catfishkid81
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question
im new to the site and i like the advise i see i have been fishing for cats for about 7 years now and its a addiction. i see everyone seems to have alot of ideas of what works well fishing the rivers. but im from greensburg and fish mostly lakes. i have tried so many different things and caught big cats on a variety of baits but last summer i started to use shrimp and thought it worked really well havent had much success with dough baits if anyone has any ideas id love to hear them on i am always open to using different things
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russelln114
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toad01
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havn,t done it for a while but pieces of hot dog the ones that float [cant remember which brand] 1ft off bottom worked great when i was a tad younger
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psu_fish
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live and cut bait, nightcrawlers, shrimp, chicken livers
never cared for the packaged stinkbaits
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JEB
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For channels I 2nd the shrimp, good catch rate and much less messy than liver. Hotdogs work well, dead big chubs shinners too. Flatheads, I don't target as much but have caught them (smaller ones) on nightcrawlers and my biggest, 33"er was caught on a dead shad. Live bluegills seems to be the choice of most Flathead guys.
I really like to catch the bullheads as well, I got a few farm ponds that I fish that are loaded with them, I use nightcrawels on a floating jig head for them.
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catfishkid81
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i appreciate the advise i have used hotdogs and they have worked for me but chicken liver i know people like to use it but for some reason i gave up on it i always have trouble keeping it on my hook and in the dark i go to cast and i cant tell at times if it flew off my hook.i once used small hotdogs filled with cheese and it worked.
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FishinGuy
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I'm also from the greensburg area but I do all my catfishing in the rivers. What lakes do you fish? Do you only get channels or flats too? My best channel cat bait is probably a dead creek chub either w some cuts in its sides or stepped on. Bluegill heads are a close second and they'll catch flats pretty well too. Not a fan of stink baits.
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JEB
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I don't use liver pretty much at all anymore, but here is a helpful hint for keeping it on the hook. Buy a pair of panty hose and tie up your liver chunks in peices of it. It will stay on the hook, or you could use spawn sack netting as well. I have used both in the past with sucess. I just don't like having all that raw chicken juice on my hands with no good place to wash them. Don't want to get somenilla when I'm putting in a chew or having a sandwich......
I still would stick with raw shell on shrimp or dead chubs/shinners etc.. I buy my shrimp from WallyWorld, I get 40-50 medium raw shrimp for like 5-6 bucks a pound. What you don't use refreeze and use on future trips.
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akitadog
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skipjack is the best if u can get them. shad is the 2nd best, and not the ones from walmart in a bag. fresh shad.
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catfishkid81
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a friend of mine was saying they were catching flatheads on the river last summer with cut up trout.i know that has to work in the rivers but i wonder if useing them in a lake like keystone where they stock alot of trout would work as well i have used bluegill and dead shiners and i always feel like it doesnt work for me these lakes are loaded with bluegill and trout and it doesnt stick out the way it would in a river to the fish well thats just a thought thats why its called fishing i guess
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akitadog
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try to use what bait u can catch from the lake you are feeshen. there a lake i fish for channels. guys will be there with crawlers, shrimp, hotdogs and every other meat u could amagine not catching much. i will pull in and catch a bluegill real fast and cut it up and rite away start catching fish.
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catfishkid81
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i was fishing the outflow of the loyalhanna dam last summer on a rainy nite i caught a perch and used him for bait.something took the bait and ran my line into a rock or a tree and cut me off but the perch seemed to work
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catfishkid81
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to answer ur question fishinguy i used to fish twin lakes alot but the last few years the fishing has got bad u can catch alot of carp but the big cats are far and few between.It used to b loaded with catfish but fishing pressure and it not being stocked for the last 5 years up till now ruined the place. but now i fish keystone for just about everything i really like the place.and loyalhanna dam and the outflow.big fish in their i also have a couple other small lakes i fish around keystone that are loaded with everything and get zero pressure.
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fish stick
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hey catfishkid im from the same area you are and i too have been trying to find some nice cats maybe one day we can buddy up and try to nail some
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ifishway2much
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Channel catfish bait: It is hard to beat a creek chub; however, I find even better results when I cut the belly open. If possible, live creek chub work well.
Flathead bait: It does not matter as long as it is alive. Flathead feed best at night so use any 6-8" live bait. I prefer bluegills as big as possible.
Blue catfish bait: Cut shad. Again, butcher the poor thing to really get the scent out. I often scale the fish and poke holes all over it to really tenderize and increase scent.
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