Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Anyone here chase Big Catfish?

Curious as to bait choice.

Hooked into a couple of very large fish apparently lately, broke a hook and bent another...I know, I bought some REALLY heavy 'Catmaxx' hooks 6/0 baitholder the other day at Basspro so should be solved.

Also using a couple of spinning rods for saltwater, very heavy, 10 feet....overkill perhaps, but my brother loaned them..figured anything short of an alligator...I should be ok!

I used Live Bream I caught, but wondering if anyone has better ideas?

Fishing is in a large local river btw. Thanks for any replies.

I love chasing them.

I fish the tidal portion of the James quite a bit, and we have big Blue cats, and in the upper portion, some very respectable Flatheads.

6/0 is on the small end, I prefer an 8/0 Gamakatsu circle. I use Gizzard shad, which is very plentiful locally, but Bluegill is a good choice, either cut or whole. If you are after Flatheads, you almost have to use live Bluegill.

The spawn here seems to be winding down, and the big 'uns are beginning to bite again. We went last night and boated a 26, 31, 44, and a 50 pounder.

Last night:


How I will typically set up:


Time to get busy!! Check out third rod from left:

A rundown on what I use for equipment.

Your saltwater gear is probably a good choice. I use 6 identical rods, A Shakespeare Ugly Stick Tiger BWC 2201 rod, Penn 320 Reel, Sufix 40 lb test mono (Superior) with a Sufix 80 lb test leader about 18 to 20 inches long, the aforementioned 8/0 Gamakatsu (which I debarb), and depending on current and bottom, anywhere from an 8 to 16 ounce river sinker, which is a no-roll type.

I have the sinker on a sinker slider, with a 2/0 swivel and then the leader. This lets the fish grab the bait and run without having to carry the sinker.

Bluegill and livers when i'm fishing rivers...

Great info guys, Vic - you did Well!!! Congrats. Also, what length is that rod? Heavy action/stiffness?

I am getting a hunch my live bluegill is attracting some big fish based on some recent hits (big fish) and not getting smaller fish to pay as much notice. Was wondering if I should try 'cut bait' vs live bream. May try a cast net for shad next.

Looks like the heavy gear you use Vic is a solid combo that lands big fish. Guessing that pic above is the 50lb'er?

Thanks for the info.

Correct, that is the 50 lb'er, my first "citation" sized fish since the spawn began. I had caught a few 20's and teens, but nothing in the 30's or above until Saturday night.

A cast net for shad would be a good idea. We are allowed to use gill nets(shad only, bluegills must be caught with tackle), and during the warmer months, you must limit the "soak", or you will have too many shad. Though plentiful, I don't like to waste a resource. I'd rather put the net, or part of it, out later if bait is running low instead of throwing away good bait.

Cut bait has always worked good for me, with the heads and, oddly enough, the tail portions(without tailfin) working best. The gut pockets do ok, but I guess the higher blood content of the other two parts put more scent in the water. I've used eels before, but have never hooked anything in the 30's with that bait, so I don't use them much. It's a good Striper bait, though.

The rod is a 7' one piece medium. Medium heavy, to my taste, is too stiff, and medium light is too light. It is strictly my preference, other actions will, of course, work well. Same thing with the reels, I prefer baitcasters, but the spinning rigs will work.

I hope you get hooked onto some real pigs out there, good luck.

Vic

Yeah, I need to check laws on the bluegill/net, been using an UL rod w/small jig and little piece of cut bait - really gets alot of hits, I'd just like to gather bait asap so I can have bait on a hook asap

I had a medium rod the other day when I broke one 2/0 hook and later a better hook - BENT and lost that fish. I felt like I hooked an army tank underwater, the rod was BENT like a circle! Lol. Never knew what or how big, but guessing a big cat - on the Red River in NW La, we have Alligator gar and other fish that are large as well. Just no telling. I did get a 7ft Med/Hvy rod the other day to try, a Bass Pro Enigma M6, new series, only 29.99!

I had thought of getting a large Pflueger or 2 spinning. The 2 my brother loaned, one a shimano, the other a quantum, very large, prolly overkill, but if I do hook a really big fish, I'd like to be equipped to handle it.

My bro sd that low oxygen in the summer makes that a big fish will often only fight hard 5-10 minutes. What was your experience w/those big cats?

I was STOKED when I lost those 2, never hooked anything that large save Halibut in Alaska, so I am sorta addicted just wanting to land a big one for the fun of it.

Thanks much Vic.

Sounds like you're getting hooked, all puns aside..

