My buddy owns some property on the Llano River with several pretty deep holes. He wants to catch catfish but so far no luck with worms or chicken livers during the day.

How do you fish these holes for catfish? During the day? At night? Throw lines? Trot lines? Live bait?

What is the secret to catching catfish on Hill Country rivers?

Thanks for any advice.

I caught several on flies the one trip I made up there. Not sure why bait's not working for him. How is he rigging it?

He fished a tight line with a weight holding bait just above the bottom.

Fish the shallower outer edges of holes at night, try using live bait.

Thanks. Fishing the deep sections hasn't worked during daylight so we'll give the shallows at night a try next trip.

Channel cats love live minnows. I’ve used both a highlow rig and Carolina rig to catch channel cats in rivers.

I used to catch then in the Perdenales by using chicken livers on smaller hooks (4) without any weight as it needs to be as natural as possible. I found them in deeper pools particularly where there is an outside bend and the fish could hide underneath rocky overhangs while coming out in low light conditions to feed.

My property fronts the Llano river and grass hoppers, especially the big yellow ones are what we catch the majority of our catfish on. Sometimes small 2 inch perch work good. Chunk the bait out on a light carolina rig.