Whats your #1 bait of choice for each species you chase?

I used bluegill 95% of the time last year and think I need to expand my horizons.

Cut bait, earthworms, shad, punch-bait, or range cubes for channel catfish. Shad or cut-bait for blue catfish. Live bait for flathead catfish. Although, I do catch a lot of channel catfish on a fly.

Cut bait or shad for the Blues. Live or cut bait for the Flathead. Punch bait, worms, and cut bait for Channels.

Shad, shad and shad. I have had good success with bream too. Drum is a good bait. Buffalo works if you have a hatchet to chunk them up. And... I like skipjack. I have a freezer full from the last time I was in Alabama. These Texas Blues like 'em.

I do generally think live bait for flathead and cut bait for blues. But you'll catch blues on live bait too. Sometimes it comes down to what you can get your hands on...

As the water warms, I'll switch to skipjack and/or shad. But for now cut bluegill is my main go to bait. Live bluegill on the Tennessee River is not their favorite treat.

Thanks fellas

I used primarily cut bluegill last season and didnt do well at all, im going to try shad a lot more this year.

The fresh kind.

Shad, Drum, Buffalo- cut preferences.
Green Sunfish, Bluegill, Shad, polywog (occasional)- live preferences.
Nightcrawlers- March through May. Wad and smash 4-5 on a 4/0 khale hook and use them in creeks/rivers.
Punch bait- summer time chum spots for Channels.

My experience

Danny King's or CJ's for channels. Usually spray it with an attractant - catfish, shad, etc. anything to make it smell more. Sometimes throw out a can of sardines with holes punched in it.

Depends on what I’m chasing. Flatheads, something big and lively like a sunfish, bullhead, sucker, or carp. Channels or blues, Shad are good. I’ve also had good results with live wild shiners for channels and blues during the spawn.

I will admit that many times this last season I did not have any time to get out and catch bait so I went to the asian market to buy a few carp or buffs and did really good cutting them up for bait.

Do they make you buy the whole fish? I have seen those and it seems like they are only selling the fish whole. At like $5 per pound and those are some 8+lb carp lol.

I seem to like Stubby’s for channels!

yawl proved it to me; throw out some cow-cake and hang on; no monsters, but bunches of cats on a slip cork; luv 2 c that cork sink; wayyyyyy back in the day, Quanah bait was the thing west of Wichita Falls; wish i had Stubby's back then; Daddy would have been thrilled; better than crawdad tails w/worms

My grand dad was a perch jerker first and foremost, he loved his crappie but when it came to cats it was Quanah bait or nothing.Stubby's would've been a nice option back then.Nice to see another West Texan here.

I don't really fish for yeller cats & blues. But I do fish for channels. I mostly use chicken livers or minnows
Sometimes cut sunfish. And from time time to time nightcrawlers.