I’ve casted out with a 2oz weight but when I reel in the there’s no bait in the hook, could be that it came off on retrieval or while casting out... I’ve thought about using them treble hooks with the spring in the middle to see if it’ll stay on better. I’ve been using stubbys but no luck yet

No need for the spring hooks. The weight is what is killing you. I had a guy last week that called and said he couldn’t keep bait on the hook and has been skunked twice. He fishes Fork. I met him at the boat ramp and wanted to see what he was doing wrong. He had a bait caster with 30 lb mono, a 2 oz weight tied to the bottom and a treble hook about a foot up from the weight. He went to the bottom and then reeled up 4 turns. When the boat rocks, that weight bouncing doesn’t help keep bait on the hook. After a few minutes I had him reel it up. I then handed him my spinning rod, with braid, no weight and a #4 treble hook. I then had him go to the bottom , half turn up and set the hook. We caught roughly 80 fish in less than 2 hours. I told him that we don’t tell people to use it the way that we do for no reason. We have found every way to NOT catch fish. It is not a punch bait with 80 percent cattail filler. If used correctly, it works great. My number and Stubbys number is posted everywhere. I send out instructional videos to help people. There is no reason not to call if you are having trouble. When used properly, you won’t have trouble.

I also just tried to call the number you have in your signature to try and help out

Since I don’t usually chime in on channel cats I would like to give a disclaimer before I go any further. I’m a blue catr and fish with cut bait 99.9% of the time. I did grew up channel cat fishing at my dads boat slip at Eagle Point Marina on Lewisville back in the 80s and we used the same method as Littlewheel and Stubby. Dad kept it chummed up with sour milo and we could catch fish there all day long one right after the next any time of year. Catfish train super easy.

You can’t cast a lot of the punchbaits fonzie. You can lob it at best. We use sure shot when we’re plop fishing for blues under the Cormorant roosts on dead calm days. Its got fiber in it which helps it stay on the hook when you lob it 10ft to make it plop. If I was chumming for channels I would use Stubbys cuz it doesn’t stink and it’s proven itself well. Casting way out isn’t really needed for chum fishing though. Throw your cubes out in a small area instead of broadcasting them. Then fish directly over your cubes. If you gotta lob it out for shore fishing then I always used a slip bobber rig. There are a million ways to skin a cat. I would take Littlewheel up on his offer to help. Those boys are some channel cat catchin sons of guns!

Thanks El Gato Azul! Your explanation was spot on. We don’t have trouble casting it out 50 feet or so on slip corks. However , we do just lob it out there. With no resistance from the spinning reel and the density of the bait, it really isn’t a problem until somebody does a banzai cast.

I have had luck using a cut up women's nylon material to keep the bait on for the long casts with a weight . I use stubbies cheese bait and have okay luck with it on Lake Lavon . I need to spend some time with a local expert to learn more .

I have to take my bobber off and beat the hook through the water as hard as I can about a dozen times to get punch bait off of mine. LOL

Our bait stays on just fine when used properly