Kevin Van Dam Forums

still new and learning about fishing, but do catfish have a certain season or they pretty much all around.  some people are telling me it is and isnt.

i still like fishing for bass more, but just want to try different things with diffferent fish.

Well here in Iowa cafish primarily bite more in the late spring throughout early fall but after that the catfish bite is off.

PIGPEN77 - 17 November 2008 02:44 AM

still new and learning about fishing, but do catfish have a certain season or they pretty much all around.  some people are telling me it is and isnt.

i still like fishing for bass more, but just want to try different things with diffferent fish.

In our town PIGPEN you can catch year round and right now is good!  Mid Spring to early December You got to love our weather for fishing.

o gotcha gotcha. 

do i hook up the bait like bass baits?

what is the best bait?

Live crawlers or dip bait.

Some people use cutbait.

As long as it stinks like any bait you should be good.  Funny story, This year at DVL I caught an 8#’er on a double senko on the shore line at the saddle dam!

For a wile i was pounding the cats with a pumpkin chart 6” lizard carolina rigged. I dont think i even caught a bass that day. I had like 20 some cats for dinner.

you can use almost anything that stinks if you want to try something different use a 2in. curlytail grub on ultralight gear. I ended up catching a 7lbr doing this make sure that your drag is loose.

what you do is use a live bluegill and a heavy sinker and let it sit on the bottom and wait. use a heavy rod and have strong line

Here in CA, we go to the lakes or delta @ night. My favorite bait is Foster farms chicken liver, 1/o wisker hook, some magic thread & a 3/4 oz. slider, 18” long. On an average night we get into about 10-15 cats ranging from 2-10lbs. We do our best when it’s about 75-90 degrees right before the sunsets. Spring to late fall our lakes are stalked w/ catfish, by the 1000 of pounds every other week. Nothin like sitting by the lattern catchin cats & chasing the night critters off, Good times.

profisher - 18 November 2008 10:05 PM

what you do is use a live bluegill and a heavy sinker and let it sit on the bottom and wait. use a heavy rod and have strong line

Be carefull, in some states its illegal to use gamefish as bait.

Exactly, in Illinois its illegal to use bluegill. What most on river do is use skipjack or shad.

Actually I just spoke to our local DNR rep. (lives next to me) And in iowa its perfectly legal to use gamefish as bait IF you catch them on a rod and reel. Acording to him “When you catch it you can do whatever you want with it”

Down here in santee lakes, im not for sure yet becouse i have yet to try it, but id say the summer time, around june or july, when it getts hot, i had a chance to go on a week vacation to santee, but i missed it, that wont happen again. thats when my dad sais its good

hey who likes Bill Dance, you see he’s a really good Bass fisherman, even he needs a break from bass fishing, he like catching catfish. look at KVD even he needs a break, he likes deer hunting, it isnt a bad thing to not divert to something else . every body does, I love Bass fishing,but i love the LORD too, so you see. PIGPIN77

its legal here in MI to use bluegill as bait (at least i think it is) ill have to make sure again just to make sure im not breaking any rules. ive caught some great fish with bluegill. perch work better though