the person that put the bait on the hook and threw the line out or the person that actual set the hook and landed the fish?

Whoever reels the fish in.

That is what i thought thanks!

50/50

50/50?.... LOL WHY?.. the most important part is the hook set and the landing right?

What if I hand him the rod?

He who casts, feels the bite, sets the hook, and lands the fish!

ok this is the deal .. my cousin put the bait on the hook and threw the line out ...( fishing with a bobber).. he put the rod down and starting fishing with another pole.. he notice the bobber was gone so i went over .. set the hook and reel the fish in being carefull not to snap the line.. who does the catch go to?...lol

It must have been a very special fish to even start this discussion! Why does it matter?

You caught the fish. You set the hook and fought it in so you get the catch. If your buddy is wanting some credit then give him his dues. He baited the hook that you CAUGHT the fish on.

Your the Master fisherman...He's the Master Baiter

naww nothing special at all .. just 5 lbs channel out of my old apartment pond... We hit 3 ponds that day and i out fished him at all three.. now he claims.. since the catfish was the biggest fish and he baited the hook then he gets the creidt for the fish....hahahaha ... did not catch one fish at the first two ponds we hit... ... it really just boils down to braggin rights

He put just the right bait and put it in just the right spot other wise the fish would not have been caught all you did was drive the truck in from the field

It's your catch.

i told him what bait to put on .. plus this was a lil pond so suck thing as the " right place"...lol

You are just going to have to tell the master baiter he is just going to have to swallow his pride on this one. The fish is offically yours according to this forum.

Wait a minute! Since we're talking catfish, it depends. What kind of bait? If it was stink bait, the master baiter gets the credit! Anybody willing to touch and breathe that stinky crud to catch a fish deserves credit for the catch. You just snuck in and stole the pole anyways when he noticed the hit.

Darn potlickers!

Depends what you're catching lol. Does it actually take skill to land the fish? IE, is it a 30lb drag stripping beast on 8lb test? Or is it a 4lb largemouth on 30lb test? Lol.

I'd say who ever did the most difficult job deserves the most credit.

the bait was chicken liver... catfish 4lbs 14oz.. on a cheap pink rod and real.. ( his real)...hahaha

Mind you, what MrJu is not telling you is that the fish was hooked already, he did not have to set the hook at all. In fact, all he did was reel the fish in while I was busy bass fishing, trying to catch something else. Not to mention, I had been getting bites for a while, and I was thinking it was only a matter of time before I got him. MrJu knowing this as well, he wanted to play a game that would get me off of my rod/reel that had been getting good bites. While playing the game, that MrJu wanted to play I was casting for bass...and I noticed the bobber not going up and down but totally Gone and Submerged under water. The fish was hooked and all MrJu had to do was simply reel it in. Everyone knows how hard it is to get Chicken Liver to stay on a hook, while doing a hard cast to the right spot....especially on a $10 childs Wal-Mart rod/reel. Every time I would see MrJu or my nephew throw out Chicken Liver, you would see it go in 3 different directions. Meanwhile, I cast my cheap pole out pretty far with Chicken Liver set on the hook just right where it stays on the hook and goes exactly where I want it to land. This particular Chicken Liver was almost a week old, so it was not fresh anymore at all. These are the facts guys, now you can make a fair analysis/observation and give your honest opinion.

Honestly I would not be caught fishing with a pink pole.

I am now dummerer after reading this thread....

I don't know; I think I gotta give credit to the pink-pole-owning master baiter on this one.