| Catfishing is great fun, and you can do it almost | | | | especially stuff that is stinky. They have serious |
| anywhere. Once you get used to it, you'll be | | | | noses on them, and they love smelly stuff like |
| amazed how many you can take home, and how | | | | shrimp, guts, other fish, bits of tuna, hot dogs, |
| many big suckers you get. Here are some basic | | | | etc. |
| tips everybody should know about catfishing to | | | | - Switch up your bait. Just like human beings, |
| get more bites. | | | | catfish get sick of eating the same old thing all |
| - Timing is everything. Go out and fish in the early | | | | the time. If you rotate your bait every now and |
| mornings and evenings. That's when catfish are | | | | then and experiment with new things, you'll get |
| looking for food, like you're bait. At those times, | | | | lots more bites. They aren't picky eaters, they'll |
| they come into the shallows where they're easier | | | | eat just about anything. |
| to catch. You can always catch cats at any time | | | | - The right hook. In general, if you want to catch |
| of the day, but it takes lots more skill. | | | | bigger fish, you should use bigger hooks. For |
| - Go where the cats are. If you are fishing in a | | | | catfish, the best hooks to use are 3/0 or 4/0. A |
| stream, look for a deep spot. Catfish tend to | | | | little experimenting will give you a better idea for |
| hang out along the bottom and look for food | | | | yourself. Compared with other kinds of fish, it's |
| there. If you are fishing near a river, try casting | | | | pretty easy to catch catfish with smaller hooks, |
| your line right around where the river spills into | | | | so I would go small to begin with. You'll catch |
| the creek. This is where you'll find lots of those | | | | some big fish with small hooks, but if the hooks |
| river cats looking for food. | | | | are too big, you won't get any of the little ones. |
| - Catching cats in a river. The best place to catch | | | | - Chumming. This is a technique that will definitely |
| catfish in a river is just upstream from some kind | | | | get you more bites. Chum is little balls of prepared |
| of obstruction, like rocks or log jams. This is an | | | | fish food that you can either buy at a shop or |
| area where they'll be creeping around on the | | | | make yourself. All you do is throw the chum into |
| bottom looking for food, moving more slowly, and | | | | the water and then fish like you regularly do. The |
| it's more likely that they'll find your lure. If you're | | | | chum will attract the cats and you can sit back |
| going to fish on the open river, you can catch | | | | and reel them in. It takes a bit of trial and error, |
| cats this way too, but it's better if there's been a | | | | because some spots are better for chumming |
| recent rain. | | | | than others. |
| - Use live baits. Catfish prefer live baits, and | | | | |