Shrimp for catfish

[RU shooter]

I have seen and read about guys using raw shrimp as catfish bait ,i fish mostly lakes for channel cats and use cut up bluegill or crawlers . Anyone have luck with raw shrimp ? Do you let it get funky or just right outa the bag ?

[AZ Pete]

I have not tried that, but have had great luck with chicken liver.

[Huntsman52]

Yes it works. Used the TV brand bait shrimp, frozen. Fits around a treble hook perfectly. Used to catch cats all day long in a lake next to my house growing up. Lake was Canyon Lake just north of San Antonio.

[BK7saum]

I use shrimp all the time for catfish. We catch blues and channels. If the fish are small I use a #2 or #4 hook with an egg sinker. I use raw shrimp,usually medium , from the grocery store. I get the raw shrimp, peeled or shell on, If too large for the hook, I will cut in half. Usually cheaper than TV bait shrimp since you don’t have all the heads you don’t use.

[Winger Ed.]

The biggest catfish I've caught were in fresh water lakes using raw shrimp.

Being so far from the Gulf, I get the frozen TV shrimp at the grocery store or raw 'eating' shrimp if they don't have it.
The heads, water thawing out in the box, other stuff that won't go on a hook gets dumped for chum.

Something else I'm going to try that is supposed to work well is 1/3 size pieces of cheap hot dogs
soaked in vinegar and garlic for a week or so and stored in the refrigerator.

I've only tried them once, and didn't get any bites.
I got bored, and ate the rest of them myself.
But I think there just wasn't any catfish where I was at right then.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Catfish seem to eat about anything , worms , livers , shrimp and any meat add some spice or sauce or smell .

[rking22]

Caught these eatin size this morning on crickets, fishing for shell crackers on ultra lite!
Fun and good eats, these are about the best eating In my experience, 18 to 20 inches. Used to fish for them with shrimp, liver frozen from hunting season, and just about anything else. Including bullfrog tongues, those really stay on the hook.

[Minerat]

We used Zote a mexican bar laundry soap for catpearch. I use raw shrimp for trout when ice fishing, 2 mediums cut in to pieces that fit an 1/8 oz jig will catch more then the measly 4 fish the CPW allow us to keep.

[RU shooter]

Thanks all , just bought a bag of shrimp to cook on the grill this weekend I'll save a few and give it a try next week maybe sprinkle some garlic powder on them for some extra flavor . Yeah lots of guys around here use livers but a fresh bluegill head usually brings more takes for me anyways and easier to keep on the hook . I did try funky hot dogs once I never got a take .

[beechbum444]

What ever happened to using left over raw chicken like the skin that’s pulled off???

[rking22]

“ skin that’s pulled off”, that’s the best part

Catalpa worms, best thing in the world. Sadly, I haven’t seen a catalpa tree in at least a decade much less a worm. One of those I cleaned had a big wad of chicken liver in his throat! Musta robbed a jug, there were a bunch out that day.

[Winger Ed.]

What ever happened to using left over raw chicken like the skin that’s pulled off???

Blasphemy !!
That's like having left over Whiskey.

Burn the witch!

[farmerjim]

I think catfish will eat anything. I found chicken gizzards work best on trout lines. They are so tough that the catfish can't get them off without getting hooked. I have even caught them on plastic worms and spinner baits while fishing for bass.

[EMC45]

Me and my family have used mini marshmallows. They work great. I knew some folks up in PA that used to carve off hunks of Ivory soap and swore the cats wouldn't leave it alone.

[RU shooter]

As an update I did give raw shrimp a try , yep the channel cats like it !caught several on each outing , the problem was the bluegill also like shrimp and swarmed it like a school of piranha stripping the hook regularly they leave my cut up bluegill alone .

[trapper9260]

I try the hotdogs also with the mix of garlic and jello no luck. will try some other time. Shrimp cost alot around here .

[WinchesterM1]

Chicken livers on a treble hook I take those disposable socks that you get at shoe stores and place the livers in that, then hook it on. We catch cats all day long with that

[Petrol & Powder]

The BEST catfish bait, bar none, are ground hog livers.

I kid you not!


,

[farmerjim]

The BEST catfish bait, bar none, are ground hog livers.

I kid you not!


,

How do you put that on a hook?

[Hickory]

How do you put that on a hook?

First you shoot the ground hog..............