Heeeere kitty kitty kitty fishy

[lupinus]

Goin catfishin again today cause I didn't catch crap yesterday on the night crawlers or shiners (either alive or dead and the dead ones have normally worked on cats for me) I found a tub of some nice smelly livers some lazy ass had left behind instead of walking it the literally less then 15 feet to a garbage can. Worked out for me though because on those chicken livers I got two nice hits on two livers and one cat about a pound/pound and a half.

So today, I'm heading back armed with the proper armament-

Livers, gizzards, and Alpo prime cuts beef and liver with gravy. For a cat they love that dog food  

One hook with the Alpo food and another with a liver and gizzard sammich, split a gizzard in half hook it, piece of liver, then the other gizzard. Holds it on nice and I've caught several cats before having to change baits that way since the gizzards hold on there like there's no tomorrow.

Five 85 pounders and ten 60 pounders plus a bunch of smaller ones....here I come

[doczinn]

Good luck! Out here in Commieland we have no catfish, just seabass and the like.

[Car Knocker]

Good luck! Out here in Commieland we have no catfish, just seabass and the like.

Where's Commieland?

[doczinn]

That'd be Southern California.

[Car Knocker]

I'm surprised.  Lots of catfish in Northern California and I thought I recalled a co-worker catching some in the lakes around San Diego.

[doczinn]

I may be wrong, actually, I live near the beach and don't have a lot of time, so when I fish it's always saltwater, which of course doesn't have catfish.

I may have to make a trip to a lake. Catfish=yum!

[BobR]

That'd be Southern California

When I was stationed in San Diego, I did two types of fishing, salt water and catfish.

For catfish I went to Santee lakes, Lake Poway, the desert between San Diego and El Centro and fished the All American Canal. That is the water that is pumped through there for irrigation. Actually a lot of catfish in it. I also used to go to the Colorado River, a little site called Picacho  http://www.picacho.statepark.org/aboutthepark.html . There are a lot of catfish in SoCal if you know where to look.

Now that I am in Northern Montana, the catfish are very few and far between.

bob

[Stand_watie]

That'd be Southern California

When I was stationed in San Diego, I did two types of fishing, salt water and catfish.

For catfish I went to Santee lakes, Lake Poway, the desert between San Diego and El Centro and fished the All American Canal. That is the water that is pumped through there for irrigation. Actually a lot of catfish in it. I also used to go to the Colorado River, a little site called Picacho  http://www.picacho.statepark.org/aboutthepark.html . There are a lot of catfish in SoCal if you know where to look.

Now that I am in Northern Montana, the catfish are very few and far between.

bob

Are they smaller in Montana bob? I moved here to Texas from Michigan, and was amazed (almost horrified) by the catfish sizes (one of my neighbors caught an 80 lb'er in our lake, and I saw a news article of a +100 lb'er in a lake near here), and I had always heard of "big" catfish up north as being five or six pounds. I didn't know if it was a case of regional difference in catfish size, or just a different neighborhood and people who were much more into catfishing than they were in west Michigan. One thing I do know - they don't catch those monster Muskellunge down here that they do up north! Matter of fact is I don't know if we have them at all, but if we do they aren't reporting it in the paper as a fishing item of interest.

Lupinus, if you don't mind my asking, what's your general location? I'm not much of a fisherman myself, but a bunch of my friends and neighbors are, and I'd like to pass on your results and advice to them.

[BobR]

I don't knoe how big they are here, I haven't found any. I do have a line on some south a couple of hours from where I live. It is a place on the Missouri, below a dam.

I am thinking of gearing up, and going camping for a few days and find out.

They make some big cats in the south. I grew up in Oklahoma and saw two huge fish, one was an alligator Gar that was about 5.5 feet long, and a cat my neighbor caught on a trot line. He said he figured it weighed about 90 pounds. It was a big fish.

I just think the fish are bigger in the south, as long as the water temp is above 70 degrees or so, all they do is eat. When they eat, they grow. Up here the water temps gets fairly cold, and then the runoff from the snow keeps it down.

But we do have trout, and south of me is the Kokanee Salmon. A small landlocked salmon that is great smoked.

bob

[Dannyboy]

Are they smaller in Montana bob? I moved here to Texas from Michigan, and was amazed (almost horrified) by the catfish sizes (one of my neighbors caught an 80 lb'er in our lake, and I saw a news article of a +100 lb'er in a lake near here), and I had always heard of "big" catfish up north as being five or six pounds. I didn't know if it was a case of regional difference in catfish size, or just a different neighborhood and people who were much more into catfishing than they were in west Michigan. One thing I do know - they don't catch those monster Muskellunge down here that they do up north! Matter of fact is I don't know if we have them at all, but if we do they aren't reporting it in the paper as a fishing item of interest.

I'd chalk that up to different species of catfish, of which there are a few.

[doczinn]

Y'all look up "noodling," if you really want a laugh.

[charby]

Five 85 pounders and ten 60 pounders plus a bunch of smaller ones....here I come

Damn the biggest cat I have ever caught was a flathead that was just under 30lbs.

-C

[zahc]

I have a pet flathead that I raised from minnow size. He's about a foot long and eats small bluegills.

[lupinus]

http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelas-field-guides/Catfish-Techniques/Noodling-for-Catfish-The-Ultimate-Thrill-in-Fishing.html

for those who wanna know noodling

[Jamisjockey]

RE: northern rivers
The big, northern rivers often produce large cats, especially below reservoirs.  

Re: Cat bait
Shrimp.  Go the the local grocery store and get some fresh *uncooked* shrimp.  Best catfish bait out there.  It has always been my top producer.  And, it's more pleasant to use than alot of other baits.

[charby]

Re: Cat bait
Shrimp.  Go the the local grocery store and get some fresh *uncooked* shrimp.  Best catfish bait out there.  It has always been my top producer.  And, it's more pleasant to use than alot of other baits.

I bet carp like it too

[Jamisjockey]

Re: Cat bait
Shrimp.  Go the the local grocery store and get some fresh *uncooked* shrimp.  Best catfish bait out there.  It has always been my top producer.  And, it's more pleasant to use than alot of other baits.

I bet carp like it too

I've always caught my biggest carp when fishing with chicken liver, shrimp, or worms....