Most anglers know that catfish can live and grow in ponds, but do catfish spawn in ponds naturally, or do pond owners have to keep introducing new fish? The answer is more complicated than it first appears. Catfish are capable of reproducing in ponds, but successful reproduction is not guaranteed. In fact, many stocked ponds…
If you’ve ever landed a catfish and heard a croak, squeak, grunt, or strange grinding sound, the obvious question is: why do catfish make noise? The sound can be surprisingly loud when the fish is out of the water. It may even seem as though the catfish is somehow vocalizing. In many cases, however, the…
Catfishing with goldfish is a genuine live-bait tactic rather than just another strange bait experiment. In places where using them is legal, goldfish can be used for large blue catfish and flathead catfish, particularly when the goal is to present an active baitfish around deep holes, current breaks, or heavy cover. There is one important…
Catfishing with shrimp is a simple way to turn an ordinary grocery-store bait into a legitimate catfish offering. Raw shrimp can be fished whole or cut into smaller pieces, works well on basic bottom rigs, and is especially useful when channel catfish are the target. You do not need live shrimp, an elaborate marinade, or…
A baitcaster can be an excellent reel for catfishing, especially when heavy rigs, strong line and larger fish are involved. Here is how to choose, set up and fish one properly.
Good fishing tips for catfish should help you make a few decisions before the bait ever enters the water: which catfish you are targeting, where that fish is likely to be, what it is likely to eat, and how to present the bait effectively. That matters because channel catfish, blue catfish and flathead catfish do…
Catfishing with stink bait is one of the simplest ways to target channel catfish, but the bait only works well if it actually stays on the rig long enough to release scent into the water. The biggest difference between a frustrating session and an effective one is often not the brand of bait—it is matching…