SUMMERTIME RIVER CATS
Other Summertime River-Catfish Baits Continued
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: Watermelon, iced tea, suntan lotion, sunglasses
and fishing for catfish comes to mind when the sun climbs
high in the sky, and the mercury heads for the 100-degree
mark. Many anglers believe that to catch catfish in
the summer you simply throw a stink bait out on the
bottom of any river. But to consistently catch more
cats on every outing, you need to know where the fish
most likely will occur, what they're most likely to
eat in these spots, and what conditions cause them to
feed most actively. Catfish like to eat almost anything.
To catch catfish, determine the natural baits in the
river you're fishing, and fish them first. Check with
local anglers and sporting-goods stores to learn what
baits catfish bite in that region at that time of the
year. Several other factors affect when and what catfish
eat. The temperature of the water governs how actively
catfish feed, because the enzyme action in a catfish's
stomach doubles with each 8-degree increase in water
temperature. The hotter the weather becomes, the more
catfish feed. Since most catfish prefer a dark habitat,
they eat mostly at night during the hottest, sunniest
weather.
Hot Dogs, a Productive Catfish Bait:
Mike Handley had run out of catfish bait the day before
he planned to put out a trotline. He searched through
his refrigerator to try to find anything that might
lure in catfish. He used his creative ability and a
pack of hot dogs he found to develop a deadly catfish
bait. "I cut the hot dogs into small pieces that
would bait well on my hooks," Handley explained.
"I put the hot dogs in a quart fruit jar and poured
Fish Formula Catfish Lure into the jar to completely
cover the hot dogs. I let the jar full of hot dogs and
Fish Formula sit overnight. The next day I baited my
with these wieners soaked in Fish Formula. Within the
first two hours, I caught more cats than I'd ever taken
before. I immediately went back to the store, bought
another pack of hot dogs and another bottle of Fish
Formula Catfish Lure, cut up the hot dogs and soaked
them in the Fish Formula. I used this bait for a day
and a night and caught more catfish than anyone else
in the camp using any other type of bait." If you
don't have time to soak hot dogs in a product like Fish
Formula Catfish Lure, use a needle, and inject the wieners
with the substance to produce the same effect.
Awful-Smelling Mixture Takes Monster-Sized Catfish:
 Ralph
Barbee enjoys fishing for huge catfish at night on the
Georgia/South Carolina border. He puts mullet, a saltwater
fish, commercial blood bait and chicken blood and entrails
in a 1-gallon plastic mayonnaise jar. He then lets this
concoction sit in the sun for a day. The chum smells
so bad that he wears plastic surgeon gloves to dump
the bloody mixture into a burlap bag. After Barbee sinks
the awful-smelling bag, he fishes with Louisiana pink
worms around that area to catch very big catfish. He
took 330 pounds of catfish in one night for his best
catch ever while fishing his bloody mixture.
Peanut Butter for Catfish:
John "Junnie" Mihalakis of Iowa, a longtime
avid catfisherman, makes commercial catfish baits. He
also has a favorite stink bait recipe that uses 80%
cheese, at least three years old, 5% calf starter that
you can purchase at any feed store, 5% dried animal
blood, 5% peanut butter and flour. Mix the cheese, calf
starter, dried animal blood and peanut butter together,
and blend until creamy. Slowly add flour a little at
a time, and continue blending until you achieve the
right consistency. Then dip worms in the mixture immediately
before you fish to catch plenty of cats.
Larry Collins’ Cheese-and-Honey Sponge Bait:
 Catfishermen
have used cheese-bait recipes for many years. You can
purchase cheese trimmings from cheese companies in large
barrels. Put a Coleman stove outside and a large flat
cake pan you can throw away. Place the rancid cheese
in the pan, light the Coleman stove, and let the cheese
cook until thoroughly melted and hot. Next, add four
or five tablespoons of honey to the cheese, stirring
the honey into the cheese and continuing to cook until
you've blended the cheese and honey thoroughly. Lay
out sheets of tinfoil on the ground, and cut pieces
of 1/4-inch-thick sponge into sections that will fit
inside your flat cake pan. Use a fork or tongs to lay
out the sponge and spread the cheese-and-honey mixture.
After the sponge has soaked the mixture up on one side,
turn the sponge over, and let the other side soak it
up. Once you've thoroughly soaked the sponge in the
mixture, remove it from the pan, and lay it on the tinfoil.
Repeat the same process with the rest of your sponge.
After the sponge has cooled and dried, use scissors
or a knife to cut the sponge into bait-size squares,
usually 1/4- to 1/2-inch in diameter. Put the sponge
baits into quart Ziploc freezer bags, and seal the bags.
According to Collins, "Make sure when you're cooking
this kind of bait that you stay well away from the house.
Plan to use a pan you can throw away and an old Coleman
stove that you probably won't use ever again except
to cook bait. Try to keep the cheese-and-honey mixture
off you, because it really smells foul."
When you get ready to fish, simply open the bag, and
put the piece of sponge on your hook for an inexpensive,
durable, long-lasting bait not only produces.
Doughball Delight:
 To
sweeten up your catfishing and bring more cats to your
hooks, try these recipes, which also will chum in carp.
Put flour, cornmeal and creamed-style corn in a large
mixing bowl. Pour pineapple juice into the flour mixture,
mix it, and make a dough. Continue to add flour and
pineapple juice until you form a large ball of dough.
Next, pour in uncooked rice, and squeeze it into the
dough. Put the dough in a large Ziploc freezer bag,
and take it to where you plan to fish. Or, you can mix
together canned sweet potatoes or yams with the pineapple
juice and the other ingredients. Some anglers place
this mixture in a burlap bag and sink it in a lake.
Or, before you begin fishing, pinch off pieces of the
doughball, and throw them out into your general fishing
area. Save enough of the doughball to also use it for
bait. After you've scattered the pieces of doughball
along the bottom, bait with a doughball, and cast it
out into the same area where you've chummed. The pineapple
juice in the doughball will put out a scent and taste
in the water quickly. Also as the rice starts to swell,
it will add to that scent and taste. With this technique,
you can chum cats in and catch them all day and all
night. Always use chumming tactics only in areas with
little or no current.
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