Catfishing with Bluegills?

[Anger]

I keep hearing of anglers using Bluegills for bait when fishing for Catfish. Do any of you'all know how?? Do you cut the gill up like chumming or use the bluegill with a sinker that keeps it on bottom? Do you cut the head off and just use that? Any suggestions would help.

[Speyday]

They work; as does any type of large minnow


In rivers, use large creek chubs or whatever other rough fish you can get; cut off the head, and toss em on bottom a few feet upstream of logjams or undercut banks. Let the scent go downstream into thier lair

In lakes, you can use live or dead, but just be sure that the live stuff had enough weight to keep it stuck to the bottom and in place.

Make sure you use a very large hook; the catfish dont care at all.

[sweatyspartan]

We used to just step on the bluegills we caught and make them nice and bloody and threw them on a treble hook. Just put an inline weight on it and throw it out there and wait.

[ficious]

The idea is to put as much scent in the water as possible. It helps to start with an oily fish like shad, but gills would do. Put the fish on a rock and use another to "soften it up a little". Try not to pound it to the point it won't stay on the hook. Cats like fresh meat as well as stale. I catch them 40' off the bottom trolling for salmon, at least one a year lately. So they are bashful about playing the part of the predator when they need to either.

Spring, just after ice out(April-May) this tactic worked well for me on LSC for channels.

Harry

[KRC]

Bluegills are a common bait for flatheads, they seem to prefer a live target (big blue cats I hear too).

We used to use them down on large lakes in the south. "Stump lines" were set with just nylon cord tied to a stump, large sinker, followed by a mono leader. A large hook was placed just behind the dorsal fin. We'd set them and come back the next day to some very large cats (20+ pounds sometimes).

Large shad worked great too.

[ManillaKilla]

If I am fishing for big flatheads, I prefer to use live bluegills.

I will put a 1oz. no-roll slide sinker on my line, and then tie on a snap swivel. Then i will attach a hook with about a two or three foot leader. Add the bluegill (the bigger the better), and toss it out. Live bluegills work particularly good if you're fishing the grand river.

If I am fishing for channel cats, I will use the bluegill or sucker minnow as cutbait.

[Splitshot]

I think KRC and Manillakilla have it right. When I was a kid I use to fish the Grand River and sometimes this old guy used to fish there too. He said flatheads will only take live bait unlike channel cats.

He preferred live bluegills. Don't know if its true, but he always did better than anyone else around there.

[redfishman]

Bluegills are the bait of choice for the monster blues in deep back cuts off the main channel of the Mississippi. Often a 1/2 gallon plastic milk jug is used to suspend the floundering bluegill free swimming under the jug 2'-3'. Drifting 5-6' off snags and logs the lumbering cats will grab it and the race is on.Using a boat rod rigged with a 80lb shock leader- 60lb trilene big game and a "stinger" treble hook insures a good hook up. Alot of times they will head into deep water and heavy test line is needed to stop them from sitting on the bottom.

[Rondevous]

I like to cut the dorsal spines off and I also cut one pectoral fin to help make the live bait swim in a circle.

Live bait for flattys
Dead and fresh for channels

If you have two rods experiment with bait.

[MSUICEMAN]

i agree, they have to be live for blues or big ole "opps" (the huge flats that are down here in TX). channels will take live or dead, it doesn't matter.

steve

[fmarke]

blues and flatheads like em live. fish them at night under log jams undercuts, etc. they get big, so use heavy duty equipment!