When you think of catfish, you usually think of the small bullhead catfish you used to catch when you were younger. Those can be fun to catch and are very tasty, but they are just one of the types of catfish to be caught.
Flat head catfish, leopard cats, channel catfish, shovel billed catfish and salt water catfish are others that are a lot of fun to catch. The channel catfish seem to be more plentiful and popular. Channel catfish are the farm raised catfish that are used to make catfish nuggets and that is what you will probably get in most restaurants. The channel catfish is definitely one of the most sought after of that species. They are very tasty when fried in a golden batter and are very easy to catch.
Live bait is used the most for catching catfish and is really the best. Some of the baits used are leaches, small sunfish, worms, crawdads, minnows and grubs. Using nightcrawlers, which are so easy to get, will be your best bet to catch plenty of catfish.
Catching catfish can play havoc on your fishing gear so you need to use an outfit that will handle a large catfish if you hook one. Use at least a medium heavy pole and use a 10 to 15 pound test line and this should handle a very big fish. Your hooks need to be strong but not necessarily really big as even a small hook will hold a big fish.
A good rig for catching catfish is to use a sliding sinker with o-ring so that it won't slide down to the hook and tie a 16" leader to the hook. This way the catfish can pick up the bait and not feel any resistance. Leave the creel open on the reel so the fish can run with the bait and then you can set the hook. This way you will have less chance of the fish getting away. Always use a hook remover or needle nose pliers to get the hook out of the catfish.
If you are using the sliding sinker rig, the nightcrawlers work well as the primary bait, although in certain areas you will sometimes need to use other baits, so be flexible when choosing your bait. Sometimes crawdads or small minnows might be just the right thing for that particular area.
Try to locate an area that has some kind of structure such as dips, a cove, a dam, rock croppings, or maybe a point as these are good places to catch catfish.
When you are stream or river fishing you want to stay where the current isn't so strong when you are fishing behind a point of rock. A too strong current will cause your bait to not stay in place and you would need a sinker that is heavier, but continue with the sliding rig to keep down the resistance on the bait.
You can get some really big catfish fishing right off the deep part of the lake when fishing in the large and medium sized lakes.
If you like to fish for catfish, try some of the tips above and you'll be sitting down to a platter of golden fried catfish, the best eating in the world.
Did you find these tips useful? For more catfish tips and articles please visit my catfish site at http://www.squidoo.com/catfish-tips and go fishing!
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