Games of Knowledge | Sports and Exercise

Games Guy | June 20, 2011

Catfish are a lot of fun to fish. From children to professional anglers, there are the right kinds of catfish for everyone.

They vary in sizes from small catfish, like Channel catfish, averaging between two and five pounds, to monster catfish, like the blue catfish, that can weigh over one hundred pounds.

Obviously the size will affect what type of fishing gear you buy and use but also the type of bait and the preparation.

If you are looking for some tips on catfishing, you have come to the right place. I have been catfishing since I was young and find the sport still challenging today. Sometimes I take my kids, sometimes I go alone and I have even tried noodling a few times.

Half the battle when catfishing is finding and luring your catfish to your bait. The other half is fighting with the strong willed fish to reel them in. The more you know, the better chance of success. 

Some catfishing advice:

1.  Know The Catfish Species

Every fisherman who catfishes has done some research on the catfish.  First of all they are strong buggers and love to fight you to the end.  Make sure your gear is ready for the challenge. 

Catfish are like garbage disposals. They love everything from peanut butter to hot dogs.  They eat bugs off the surface of the water, other dead fish, aquatic animals like frogs and crawfish and almost anything you throw in the water.  Now the bigger fish are pickier and you need to stay closer to their natural food source. 

Catfish also like to come out early in the morning or late in the evening to feed. The rest of the day is spent in deep dark holes, under submerged brush and logs and in the calmer bottom depths of the river or pond where you are fishing.

2. Know The Type of Catfish You Will Bait

Once you know what catfish you will be fishing, you can buy the right rod and reel for his size. You can also search for the right rig set up and the type of bait you will be using.

You can fish with night crawlers or garden worms, getting the night crawlers from any fishing store, or you can try fishing with chicken livers, shrimp, anchovies or anything smelly that can be purchased at your local grocery store or left overs from your fridge. You can also make your own catfishing recipe. 

You will need to adjust your bait to the size and type of catfish you are fishing to catch.  If you don’t know much about the catfish in your area, find a local guide to learn more or take you out on a trip.

3. Use More Than One Kind of Bait

Make sure to bring a few different baiting options with you on your catfishing trip. I like to bring at least three kinds of bait. That way, I can try not only location but also bait when I am fishing. Make sure you give your bait plenty of time in the water to create a scent trail.

4. Bring the right stuff with you

No one has a good day when they are hot, cold, wet, hungry or thirsty, so make sure you dress in layers, bring some waterproof jackets, plenty of snacks and water. 

5. Picking The Right Month

The last thing you want to do is go catfishing when they are spawning and are too distracted to bite. Make sure you know the cycles of your local catfish and learn their patterns for the best time of year to fish.

6. Know Your Body of Water

Just like knowing the type of catfish you are fishing, knowing the water where you will fish is equally important.  You want to know if there are sunken stumps or underbrush, where the currents are, what creeks or rivers flow into the lake or pond and what other fish and aquatic critters live there.

7. Give Your Location Some Time

If you aren’t getting any bites, then my greatest tip on catfishing is to move to a new location after twenty or thirty minutes of no activity. 

You can find a lot of free catfishing information and tips on catfishing on my site www.CatfishingTipsMadeEasy.com.  I have included a great free mini course to help you become a catfishing expert and have written an e-book full of tips on noodling and catching monster catfish.  The book is called Catfishing Success and is available for immediate download so that you can start planning your next catfishing trip. 

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Tags: Better Chance, Blue Catfish, Buggers, catfishing information, catfishing tips, channel catfish, Crawfish, Dark Holes, Dead Fish, fishing gear, Frogs, Garbage Disposals, Half The Battle, Hot Dogs, Monster Catfish, Natural Food Source, Night Crawlers, Peanut Butter, Professional Anglers, Rest Of The Day, Rod And Reel, Surface Of The Water, tips for catfishing, tips on catfishing

Games Guy | June 16, 2011

 This is catfishing information you should know if you are fishing for catfish. There are three main types of catfish that you can find in ponds. The Channel Catfish are what you will probably catch the most, and they are the smallest. The other two huge species of “cats” are the Blue and Flathead catfish. These latter two species of catfish grow to become very large. This can present fishermen with a difficult fight. So here are some catfishing tips

Channel catfish mostly eat a trash diet — picking off bugs on the water’s surface and eating dead forage fish — which is why they are great for managed ponds. They are also easy to catch, and for the most part, the populations have no problems surviving after a catch and release. Flathead catfish are known for their voracious appetite which makes them incredibly easy to catch as well. Blue catfish, on the other hand, are harder to find due to their eating habits.

I suggest using two types of bait when catfishing in ponds. You might want to take a rod with a medium action, with either baitcasting or spinning reel, when fishing for flatheads and blue catfish. Use treble hooks because these fish will easily suckle the bait off of a single point hook. The design of treble hooks makes it almost impossible for the catfish to take the bait without getting caught.

It’s ok to use ultra light fishing tackle if you are trying to catch smaller catfish. You should think about taking a few rods with you. If you have multiple lines in the water, it will increase your catch. Allow your lines to soak, but make sure the drags are set loose on the reels. The catfish will swim off hooking itself in the process, that’s the benefit of using loose reels. As soon as you hear the drag screaming, tighten the rod down until you feel pressure, and start fighting the fish. It should be adequate pressure to keep it hooked.Giving your bait time to soak will making catching these fish fairly easy. How can you bring the fish to you? By chumming the water. Chumming the water is as simple as tossing sweet corn, corn flakes, or dog food into the water, which makes them easier to catch. You can also try catfishing in ponds at night for the best chances at catching a lot of the bigger monsters. The big fish go roaming at night so, if you want to catch them, your best chance is to go fishing after dark with larger, stinkier baits.

Noodling for catfish in ponds has also become extremely popular. The basic concept behind noodling sounds simple enough at first. It basically calls for you sticking your hand in a hole, run it into a fish mouth, grab the fish, and pull it out of the water. It is actually much more complicated than that and is actually quite an involved process.

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Tags: Adequate Pressure, baitcasting, Blue Catfish, catfishing information, catfishing tips, channel catfish, Eating Habits, Fishermen, fishing tackle, flathead catfish, Flatheads, Forage Fish, Hook, Medium Action, Ponds, Populations, Single Point, Species Of Cats, Spinning Reel, Treble Hooks, Voracious Appetite