How to Catch Catfish

Going catfishing can be a long, tedious, boring style of fishing, but once they start biting, watch out. Catfish are rather fun to catch once they decide to show themselves.

We have found catfish can be unpredictable. We have never been able to guess a time when they will bite, and the type of bait they want. We have found catfish can bite any time of the day or night with any type of bait.

My husband and I have found here in Kansas catfish will bite on worms, minnows, turkey and chicken livers, shad sides and guts. We have also used the typical stink baits and sprays found at your local bait store and Walmart.

My husband has also found using a circle style hook over some regular style catfish hook works better in hooking the catfish. The circle style hooks curve more where the barb on the hooks are.

When there are any amounts of rain over an inch here in Kansas, such as the time frame of May 4 through May 9, the catfish at Cowley County State Fishing lake, were biting like crazy. The reason behind this is because there is a small stream that feeds into this small lake. The flow from the stream keeps the fish active in the lake because of the fresh intake of water.

The bait my husband used during his little fishing excursion after work, he used shad sides and guts, worms, and turkey livers for his bait. During his fishing excursions, he had caught eight catfish in which he brought home. He had caught these catfish early in the morning, mid afternoon, and during the overnight hours.

His first trip out he landed a 20-inch catfish and one just a bit smaller. The second time out, he got skunked by the catfish. Third trip out fishing, he had caught his limit of five catfish at Cowley County State Fishing Lake. This last trip was after a short shift at work. One catfish he caught was 15.3 pounds.

Since we don't own a boat, all the fishing we do is along the banks of the lakes we fish at. We fish along the banks where the drop offs from the shallow water. This types of area in the lakes make a nice habitat for catfish.

Being able to cast at least ten to thirty feet into the lake does help getting your bait to the fish in some of the local Kansas lakes where the drop offs occur. This isn't as hard to do with the smaller lakes like Cowley County State Fishing Lake.

As you can see sometimes smaller fishing lakes can breed larger catfish because many people do not know about them or do not feel like making the trip to a smaller lake. The next time you feel the need for a catfishing trip search out a smaller state lake for further enjoyment.