baits

wondering what kind of baits have all fisherman been succesful with this summer on the big cats – personally i have found dip baits to work very well so far – have also had success with leeches

I have always had good luck with big suckers. I got some advise on this site that bullheads were better bait…..bullhockey! 3 of us fished the Franklin derby on the Minnesota River this weekend. We caught a 43 pounder the night before the tourney and a 24 and 2 in the teens-ALL ON SUCKERS! We fished bullheads along side suckers and did not catch one on a bullhead.

Suckers are my recomendation for big flats and channels.

I would have to agree with catcrazy. We fish live suckers for flatheads and cut bait for the channels. When fishing flatheads at night we have had several very nice sized channel cats take our large live suckers. Give suckers a try and I’m sure you will be pleased with the result. Good luck -Rick

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Cutbait is my first choice for larger channel cats. I’ll only use other baits when I run out of cutbait. Cutbait consistently produces larger channel cats than dip baits or nightcrawlers. I’ve caught my largest channel cats on live suckers fishing for flatheads at night. They steal the bait a lot but when you hook them they tend to be large. So Catcrazy, how big was the winning cat? I’ve never fished the Franklin area but have always wanted to try it. I have some relatives in the area. Thanks, Vern

I’d say bring the biggest variety of baits you can and experiment. Preferences can change daily I think. I’ve had nights this summer when channels wanted nothing but live bait and nights when they wanted nothing but cut bait. Flats, of course, want live bait most often, especially the bigger ones. Suckers and chubs are most available for me and both are great. I dont fish with crawlers cause the smaller fish drive me crazy. Funny thing though. A couple of nights ago I caught a twenty something flathead on cutbait and an hour later caught another one that wighed less than two pounds on a 7-8 inch chub. Go figure.

What size are your dip bait cats? They tend to be smaller on average than other baits.

The biggest channels I’ve seen this year all came on live crawdads. Leeches are second place for the big fish.

I tend to only use cut bait and chicken livers when bank fishing, and haven’t gotten out to do much this year.

When I left on Sun. 39 lb and 3 oz was the leader. It is a really fun event. Fishing was tough this year. i think a 57 lb flat won last year.

Vern,

Let me know if you would like to go sometime. I know that stretch of river real well.

I would have to suggest for big cats you stick with fresh baits, not prepared. Dip baits and other prepared baits are good this time of year for numbers of small channel cats, but fresh cut bait, especially suckers here in Mn are tough to beat for big channels. Frogs can be good for big fish on the Red River. Sometimes crawfish can be good if there is a molt going on.But bottomline is I wouldn’t fish prepared baits if I am targeting big channels. For flatheads during the summer there is NO better bait than a live bullhead. You can use suckers if you want, but you better have a lot of money for several reasons. First you will need to buy an awesome bait holding system just to keep them alive to get to where you are fishing. Once you get there you will have need to have boughten a lot of suckers because you will have to change your bait quite often to keep it as lively as a bullhead. Along with this, if there are turtles in the water you are fishing they will be quick to kill and eat your sucker. Don’t waste your time with suckers. Bullheads are a much better bait and they are free to get too. They kick much better and turtles will not mess with them as much as they do with suckers. The only other bait worse than a sucker to fish alive is a chub, so I would only use those for cut. Hope this helps. Good Cattin

I usually seine my own suckers so they are FREE! I can keep them alive easily in an aqualife bucket from frabill . 6 gallons of water and 1 chunk of ice will keep 2 doz alive for 12-14 hour no problem.

If bullheads are better why have all my fish over 30lbs been taken on suckers. Bullheads are cheap ok but flatheads are not attracted to them as well. Even in 80 degree water a sucker will live and kick for hours if hooked correctly.

Bullheads are popular because of their abundance not their superiority.

