Ohio Cat Fishing Team

Live bait = big fish!

I hear all the time how do you guys catch such big catfish??  Well, i'll tell you this its not cause we use chicken liver all the time.  In my opinion baits like chicken liver, shrimp, night crawlers, stink bait, or splein will catch plenty of fish....but....there not going to be big at all the average size will be about 18" long it may be fun doing that but if you wanna catch big cats use live bait it may take a lot of getting used to especially the time in between fish being longer but the payoff is always worth it.  The average size that we get off live bait is usually five pounds and up a whole heck of a difference from an 18" channel that might weigh one pound after picking your hooks all night.  There is a couple things to get used to when making this switch; number one is learn to use bait clickers never never tightline live bait your rod will be launched like a torpedo in the lake for a swim when they hit they hit it hard and run, sooo let them run after a few seconds of running shut the bail let the line tighten up and set the hook set it hard too cross them eyes of the fish!  Switch to live bait and I guarntee you that youll have a new personal best cat in no time at all.  Everybody hates to catch little squealers so hmmmm.... think about it dont use bait that catches little fish its as simple as that!  Now theres always someone out there that says well... well... I caught a 10lb. channel cat off liver or I caught my biggest flathead on cut bait! Sure a hungry fish might not pass up an opportune meal but its not the norm for a fish of its size to eat that.  Let me just say this in closing a big fish didnt get that big by being a scavenger they got that big by being a predator feeding on live fish. soo give it a try make the switch youll hate it at first because of having less action but you'll love it in the end!!  

Confidence is everything!

So, have you had some of those nights where it doesn't seem like anything is bithing.  Hang in there stick it out.  Have confidence in the spots and presentations you chose to fish.  Do your homework about the fish and the area and stick to your game plan.  We have had plenty of nights when it just doesn't seem like the fish are there but we know they are their just waiting to feed, or have other things on their mind at the moment.   Eventually things all fall into place.  Put your time in do your homework and build your confidence and you will be a more successful catfishermen.

  Throw a cast net. Never buy bait again!

A cast net is worth its weight in gold! I never go out fishing without it.  If you don't have one go out and buy one it doesn't matter if you know how to throw one or not you will learn.  The best way to learn is to just get out and do it.  You can watch all the videos that you want buy you'll never really get the hang of it untill you go out and do it.  Why have a cast net you ask?  Free bait of course!  You can also broaden your horizons of bait choice by getting some baby carp some live shad or even some shiners.  I cant stress this enough go and buy a cast net!!  I've included a video here for all you visual learners.

Pop can strike indicatorsIf you run clickers with live bait you are going to love this......  When using live bait with a clicker set you always get those short runs from the baitfish which gets you all excited for nothing well you can finally put an end to that with an easy solution.  Simply take an empty pop can and put some rocks in it put just enough in to hold down the baitfish keeping them from popping the can.  Now take the can and set it behind the reel wrapping the line around it this acts as an added weight to keep the baitfish from pulling out line and also as another strike indicator.  So now, when you hear a can pop and line start buzzing out you know for sure its a fish.

 How to properly use a bait clicker on a bait caster

Running a tight line is one of the most common ways of presenting your setup for catfish.  It presents a few problems though: First off and most important losing a rod and reel in the lake.  As small as some of these cats may be a 2lber on a hard hit could easily yank the rod and reel in the lake, number two having the fish rip the bait off the hook, and finally number three missing a good fish because it felt resistance.  A bait clicker can almost totally eliminate all of these.  These clickers serve many purposes:  The fish cant yank the setup in the water, its an excellent bite alarm (they can wake you up out of a dead sleep!) when the fish pulls on the bait it not only offers minimal resistance against the fish to allowing it to feel natural when eating a bait most of the time they cant hit it hard enough to tear off the bait (excluding livers and soft baits).  So heres how its done.... Cast the setup in the water, and then on the baitcaster usually on the left side there is a switch this turns  the clicker on flip the switch to on, tighten the line untill its semi taughnt and then open the bail to allow the reel to freespool.  The clicker puts enought resistance on the spool so the line won't spool out.  When a fish hits it will either take off screaming with a buzz or just barely set the clicker off.  If the fish takes off with a buzz quickly grab the rod shut the bail (with most baitcasters the bail will shut automatically when reeled) and set the hook.  If the fish just barely sets the clicker off, quickly pick up the rod trying to make as little movement to the line as possible close the bail and wait for the fish to run again to set the hook 90% of the time channel cats will come back for a second taste .  It is important to remember this though when fishing live bait leave the bail open while the fish runs for a good 5 to 10 seconds and immeadiatley turn the clicker off when you pick the rod up while the fish is running (it seems as if the fish sometimes feel the vibration from the clicker and they drop the bait) after letting the fish run to turn the bait in its mouth shut the bail and let the line tighten up and then set the hook hard!  Try this out on the next trip to the lake and watch your hooking percentage soar!   Look for an article on this coming soon in our in the news section for a more in depth look at using baitclickers.

 Using light sticks for catfishing

Have you seen how expensive ligthed bobbers are lately?  Wow!  Their not cheap!  Especially for the refills.  Try this.....  for those of you who use lighted bobbers, buy a regular todom pole bobber or catfishing bobber buy some inexpensive rod beacon refills which is a 2" light stick they come four to a pack and ususally run just under two dollars.  Take some electrical tape and two light sticks and tape them on the to of the bobber. **PRESTO** you have a cheap lighted bobber that will last all night.  Also, these work as terriffic strike indicators on the end of your rod.

Snelling your catfish hooks

Snelling a hook is tying your line around the shaft of the hook instead of the eye of the hook.  This provides a stronger knot and alignment for a more solid hook set.

1.  Run your line through the eye of the along the shank

2. Make a loop along the shank and wrap your line around the shank and through the loop five times.

3. Pull your main line tight and with your tag end make a safety knot which ensures the snell from coming undone.  The safety knot consists of two overhand knots.