Cut or dip baits for cats?

[vrodharley77]

Question, what bait do you guys prefer to use for catfishing?

[hanson]

Cut sucker or shad have been very good channel cat baits around the metro. Can't go wrong with either of those on your line.

Dip baits, stink baits, dough baits, blood baits, and other prepared baits you might as well leave at home. For some reason, they work pretty good "down south" but our cats seam to prefer real meat around here. You can catch fish on this stuff but they are typically smaller.

[Flaco651]

Cut shad, creek chub, and sucker are my choice cutbaits.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

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Cut sucker or shad have been very good channel cat baits around the metro. Can't go wrong with either of those on your line.

Dip baits, stink baits, dough baits, blood baits, and other prepared baits you might as well leave at home. For some reason, they work pretty good "down south" but our cats seam to prefer real meat around here. You can catch fish on this stuff but they are typically smaller.

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I don't know if I would really say leave them at home. We fish for cats every weekend. Usually friday night and maybe saturday night, and sunday mornings. We bring both with, and usually do the same on both. If you don't mind the stink of the stink baits and getting it on your hands it works well. The only thing to look for his how thick it is. Some of it is hard to apply others it is easy and it lasts awhile in the water. I prefer stink baits over suckers any day. I personally have better luck 95% of the time using it. But since you can have 2 rods a person on the croix I usually have 1 stink, and one sucker out.

[ec30_06]

Good stink bait will catch a lot of channels cats during the day, but they tend to run on the smaller side. Cut bait is better for big fish and will usually outfish stinkbait after dark. I use sonny's and docs during the day and catch plenty of channels up to 24". My biggest off stink bait was 35", but that is a very rare occurence to get one that size with the stinky stuff.

[vrodharley77]

Ok thanks for all the great advice, I have always used cut bait and never tried the stink bait, I have only fished the St Croix once for cats and do most of my fishing out of the Mississippi near st paul park, any more advice on where on the Mississippi to get some bigger cats???? Thanks again

[South_Metro_Slayer]

anywhere

[UdeLakeTom]

Bullies....5-7 inchers

[Carp-fisher]

Meat department chicken liver is hard to beat for eater sized cats. Cut bait is best for larger sized cats.

[vrodharley77]

Any tips to keeping the chicken livers on the hook???? Also I have been boat fishing near shower in 5-8 feet of water am I to shallow should I try deeper??

Thanks again to everyone that has replied

[andrew chadwick]

pantyhose cut into squares. the same stuff that is used for salmon egg spawn sacs.

[jloomis]

bring some yarn and after you put the liver on wrap the yarn around the liver a couple of times and that will keep it from fallin off.

[Carp-fisher]

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Any tips to keeping the chicken livers on the hook???? Also I have been boat fishing near shower in 5-8 feet of water am I to shallow should I try deeper??

Thanks again to everyone that has replied

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I've always had decent luck by just keeping the liver on ice, so it stays nice and firm. Use a decent sized hook and pitch the liver gently with a sidearm cast. My late father had good luck with a circle hook. In minimal current situations, go weightless or use a small splitshot. In heavier current, a bell sinker works fine. I usually fish the liver with slack line and let the cat run a few feet first. Small cats and bullheads usually nip at the liver, but anything over a pound or so will eat it. Chicken and turkey liver work great for cats in the 1 to 5 pound range with an occasional 10 pounder or so.

[soft]

Do channel cats bite at night in the Twin City lakes, I have fished at nights in the DNR(listed) catfish lakes, i don't have much actions at all, but i caught some during evening hours, i use shrimps for bait. Should i use cut bait?.

Thanks.

[Grant Pearson]

I usually only fish river cats, maybe because of the fact that I don't know any metro lakes with cats in them. All my my cats have come on either large suckers (both whole and cut) and chicken livers. The chicken livers will usually stay on if you try threading them on, or if you use something like cheesecloth or pantyhose.

[Shack]

I had seen a fishing show (can not remeber name) were the host was guided for cats on the Red River. They were right up next to the dam and fishing with stink bait rigs (rubber/plastic ribbed) and dipping into home made bait. He would plunge rubber ribbed thing into stuff with knife. They caught come huge monster channels. This is what peaked my intrest in stink baits this year, but have not had that great of luck to be useing them again. The show I saw was on this last spring.

[sparcebag]

Soft get some suckers ask the bait shop for dead ones,normally free before the cat rage latly,or live cut in one inch chunks.Which stocked ponds ya tryin? LEOB off arlington is---was my favorite.

[Grant Pearson]

I had a bunch of luck last night in suckers and live bait. Probably a total of 20 cats landed, all on live bait. Hope that helps answer any questions.