My experience with the big cats is that they all are different. Of the 4 caught Saturday, the 26 lb'er put up the most spirited fight, charging and then passing the boat! I've never had that happen. The 44 lb'er acted like he was hog-tied, which sometimes happens when you have a lot of lines out and they swim into one, but he wasn't, just a lazy fight. The 50 came on in until he saw the boat, then he really torqued!! I mean, he ripped drag and went straight to the bottom. When he got to the back of the boat and decided to go, that big ol' tail put about 5 gallons in the boat.

I have never had any issues with the Gamakatsu hook, but I can only vouch for 88 lbs.

That Bass Pro rod would be excellent with (what I prefer in spinning) a 7000 series reel. I have been looking real close at a Penn Battle. I have a Bass Pro Bill Dance catfishing 7000 series on an 8 foot one piece rod that I don't use much, so thought about another Ugly Stick and a Penn to use out of the sides. They would cast further than the baitcasters I'm using, so I could conceivably widen my "footprint" on the river, but, man, 8 rods is a lot for one person to take care of. I've had doubles before, and damned if fishing like that can't wear you out!!!

Oh, and get a BIG net.

Ha - Vic, by your post, I can see you have caught the 'Cat' bug too! Lol. 88lbs is impressive!

I don't have a big net but I was considering what 40gr of lead might do to take c/o any remaining fight...but I suppose that's not a viable option.

I guess I need to get a big net to seal the deal if I get one about landed. Thanks for all the info.

We throw 'em back, catch 'em another day.

Those big ones are not very good eating, and besides, the James had a PCB advisory for anything over 10 lbs. Around 5lbs or so is the best eating.

Enjoy catching those big cats. I'm taking my Daughter out tomorrow night with the express purpose of her landing her first citation. The biggest she's ever caught has been about 5 lbs, so she might be in for an awakening.

Be my luck, she'll hook a triple digit......

I chase flatheads now and again here in Wisconsin. Just a few times a year though. Skeeters can kill me. I use an Ocean master Sea Lion salt water pole with a Penn 113 Senator and 80 lb test. My smallest hook is a 7/0 Mustad and after they're gone my smallest is an Eagle Claw 254N 8/0 size. For bigger bait I go 10/0. The reason I go so big is I lost some fish that seemed huge. Most likely better than 50 lbs., maybe 60. I fish up from blow downs so a cat doesn't need to go far to get back in the tangle. I'm heading to the "Missy" and will do a bit of catn ant night. On the Wisconsin River near Portage I use small channel cats for bait. It is illegal to catch bait in one water and use some where else cause of VHS. I think it's a hoax though. On the Missy we catch all the bluegills we want so we will use those. Get back to Y'all southern guys Monday when I get back. Wish I had the catn you guys have.

Hope you did/do well Vic w/daughter, and you too ihookem.

Thanks for posts guys.

We didn't get any fish. Got one good pulldown, but it didn't hook up, and I think she tired of the game after that. She kept pestering me to go in, so I did. I told her it was likely to be slow with the fish just coming out of spawn.

I think she likes continually catching small fish, rather that 4 or 5 bruisers.

I'm the opposite. I'll be back out all night Saturday, so I can seriously chase them.

Take care

Last 2 times I had zero hits, fish about the last 2 hrs of the day usually when I go. Good luck next time out!

Just 2 little flatheads this time. Sunday we go to the Wisconsin River when we go just for flatheads. Biggest thing is catching bait though.

I use a Salt Striker spinning reel on a 10 ft. Cabellas King Kat rod, a Garcia 6000 on an Ugly Cat rod, and several Garcia 5000 reels on med rods for my catfishing. I run line from 30 lb down to 15 lb.

When fishing for blues I use 50lb leader, a no roll sinker, cigar float, 7-0 circle hook baited with fresh shad, cut carp, or perch.






For channels I normally use punch bait on a treble hook below a float or a worm sinker / slip rig on the bottom. I toss out sour grain to help hold them in the area. This is when I use the lighter line (15-17lb) and tackle.

This was a few years ago. I still have that 67 Mustang too.

We used to catch more Channels, but the introduction of the Blues has seemed to had an impact on that.

Though not as large as a Blue, a Channel can put up a worthy fight.

Your tackle sounds very similar to what is used here.

We use stink bait teasers to get them to come to the surface, then whack 'em with a Sharps...

SHrapnel, is that even legal? Not that I care. I'm going again tomorrow but just for channel cats. Some pics of the "MISSY last week. Cooked gills for dinner and threw oin a small flathead and a sheapshead. The sheaphead was just as good as the rest.N