5 Top Natural Baits for April Catfish
Story and photos by Keith “Catfish” Sutton
You’ll coax more catfish to bite if you try these live-bait tips this spring.
You can use almost any bait imaginable and sooner or later you’ll hook a catfish. But some baits work far better than others for enticing the whiskered warriors of our lakes, ponds and streams. Among the best are natural baits like these, which April cats find hard to resist.
Skipjacks, shad and other herring family members
Savvy anglers know cats of all kinds love these oily-fleshed baitfish, which usually are caught with cast nets, small lures or sabiki rigs. Use live baits to quickly garner the attention of trophy flatheads, blues and channel cats. Or cut freshly dead ones into chunks or fillets to create catfish-attracting scent and taste trails of bloody proteins.
Tip: When these baitfish are plentiful, chum your fishing hole with small chunks. Then impale an inch-square portion on a rig with only one or two split shot for weight. Allow the bait to flutter slowly down through the strike zone while gripping your rod and reel tightly. Smashing hits often result.
Live sunfish, suckers and chubs
These are hot catfish baits on many waters, especially for heavyweight flatheads. These small fish stay active and hardy on the hook, good traits for cajoling hungry giants. Most anglers fish them on bottom, but floating one under a bobber makes it look more natural, allows you to better control the bait’s positioning and may result in more hook-ups.
Tip: Improve the attractiveness of these baits by snipping off the spiny dorsal and pectoral fins, causing the baitfish to bleed and flounder in the water. Hook in the upper tail, just behind the soft dorsal fin, and prepare for action. Dynamite!
Crawfish
Call them catfish candy. Crawfish are relished by trophies and eating-size fish alike. Collect them by turning rocks and leaves on stream bottoms and catching them with your hands, a dip net or a seine. Crawfish traps baited with fish parts or bacon also work.
Tip: To mimic natural action, rig live crawfish for a backward retrieve. Thread the hook up through the tail and work the mudbug across the bottom with a slow, stop-and-go retrieve. Before casting, break off the pincers. This makes the bait more enticing and less likely to hang up.
Night crawlers and other earthworms
Channel cats, small flatheads and small blues relish wiggly worms. Gather your own by raking through damp leaf litter or purchase some at a bait dealer. Keep them cool, but not cold, for longer life.
Tip: Use a syringe or “worm blower” to inject a shot of air in the body of a big crawler. This makes the worm float above bottom so cats can more easily find it.
Frogs
Few baits work better than these amphibians when targeting trophy channel cats. Go out on rainy spring nights, catch some by hand and store in a wet sock or cooler. Leopard, or grass, frogs are among those most often used by catfish anglers.
Tip: Don’t hook frogs through the lips or hind legs. Impale each through a foreleg instead. This lets the frog swim better for maximum enticement.
