I am sold on catfishing...I have never done it before. I have always fished for bass and crappie. Here a couple of weekends ago me and buddy went to smithwick to catch some bass. On the way to the lake we stopped by a little store and bought some of that cheap catfish bait (just to kill time when the sun went down) like they sell at Academy, the little balls. Anyway, we launched the boat and headed down stream and bass fished for a while. When the sun went down we wanted to just drop the anchor and try our hand at catfish. We threw a handful of that bait in the water to chum a little and then dropped our lines in. it wasn't long till I had one on my line, not big, maybe 2.5lbs max, but he fought like a 10lb bass.

From that moment on I realized that bass fishing is just too much dang work, catfhishing is for me!! I like a good fight. I have not been back out yet, but I plan on buying some range cubes and grain to sour to chum with. I live in Austin, so I guess I will try out lake travis, I hear good things about it. I am trying to learn as much as i can about this stuff, it is all new to me. great info here

Buy a castnet at Academy or Walmart. Shad are very thick in the mornings near the ramp this time of year all over the banks or near windy points. Best bait you can use. Shad is the best bait by far for catfish with cut buffalo/carp coming in second in my opinion. Fish shallow this month.

GrElliot,

I'm with you man. I started fishing bass as a kid and don't get me wrong....it's fun. But, it's alot of work sometimes and I started getting tired of the spending money on lures that I'd get snagged or the plastic would melt in the Texas heat. If you live in Austin and you like a good fight, you are missing out if you haven't fished carp down there. The carp fight even harder than most catfish and Austin is home to some of the best carp and buffalo fishing in the country. There are some nice catfish as well, but you should keep an eye on the rough fish section and catch some guys goin' to Town Lake or Lake Austin. A 20lbs carp on Town Lake is an average fish! The buffalo down there have been caught up to 65lbs...all from the bank. You should definately try it out at least once while you fish for catfish. The carpers are always welcome to new faces.

gr_elliott,
A suggestion: Wanna catch better blues with Punch bait ?
Get and try: Sure Shot
A Sure winner..

great....I will have to try Sure Shot and Carp. i am going to buy some Danny King also and try that.