Best Tactics For Big Cats

live large shad, bluegill, trout, perch, etc. with the fins clipped so they have to thrash but can't really get away. i fish the yough and those bait's do well for me. i also keep one rod out there with a dough bait made from cheese, ground cat treats with shredded cotton smashed in to help hold the bait on my hook. i find that the closer the fish are to 10lbs the less likely they are to hit the dough bait.

Bluegill under a big bobber or a soda bottle drifting.

Use some tasty trout...

I don't fish the Mon, but some things are universal for cats... they tend to hang out in the deeper holes during the heat of the day and come up onto flats/shallows after sun eases off in evening. Find a nice hole with shallows nearby and it would be a good start, add some cover in the form of dead trees/debri then it is even better. If they find decent cover they will stay in it all day even in shallow water and come out in the evening to hunt nearby flats. If you aren't out on a boat you can about expect that top outside of river bends scour holes and insides of them get sediment buildup causing shallows.
Larger cats and ones feeding more aggressively seem to be more likely to hit live bait (though there are always exceptions to the rule), next would be larger, chunky cut bait of something that smells or is oily, gobs of nightcrawlers is a staple bait for midsized channels and bullheads.
Since it is the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep I did some digging because I know we've had some decent threads on here last year about catfishing preferences/setups...
hopefully the links work.
http://forums.fishusa.com/m_319383/mpage_1/key_flathead/tm.htm#320632

here's another
http://forums.fishusa.com/m_317641/mpage_1/key_catfish/tm.htm#323456

on the one above, I have a link to yet another thread about chicken liver on one of my posts...

Hope these help

I hear that Tull!  Thanks for the info fisherlady.  I think I'm really going to give it a go this summer.

...One of Fisherlady2's kitty-cats! 

It was 41" long, took a 7 or 8" bluegill in 21ft of water at very top edge of a deeper yet hole, September, and weighed at 32 lbs.

ORIGINAL: Fisherlady2

I don't fish the Mon, but some things are universal for cats... they tend to hang out in the deeper holes during the heat of the day and come up onto flats/shallows after sun eases off in evening. Find a nice hole with shallows nearby and it would be a good start, add some cover in the form of dead trees/debri then it is even better. If they find decent cover they will stay in it all day even in shallow water and come out in the evening to hunt nearby flats. If you aren't out on a boat you can about expect that top outside of river bends scour holes and insides of them get sediment buildup causing shallows.
Larger cats and ones feeding more aggressively seem to be more likely to hit live bait (though there are always exceptions to the rule), next would be larger, chunky cut bait of something that smells or is oily, gobs of nightcrawlers is a staple bait for midsized channels and bullheads.
Since it is the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep I did some digging because I know we've had some decent threads on here last year about catfishing preferences/setups...
hopefully the links work.
http://forums.fishusa.com/m_319383/mpage_1/key_flathead/tm.htm#320632

here's another
http://forums.fishusa.com/m_317641/mpage_1/key_catfish/tm.htm#323456

on the one above, I have a link to yet another thread about chicken liver on one of my posts...

Hope these help

You can't say it any better. This is right on

Nice cat Catwoman!
Nice fish Fisherlady!

ORIGINAL: Fisherlady2

It was 41" long, took a 7 or 8" bluegill in 21ft of water at very top edge of a deeper yet hole, September, and weighed at 32 lbs.

LMAO!!! thats no 32# or 41" looks like a cookie cutter 10-13 lbs. if your not use to seeing flats a 15lber looks like a 30lber. when you catch a 30 lb+ flat you will know it, trust me. if i know how to post pics here i would show you a #32.

as far as you question, like most thing's in life you have to put time in and you will get it,took me 2 years to break 30lb's and i fish 100% for flats 3-5 days a week after water hits 60*.if your after flats the biggest thing is FRESH bait dead or cut. there's no such thing as too big of bait either. i had a run last year on a live 17" smallie that ran me i to a snagg and broke off. if you really want get some tricks send me a pm a buddy started up a burgh catfish fourm i'll send you the link. tight lines and good luck justin 

pHoToshopped eYe sees the white lines

You used a 17" smallie for catfish bait?

Any live fish 6"-8" works great.  My preference is Warmoth and Bluegills.  8/0 circle hooks with baits hooked on the top of the back just in front of the tail.  Use enough weight to hold bottom on a fish finder rig.  Don't set the hook.  Let the rod load and once the fish is pulling drag, start reeling.  Big cats are most active at night.  I've only been fishing for big cats for two years so I'm by no means an expert.  I do have three fish over 30 lbs using the above method.

ORIGINAL: ifishway2much

Any live fish 6"-8" works great.  My preference is Warmoth and Bluegills.  8/0 circle hooks with baits hooked on the top of the back just in front of the tail.  Use enough weight to hold bottom on a fish finder rig.  Don't set the hook.  Let the rod load and once the fish is pulling drag, start reeling.  Big cats are most active at night.  I've only been fishing for big cats for two years so I'm by no means an expert.  I do have three fish over 30 lbs using the above method.

now thats a 30+ lber nice fish, but please don't hold them by there gills. thats like me picking you up by your ears, you be bleeding as well. and i think your talking about green sunfish not warmouth's ( they are endangered) and yes greenies are one of the toughest/best live bait around. congrats on the fish again.

"but please don't hold them by there gills."

Didnt want to sound like a know it all, or trying to reprimand anyone, but I agree that is VERY GOOD advice. Ive seen lots of pics of guys holdin' flats like that and possibly the fish no worse for wear. But its easy to slip the fingers into the gills and they are EASILY damaged. There is a perfect handle on a flathead, and thats the mouth. The blood coming from the gills in the pic shows that its much safer for the fish to hold by the mouth. The fish will not hurt ya, it aint a musky. A fish that size is a very old fish, and a very good breeder, and not a "common" fish in Pa systems. A true "trophy". Please be careful with them!