anyone know of any cheaper catfish stock ponds than Catfish Corner in Mesquite? I just cant see my self paying 2 bucks to get in, 2 bucks per pole per person, and 2 bucks per pound. That gets expensive. I would just go to a catfish restaurant which would be cheaper, but I would rather catch them my self and I havent had much luck on lakes lately. I have been around Ray Hubbard, Lewisville, and Lavon and have only caught 3 keepers in the last month which are sitting in the freezer. And the family would like to have a fish fry soon.

Buddy, that's about the price you will have to pay in any catfish pond. But I find it hard to believe you have had such bad luck catching channel cat in those lakes. You must be doing something dreadfully wrong. My first guess is you are using too big of a hook. Channel cats have very small mouths.
I use a #6 treble for chicken livers. Most people jump up to a #4 with a spring around the shank for punch baits like DK or
Secret. I'm just guessing, but you tried to help me on the shad gizzards. And I thank you.

generally I use a #4 treble with the spring or a #4 with a sponge for Hog Wild bait. Or I use a 2/0(i think) cirlce hook with cut up pieces of fresh shad.

Quit wasting time with punch bait, liver, etc..
Get you a castnet and catch some shad. Use fresh cut shad and you will catch fish on any of those lakes.

I agree. But the shad head is the best piece of cut bait. If you enter the mouth of the shad and hide the hook within the head, at least for the most part, you will catch channels. This is also true of whole shad, but a channel won't mess with a big shad like they will a smaller one. And you can't throw out chicken livers or shad gizzards for channels either. I have never used Hogg Wild, but I can speak well for DK and Secret7. Bro. Terry always keeps some Secret7 on his boat.

i have no where around here to get secret 7, and when I said I use cut pieces of fresh shad, I meant I catch them with a cast net, put them in a bucket with an aerator(sp?) and cut them up and use them as needed.

I really don't see why you aren't catching more channel cats using fresh shad like that. Maybe you need to move aroound. My dad always said, If you don't get a bite in 15 minutes, MOVE.
A 2/0 hook will work, but I think it's a bit large. I would personally use a pre-snelled #4 first for hiding it in a shad head.

I catch shad when other folks don't. The Channel cat bite on Ray Hubbard has slowed down near to a halt(atleast from early morning to noonish time) over the last week to 10 days. Nothing like it was before. I catch about a third of what I as. It did start to pick up last two times out but they are running small as in "dink-world"!

[censored] tell me about it i missed the spawn boat was out of service.

U can try Gone Fishin Catfish Farm it is in Crandall TX. off of 75 Highway and it is free to get in and I am not sure on the price of the fish by th lb. but it is well stocked and they stock every weekend for a tournament that they have on Saturday mornings. They also have a nice tank in the back stocked with bass and crappie. It is so much better than Catfish Connection in Mesquite. They also sale some great Hamburgers up at the restaraunt too LOL.

Fishing should start to get better, the Blues should be comming back into the lakes, they have been gone to that place, wherever it is that they go spawn, last year I was doing a lot of drift fishing on Lewisville, and from June till the middle of July I didn't hardly catch any fish, then they just showed up again.

This year I went fishing with Crappie Terorist, and he showed me how to fish in shallow water, I have been catching some nice fish lately, just not a lot of numbers yet, but it won't be long!!!

He is a nice fellow, and if you want to learn to catch Blue's in shallow water, give him a call!!!

Gone Fishin is a dollar to get and 2.80 to 3.80 a pound

Man, you could probably catch them at Lake Albertsons, or Lake Kroger, for that!!!

That's what I was thinking.