| I’ve caught cats to over 110 pounds on | | | | ‘fermenting’ your baits. This actually |
| homemade baits and over 25 above 60 pounds | | | | creates new flavours on and in the baits and |
| here in the UK so I know these baits work! | | | | release more amino acids, sugars alcohols, |
| Making your own homemade baits has massive | | | | flavours etc. All very attractive! |
| advantages and I find the similarities between | | | | You can try this with anything from herring or |
| catfish and homemade big carp bait design has | | | | squid chunks to boilies. All you are really doing is |
| many very effective similarities. | | | | heating the baits for a while to get bacterial |
| You have full control over just how unique and | | | | enzyme activity working on starting to break |
| potentially powerfully attracting these baits can be. | | | | down the bait. It seriously stinks and works a |
| These baits may be very simple or complicated, | | | | treat! (But don’t go spilling your squid in the |
| but they all catch to varying degrees of success, | | | | car like I did, and you are best handling baits with |
| some perhaps catching you more larger catfish! | | | | gloves!) |
| Catfish are very fast growing fish and are | | | | Many types of boilies will catch big catfish including |
| especially in need of baits that supply energy and | | | | those of meat, fish, and shellfish varieties. The |
| digestible protein. The many types of tinned | | | | poultry types like chicken seem popular right now. |
| meats in your larder will do great for a basic start. | | | | If you wish to enhance your boilies potential for |
| Natural moving baits like worms species and | | | | catching catfish I cannot recommend enough |
| maggots are often used. | | | | liquidizing squid and soaking your baits in this or in |
| Untold big catfish have been hooked on luncheon | | | | liver powder or squid extract powder plus amino |
| meat, spam and similar variations on this pork | | | | acid supplement like ‘Minamino,’ along with |
| theme. Meat meals in carp fishing baits are rapidly | | | | some pure salmon oil and sea salt. |
| gaining favour as fish meals and shellfish meals | | | | Having said that, many preparatory preparations |
| become less sustainable and these are very | | | | have the same effect as the above. It does |
| successful for catfish too. | | | | seem to me that catfish fishing is very largely |
| Many dried and tinned cat and dog foods make | | | | about soaking as much attraction into your baits |
| excellent catfish baits and are specially full of | | | | as possible (including pellets) and ground baiting |
| taste enhancers and enzymes (like betaine) and | | | | specifically to get your swim ‘alive’ with |
| bacteria to make the food as palatable, tasty and | | | | small fish to draw in the big catfish. This method |
| attractive and digestible as possible. In fact I | | | | may take some time or not! |
| researched this area for carp baits and discovered | | | | But I have regularly caught enough big catfish on |
| in some brands that up to half the ingredients | | | | this method to satisfy me. |
| were actually ‘commercially produced | | | | ‘Live-baiting’ is not my thing. I once fished |
| bacteria.’ | | | | a 2 pound gold fish supplied by a fishery, on a |
| In one instance there were twelve types of this | | | | water that held a catfish in excess of 100 pounds. |
| in one canned dog food and this demonstrates | | | | All I could think was – this is just wrong! |
| just how important they are to great taste | | | | I find that fishing over sweetcorn is interesting in |
| development (for dogs) and better digestibility. | | | | that catfish seem to enjoy eating it too, although |
| Match fishermen have used pellet type soft cat | | | | I realise many anglers reading this may prefer |
| food extremely successfully for similar reasons | | | | fermented maize or pellets of many descriptions. |
| I’m sure. | | | | One memorable session I had was when I baited |
| There seems no doubt that these fish love fatty | | | | up with fermented herring and squid pieces of |
| meats. But it interesting to note that some | | | | about one centimetre in diameter. I never saw so |
| brands catch more fish than others. This may be | | | | many tench bubbling on the baited area for hour |
| due to their better digestibility and solubility and | | | | after hour! |
| breakdown and release of attractive amino acids, | | | | Tench seem like catfish magnets and this activity |
| oils and bait fragments into the water. | | | | produced the biggest catfish in the lake not |
| Liver and congealed blood baits are very popular | | | | surprisingly! |
| and the high protein content and massive amino | | | | After so many cat fishing experiences and big |
| acid leak-ff contribute much to their success. I | | | | captures, I can honestly say, that I believe they |
| may sound funny, but the wels catfish here in | | | | can learn to avoid some baits in certain rich water |
| Europe and the UK are primarily surface feeding | | | | situations if they get hooked on the same bait a |
| predators, sneaking up and ambushing potential | | | | few times, and I would always keep rotating and |
| prey from near the surface. | | | | changing my baits and attractors. |
| They can spend long periods of inactivity between | | | | To this end I leverage my experience and |
| ‘feeding binges’ and I find carp are much | | | | knowledge in designing baits for carp and very |
| easier to catch regularly because their feeding | | | | often fish paste or dough type baits which I |
| seems far more regular. That is my observation | | | | know offer superior attractor leak-off of those all |
| using home made baits on the bottom or in | | | | important essential amino acids, minerals, oils etc |
| buoyant form, from about 8 years of fishing for | | | | and very often provide far quicker results for big |
| catfish. I have even caught fish to 40 pounds on | | | | carp and catfish too. I now rate designed paste |
| the surface itself. | | | | bait, maximizing certain aspect of catfish essential |
| On one occasion, I used a very large garlic | | | | dietary requirements, over any other bait. |
| sausage bait which was sandwiched between | | | | In fact I hooked the Wintons Kingfisher Lake (UK) |
| foam to make it float. I had set-up fishing in the | | | | record cat, just 10 minutes after arriving, I believe |
| dark, and while in the still dark early morning hours | | | | purely due to the massive leak-off of specialist |
| I began to get lots of ‘line bites’ this | | | | attraction ingredients and additives from the bait |
| went on for a while as waited with baited breath. | | | | and PVA bag paste baits and powders exploited |
| As the first rays of day lit the foggy morning I | | | | to maximise attraction and pulling power of the |
| could see that my baits which were only 2 yards | | | | hook bait area. |
| from my own bank side, were actually sitting | | | | Well, these are just some very basic things to |
| upon a dense bed of Canadian pondweed and so | | | | start you on your way instead of you religiously |
| in fact one bait was half out of the water! | | | | using whatever it is that perhaps is the reason |
| I put this down to another lesson of not wishing | | | | you are reading this article. |
| to shine a light at the water to check, and | | | | Bait testing, experimentation and taking risks with |
| accepted it feeling positive that the catfish would | | | | new bait variations and versions while also utilising |
| track it down if they really wanted it. Half an hour | | | | a control bait that you trust, will definitely |
| later that bait was gulped down and a very | | | | massively multiply your results and keep you |
| hard-fighting 40 plus pound catfish graced the net! | | | | permanently ahead of the catfish and the crowd! |
| There are so many opinions about catfish baits | | | | This fishing bait secrets ebooks author has many |
| and I can only tell you my opinions based on my | | | | more fishing and bait secrets in his bait secrets |
| captures. One thing I will emphasise as in carp | | | | ebooks available now - so read on! |
| baits, is the use of ‘curing’ or part | | | | |