Article # 5 Catfish Bait : Baits For Trophy Catfish That Knock Em Dead! Details Here!
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Most people think catfish eat only stick and rotted baits and blood baits but that could not be further from the truth. Yes, cat fish do like stink and rotted catfish baits and catfish blood baits in certain fishing situations but these baits ar not there primary food source. Here’s a few examples of catfish baits that all catfish species will eat on a daily basis that work well when fishing them as live bait or as dead bait ,or cut bait, and they include such baits as nightcrawlers, suckers, chubs, shiners, goldfish, shad, skipjack herring, bluegills, catalpa worms, grasshoppers, leopard frogs, bullfrogs as cutbait, waterdogs, adult salamanders, crayfish, saltwater shrimp, clams, and blood baits.
There are allot of fisherman that think catfish feed mainly on dead and stinking food but that is a myth. It is very true that these type of baits do work well because of the catfish’s keen sense of smell for certain types of catfish in certain situations but the truth be told catfish consume much of their daily diet from live bait types that are natural to their environment.
Catfish are a predominate night feeder and some large catfish can be caught at night. Don’t think you need to concentrate all your cat fishing at night because catfish will also feed during the day and you can use a variety of catfish bait to catch them, particularly if they are living in muddy or stained waters. Catfish are a warm water fish are very active when the water temperature rises above 70 degrees. We will concentrate on the catfish baits commonly used for the following three species of catfish, the channel catfish, the blue catfish, and the flathead catfish but first we want to give you a brief background of each type.
Channel catfish are one of the most common sought after catfish by catfish anglers and the channel catfish species habitat has a very wide range. They live from the northern states all the way into the southern states, And from the East coast to the West Coast with the exception of only a few areas in the Rockies. The channel catfish has bluish gray or almost silver sides with small black dots. the anal fin is much much shorter then the blue cat, and the tail has a deep fork in it. Channel catfish grow very slowly compared to the blue catfish and the flathead catfish. It may take a channel catfish 9 years to reach 5lbs. There are some areas where the growth rate is much sooner but the norm is they grow slowly. Channel catfish have been known to live up to 40 years, but that many years is quite rare. The record channel catfish was caught July 7, 1964 in the Santee-Cooper Reservoir in South Carolina and weighed 58lbs. But If you are after a good eating catfish you are in luck. fish in the 1 1/2lb to 3lb range are the best eating size and they are quite tasty.
The record blue catfish was caught in may of 2005 in the Mississippi River and weighed in at 124 lbs. The blue catfish grows much faster then the channel catifsh and sizes in the 20lb range are not uncommon. Blue catfish love cut bait from large shiner minnows, sunfish, suckers, and carp, but blues will also hit on live baits as well. They also love blood baits and stink baits in special fishing situations. The blue catfish is typically a blueish gray color simalar to the channel catfish but without any spots. Also blue catfish has a much longer anal fin then the channel catfish.
The record flathead catfish was caught on may 14,1998 the weight was 123 lb 9 oz and the location was Elk City Reservoir, Kansas. The flathead can be caught in areas west of the Appalachian Mountains, in large rivers and their basins of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. Their range goes as far north as North Dakota, and as far west as Arizona, and south to the Gulf of Mexico including northeastern Mexico. Flathead catfish also go by other names such as the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat.Yellow cat will eat manily live bait fish adn grow increadilby large. Infact in some areas of the south they are very unpopular because they can wipe out entire populations of bluegill and bream. Flatheads love to live in to hide in deep pools, in lakes,and large slow-moving rivers. The flathead catfish has a wide flat looking head very small eyes and are very brownish color. They have more of a square tail and their jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw.
Well folks that concludes our summary article about catfish stink baits options We sincerely hope you use our fishing information on your next fishing trip Good Luck!
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