I will always catch me some bass, but I think I want to target cats for a while. I'm not financially "hurting " but putting yourself through school on a weak paycheck can be tough. So I got to thinking. A dollar saved is a dollar earned, I might do some fishing for its original purpose FOOD. A few free yummy meals would be awesome anyone have any good catfish and or crappie tips? Catching and cooking.

Throw out some range cubes and fish with punch bait on top of the cubes. I like to fish along drop offs near timber in about 5-15ft now. this'll catch you some channel cats. For crappie, you'll need to find deeper water with cover. Use jigs tipped with crappie candy. Once you taste the crappie, you won't want to catfish anymore. For either species use your light action bass gear and you'll have fun.

Good luck!!

I think that's a great idea. I've been feeding my family fish for a while now, they love it and I love to catch it. I don't do catfish, but sand bass and crappie are good eating. If I was aiming to catch catfish for food, I'd probably start trot-lining.

Ill take crappie or cats whatever's bitting haha. The rest of my family is picky so I'm just catching for me. Any good recipes worth sharing? Or articles? Ofcourse I can Google stuff but always prefer thoughts from fellow tffers

Once you get the hang of it crappie are usually easier to catch than bass although the bite can be more delicate and require a slower presentation. On sunny days they'll stick to structure until things cool down more in which case they'll tend to feed when the water is warmest. Getting the right depth is critical with crappie though. They are lazier that bass so you need to put the jig right in front of them. On some days 10 cent jigs from wally world is all it takes.

One tactic to catch tons of eater catfish this time of year is to find areas with a lot of grasshoppers. Hook them up on a small light wire circle/catfish hook with a split shot around shallow timber in coves where you'd expect a lot of grasshoppers to be blown into the water.

You can also throw out jugs around where you fish bass, bass fish for fun, and then collect the jugs for catfish when you are done.

It won't be long and they'll be stocking the ponds for trout. Something else to keep in mind.

Justin is close to Denton Creek. Save gas and pull your food out of there and maybe the shallow timber on the west side of Lake Grapevine.

There's a launch in Newark on the north end of Eagle Mountain. If you ever need some pointers on catfishing it's all I do.

Isn't it free? EM is $$ to launch. I really want to get on some crappie and cats here soon. School and work have been keeping me busy

I would never argue against catfishing, but you can eat bass too. That one in your signature would make a great sandwich.

Haha yes it would! I'm excited to say I just got done eating my first self caught catfish. I need to sharpen my knives it was a doozy. But the reward of eating something you caught and prepared is priceless. Ate is blackened with a side of Mac n cheese. Spicy yummy ness

Fresh caught catfish blackened on the grill!
Dosnt get much better then that.

I have to agree with Joe! Only other fish I like more swims in saltwater.

Tony makes a good point. If your looking to save some funds the stocker trout in the parks is the way to go. Check the local paper or TPW site for stocking information. I love catching those little dudes and they are great on the grill. Have fun!

I grew up catching trout at bear creek park after they stocked it. Ill definitely give trout a go again

That wise county ramp there at Newark is free.

Thorpedo, I'll be doing some crappie fishing in denton creek here in another month or so, if you wanna meet up, I'll show you what I know about it. I'm not the greatest crappie fisherman or anything but I can usually keep meat in the freezer.