I guess I could try this yet. It worked.

You use to be able to buy a gallon of blood($1) at the local slaughter house for cat fish bait. Cut squares of cotton cloth, put a glob of blood on it, fold the ends and tie with string, ready to fish.

Some would "cook" the blood to make it firm enough to stay on the hook. Probably how many commercial cat fish baits are made today.

Aficionados of catalpa worms might enjoy this article:
CATALPA WORMS