I agree with big time, those suckers are a real hassell to try to keep alive when it’s hot, even giving them fresh water every half hour may not be enough to keep the whole lot from going belly up. If you had a large minnow bucket, maybe keeping them in the river would work better. Bullheads are nearly invincible. And just because you are using a sucker doesn’t mean you’ll get a big cat. Last year down in Winona my brother had a live sucker on all night, and I had a dead sucker w/ the head cut off, which produced a 7 pound channel and his live sucker caught a 2 pound channel so it’s all a matter of luck. This spring we were fishing a small lake with nightcrawlers and my brother caught an 11 pound channel cat. So a small bait can catch a big cat and a large bait can catch a small cat, but in general I would say a live minnow of some type is the way to go..

catcrazy, I disagree, every time I have used suckers, they only last an hour or so in the water before they die. Bullheads will last much longer, there have been times when I took them trot lining, they sat out in the river for 2 days on a hook, and if not eaten, they were still lively enough to bring home and save for future outings. In that respect bullheads are better. No way I could do that with a sucker.

Hey CatCrazy! Thanks for the offer. If I plan a trip that way I’ll send you an e:mail. It’s about a 100 mile trip for me. Sounds like an excellent stretch for the big flats. I’ve been fishing the Bloomington area the last couple of trips. I just got one of those Frabill Aqualife systems myself. Works great! Thanks,Vern

Get a bunch of catmen talking baits and look what happens!! Big Time, I”m shocked dyou dont like chubs!! The chubs I catch hold up very well and struggle great. Iv’e soaked a bullhead twice all night and havent caught anything. But some of you guys like them so well I wont give up on them. Anyone want to share with me their favorite bullhead hole?? I’m all ears. E-mail me if you want.

Heres a tip for keeping baits. I’ve got a “minnow air” plug in system that keeps my bait alive indefinately. Just store them in a cooler and change the water daily. I got it from Memphis Net and Twine Co.?? If anyone wants there number e-mail me and I’ll find it.

Well heck!!! the “great biate debate” I tell you what bullheads and bluegills are great for keepin alive to use for baite.,, I love to use suckers because when they die I can chunk them for channels and it’s a no lose situation….. I really don’t have a problem keepin suckers alive…..

There is a difference in store bought suckers and creek cought suckers,, creek cought suckers will fight and stay active while a store bought suckers isn’t worth spit….

but by far the best alltime catfish baite in the history of catfish baite is a nice sunfish….. cought more big cats on stunted bluegills than any other biate……

Mavzer,

Lake Mallelieu has more stunted bluegills than the predators know what to do with them. I don’t know if it’s worth a WI license to you or not but I could help you catch a limits worth on almost any given afternoon (that I’m available to fish that is!). I’ve been griping for years that something needs to be done to help thin out the overpopulated fish in that lake! Give a hollar! :O)

i guide on the lower wisconsin river and i use suckers most of the time .bullheads are a better bait for two reasons . 1 they stay alive longer .2 they are natural bait in that body of water . i do agre that sun fish and blue gills are good bait too .keeping anything alive is tought. i took a 12 inch pvc pipe 24 inches long and put ends on it and a 6 foot cable on it and in keep bait alive for weeks . i have found out over 20 years of fishing and guiding that there is no best bait . . the place you put your bait is more importion .hope to see you on the water . umpie wis river guide service

stillakid2,

I am not sure that they are legal to use in even wisconsin…. I have a license for both states and I KNOW that they are illegal to use in Minnesota…. I don’t understand that but hey….. there are a lot of dnr regs I don’t understand…. but I think they are the best baite for flats hands down

I agree with mavzer in saying that bluegills and sunfish are the best bait, i have caught many good flats on them, but thats just my experience. there may be better baits for different seasons. but I also agree w/ rsunbehaun in saying that location is more important than the bait – all of these baits work but if youre not in the right spot – nothing will bite

I don’t know about bullheads or sunfish(I am going to give bullheads a try)but IMO a chub kicks all over any sucker!They survive longer in a bait box and last longer and kick harder than suckers.Matter of fact I have left the minnow bucket out of the water for two hours on a hot day,when I looked in they were all belly up except for a couple.I dropped the bucket in the water and lo and behold they were all swimming again.As for cut bait I still vote for the chub,the meat is oilier and smellier than suckers and gives off more scent in the water.I do think that you should know the forage in the river you are fishing in.If the main forage is sucker use suckers if the forage is crayfish use crayfish.I know that the area that I fish has a lot of chubs so that is another reason I use chubs over suckers and other baits.

