Whats your go-to fish bait for Channel catfish?

[catfishbrett]

Chicken livers or shrip for the eaters.Cut shad or other fish for the biguns

[Eric Wood]

I cought some good size channels the past few days 32"- 17 lbs., 31.5"-14 lbs., 31"-15lbs., 34"-24lbs., 30"-14lbs., 33.5"-18lbs., 30.5"-17.5lbs., 32.5"-14.5lbs., 31.5"-15lbs., 31.5"-14lbs., 30.5"-13lbs., 30.5"-12.5lbs., 28"-10lbs. , and cought them mostly on mostly burbot...., yes burbot, (and frogs). almost all channel cats over 30" and biggest so far 24 lbs., and yes im in kat heaven till they move down river i need a boat to find the best holes when the feed slows at the dam. good kat fishin around here not just the red river of the north. So, some how this river needs a little recognition. pass on the word, my brothers.:wink::smile2:

[RetiredToFish]

Well, If I could chose only one bait it would have to crawlers ... they never seem to fail and if nothing else ... can use them to catch plenty of bait fish or small friers .... Garry- :cool2:

[Txbluecatman]

I went with the livers. I always seem to go back to my cured livers when I want a good number of eating cats. So far this method has not let me down.

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[Capt Steve]

I think I know what that is... it was also my go-to bait growing up in Nebraska. It outfished everything else on the river I fished. I've since moved to Minnesota, and the best bait by far is cut shad. Suckers are also good. So I guess it really depends on where I'm fishing.

squid / calamari maybe?

[michiganwhitetailRLM]

I would have to say chicken liver in the spring, but shad are my go to bait once the spawn is over.

[Cmartin4538]

i would have to go with cut up bluegill.:big_smile:

[ChannelCatBen]

squid / calamari maybe?

Nope. I'll just go ahead and spill it: Chicken guts. Intestines.

They work great because a) they're stinky as all get out and b) they stay on the hook if you bait it up right. I use a piece of wire with a small loop on the end. Run the gut onto the wire, then put the loop over your hook. Then slide the gut off the wire, over the hook, and up the line. Gob up the last couple inches of gut on the hook. If you want, crimp the top of the gut onto the line with a splitshot.

As it sits in the water, it bleeds out the chicken's last meal. And it doesn't seem to stop stinking. If you develop a relationship with your local chicken processor, you'll be in the free bait for years.

[Boomer]

For Channel, I fish with chicken liver or shad guts. I have found the best way to use chicken liver is leave it out in the sun, until it is past the green stage, and starts to become leathery.

[777]

We caught 29 fish today, 24 channel cat and 5 blues. Bait used was fresh caught shad and danny kings punch bait. Shad caught 1 channel and the other 28 were caught on danny kings.