Cut Bait? What fish do you use?

What kind of fish do you use for cut bait? I know you can’t use a game fish, so are we talking chubs?

Thanks,
JumpNDaBoat

i usually only use dead suckers…… weather they are store bought or caught. i hace also used bullheads shortly after they die. the bullheads seem to bleed good and stay on yr hook good since they got tuff skin but i never really noticed a differnce in activity.

but i always make sure my cutbait is FRESH…(or at least on ICE)……. heck, i have killed live bait to turn it into cutbait many times….. if its dead and floating i usually use it as a last resort.

Suckers-either redhorse or white, and chubs. Chubs really make good cut bait. Hey Mudcat, try souring those cutbaits up a little bit this time of year. It can make those peckers bite a little better. Anyone know of any sucker runs happening around here yet??

Hey JumpNDaboat, check your WI regs, you guys have more liberal regulations than us MN’s. You may be able to use things like white bass and those pesky walleyes for cut bait….DON’T quote me though…I’m not sure.

yeah, forgot the chubs and redhorse….. creek chubs are tough even with the water temp change……….. and ay can get alto of meat off a redhorse

If they are available, shad. It seems to me every picture of a big blue down south has “caught on shad” in the title. If you haven’t had the pleasure, notice the way you can chop up all of the aformentioned fish and wipe your hands on your pants and have a sandwich. With shad, the sandwich is a shad and <whatever> sandwich. The smell is brutal. But it is natural and works dandy.

Thanks for the advise! The world is full of suckers! I have heard of bullheads being used. What is the typical length or poundage that you use? 1 lb bullhead? Also, when is a good time to fish for the big flatheads on the river?

I will check on those regulations in WI.

Thanks,
JumpNDaBoat

Bullheads under seven inches are legal. Anything under four inches is too small I think. Flathead fishing gets consistent for me about the third week in May or so and June is just about as good as it gets.

Any specific places in the river to target? Down trees, sand bars, deep holes?
Thanks,
JumpNDaBoat

Hey Jump,

That question is similar to “What is the meaning of life?”. The short version answer is all of the above as long as their are cats around. The site has tons of information regarding fishing locations and when and where etc. Explore the site the answers will teach you whatever you need.

when you use cut bait, how big of pieces are you using. I have tried using it and havent seem to get any thing. Just started to really pursue catfish, all the ones i have caught have been when i wasnt fishing for them.

HnF,

In my short cat fish’en experiance, I’ll cut a 5-7 inch sucker into three pieces. Toss the tail over and use the body first then the head. I know some people cut a fillet off and use that. My thought is the parts with the guts should have more “flavor” and would be easier to home in on.

I think in pursuing the mighty channel or any fish for that matter, it’s more about location, location and location than the size or even what your cut bait is.
It will be interesting to hear what all the old pro’s have to say on this topic.

Tried many things with cut bait once again and still had no result. I used a sucker, carp, and a shiner. Anyone have any advice for a very novice cat fisherman. I want to get into fishing more for cats but when you spend all day and dotn get one it gets depressing. any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

HnF, I’m just a catfisherman wannabe…

But I’m a firm believer it’s location and not what kind of cut bait you’re using. They generally aren’t to finicky.
I’m not framilar with your area…so I can’t help you much there.

Ps…If you can get the the Redwing dam…it sounds like you can’t keep’em off your hook!

I live in Ky and just about anything goes except for bass and crappie. We can use blue gill, leeches,drum,carp… you get the picture. Some of the best bait I have ever seen used was the egg sacks from crappie with the roe still in them. Chicken liver is another standard for channels not much luck with flat heads however. I usually fish in Ky Lake ( I live about 4 miles from it)off the rocks around one of the bridges. Here the prefered cut bait is shad. Have even heard of some people using gold fish as bait.

Hey Nemo! “Fish are our friends!” Welcome to the site and the catfish forum!

How close do you live to Lvl? I get down there for work once in a while and need a good contact!?

Be glad you don’t live in MN…nothings allowed. Well…7 inch or less bullheads for live/dead bait. We can’t even use carp as cutbait.

Time to rip on the CO’s around here: We could get away with the crappie egg sac, they wouldn’t know what kinda fish they came from…hmmm, now that I think about it, I wouldn’t either….skip the ripping part.

If you have any pictures of your fish, post them! We would all like to see’em!

Can you give HnF some help on location?

When you say location what are you looking for? When i go out i will usually hit the shores, lookin for down trees and structure with deep holes. sometime when we just want to relax hit sit right in the main current and cast to a wingdam or a break in the flow and we will only catch bottle bass. haha any tips would be helpful, thanks guys

Location??? I find I do my best fishing in the water. But as far as where in the water you should try some place out of the main current. The fish tend to find some place where they can lay in wait out of the current and let the current bring the food (bait) to them. If they are spawning they tend to remain close to the bank looking for holes to spawn in. Rocky banks, ie rip-rap usually is a good place to look for them. This usually holds true for rivers and lakes. So behind wingdams and still water areas should hold some cats, but catching them is something else. Good luck and good fishing.