Catcrazy, the minnesota dnr must think that flatheads are pretty attracted to bullheads since they introduce them to area lakes that are over run by bullheads and the flatheads quickly lower the population of bullheads. It has also been well noted in the In Fishermen and catfish In Sider that bullheads are a prefered forage of flatheads. Like any predator they are opertunistic and are likely to strike the liveliest bait arround them, they don’t care if it is a bullhead,sucker, sunfish, poodle or whatever.The whole key is fishing the bait that kicks harder longer, thats a bullhead. As far as size of the fish caught goes, I have caught all sizes of flatheads on suckers and on bullheads, but I did catch a 52″ @70 flathead last may on a bullhead,and numerous 40lb fish. So I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that big flatheads prefer suckers if I were you

12-14 hours of keeping bait alive……. big deal I kept 50 heads alive for three months no problem. some of them had five hook marks on their back from being used before, and they still kicked better than a sucker.

Edited by BigTime on 07/31/01 11:03 PM.

Hey guys, live bait preferences are no different than the artificial debate……………spinners vs. wally divers vs. rapalas vs. on and on……………..everyone has their favorites and it’s usually based on personal success. As far as keeping your bait alive, aren’t any of us going to do what’s necessary to keep our “best” bait kicking?

We all know there are numerous factors involved for any day’s success or lack thereof. So take your favored bait, hit your favored water, and start celebrating some fish!

bigtime,

Let me know when you want to go. We can fish the same holes, you with bullheads and me with suckers. We can post the results.

Are you up for it?

i guess my main complaint of suckers is, (besides toughness) after a few minutes they just sit on the bottom and don’t move. A bullhead is constantly struggling when hooked so I think that is more important when attracting big cats. Obviously a lot of big fish have been taken on bullheads, suckers, sunfish, chubs, etc. So I guess it’s personal preference and whatever those cats are used to eating. What do you think about gizzard shad for cutbait? They’re pretty oily from what I hear, never tried it though.

Head to head fish off? Gutsy, but I have this vision of two guys on a shore imitating an old Miller Lite commercial……………..”KICKS GREAT!”, “LASTS LONGER!”……………..and so on! LOL!

I’ll be glad to bring the Miller or Bud!

uh oh now were going to argue on the better beer!

And everyone is a master baiter.It just comes down to left or right oh I mean your personal preference on the bait of choice.Personally I have caught big fish on suckers and big fish on chubs.In my experience I have done better on chubs so that is what I use,but I would not go so far to say that one would not out produce another on certain days.

Tonite I am heading out on the MN and we have chubs,suckers and a few bullheads.It will be interesting to see what cathches the fish tonite

I’m down catcrazy, but you better let me bring the beer so we don’t have to drink any of that Iowa 3:2 junk beer

P.S.

by the way, its BigTime don’t forget to capitalize the B and T next time

Edited by BigTime on 08/01/01 10:04 PM.

. I am on track to land 400 fish over the 30 pound mark this year which is one of the best I have ever had.P.S. Dont listen to anything that Big Time writes as he also fishes Walleyes

I think I had better come along to mediate this event and by the way if you need to youcan borrow my boat little time! You sure think you are the [censored]. Thanks Chris Winchester

WOW!

Catdad

Its not a matter of what I think, but what I know. shouldn’t it be walleyedad?

I’ll talk to you later