Generally The Best Kind of Bait for Catfishing

To catch a really big catfish you need to use the right bait, the best kind of bait to use is whatever the catfish feed on naturally. Many types of catfish are omnivorous and scavengers, they will devour a variety of food items.  Anglers use many different types of bait to attract these fish e.g.  Live bait dead bait lures and homemade bait. 

Some of the more frequently used types of catfishing bait are: live perch, shad, crawfish, worms, minnows, grasshoppers, chicken liver, stink baits, night crawlers, marshmallows, and small frogs.  In general, using live bait is preferable. And since catfish possess a strong sense of smell, use smelly baits as well.

You can also use worms for catfishing Worms also work well for catfishing.  You can use night crawlers or garden worms witch ever one you have at hand.  Typically, people tend to use garden worms to catch catfish because they’re easy to find just about anywhere even at the side of the river or lake that your fishing at.  Sometimes it seems like the catfish is just waiting for the worm to drop in the water.  You’ll find mini crawlers in bait shops, but you’ll have to dig up garden worms all by yourself.

Shrimp or small prawns are favourite catfish bait.  Depending on the size of the prawn, use them whole or cut them in half.  Although you can use prawns with their shells still attached, it’s better to remove the shells. You can purchase either frozen or fresh shrimp at your local sea food market.  You can also soak the shrimp or prawns in fish oil for a few minutes so they develop more pungent odours.

Catfishing can also done with homemade bait.  Add a few spoonful’s of peanut butter to some crushed corn flakes or frosted flakes, and mix it all together.  This homemade recipe has oils in it that release to help attract the fish.  Plus, the peanut butter and corn flake mixture is almost impossible for smaller fish to get off the hook. You can also try using pieces of sweet corn. 

Place a few pieces of corn onto each point of the treble hook, and then wrap a piece of bread ball around it to cover the hook.  The sweet smell will be released, attracting the catfish.  Plus, smaller fish will not be able to eat this type of bait.  The bread helps to catch those hook-shy fish that have gotten that way from too much catch and release. Another type of bait that catfish absolutely love is cheese.

It’s fun to use your imagination and come up with your own homemade catfish bait recipes.  With their weak eyesight, catfish use their strong nose to help them locate and catch their prey.  So when you’re making homemade catfish bait, make sure your concoctions have a strong smell to attract the catfish.  Catfish are not picky eaters, so it’s easy to make your own homemade catfish bait that will attract the hungry fish to your line.