Does this sound like a good idea to any of you seasoned catfishermen?

The majority of the time ive been catching channels on free line and breadballs. Althoguh that setup caught me a bunch of fish, i guthooked a large percentage, at least 8/10.

Ive switched to circle hooks and still guthooked. Then i added a weight and figured out the bottom of my pond is WAYYYY too dang weedy to continue bottom fishing.

Can i suspend nightcrawlers with a circle hook and bobber and catch catfish? Or would it be likely impossible? If so, what kinda length should i have between hook and bobber? Unfortunately i dont know the depth of the pond.

Thanks guys!

Well if you don't know the depth you will know you've got your bobber set too deep if it sits on its side and doesn't stand upright. That means you're on the bottom.

I fish treble hooks and bread balls in small ponds on the bottom, regardless of how weedy it is and have great sucess. If you do want to suspend under a bobber I'd recommend about 6-8" up from the hook to have your split shot or whatever weight you're using and then about another 12-18" above that to have your bobber in small ponds.

The biggest problem with nightcrawler fishing in small ponds on a circle hook is that the perch will most likely snag your worm before a catfish does.

I think your beat bet would be to try to some how figure out the depth. You can use a slip bobber and adjust the length until you find the bottom then move it up a foot or 2.

i think it'll work, but trents right about the perch. i've fished this pond down the road from my house for perch with nightcrawlers on a bronze hair hook and caught a bunch of perch, but ended up landing a few big cats like 5+ lbs. hell of a fight on a hair hook and light line. bait was only about 1 1/2 ft from the bobber.

Thanks you guys for all your advice!

Trent: Im not experienced enough of a fisherman yet so everytime i hit a snag i think its a bite.. So i end up cranking and only to pull up big mats of weeds. Im tring to keep off the bottom as well because theres a bunch of rocky crags that have caused me to lose the entire rig

And yes those sunfish do like to attack nightcrawlers... If i try to fish for them i dont have to wait for more than 10 seconds after throwing the worm out for it to get bit. No exaggeration.

Im thinking about threading 5-6 nightcrawlers on my 1/0 circle in order to avoid sunnies. That should do the trick right?

Caribou: i havnet leanred how to tie a slip rig yet. Guess better late than never. Is it much better than a simple bobber rig?

Trbrmc: how far does your worm fall before it gets attacked? My baits cant get more than 2 ft down before getting eaten by bluegill. Are the catfish that you catch near the surface?

Slip bobber works like this. There is a small bobber stop that you tie on to your line as far up as you want to bobber to go to, then you put in a slip bobber. The bobber allows the line to run through it til it gets to the stopper.

Also, try using a good punch bait instead of the worms. Perch won't mess with it, and the cats love it. I like cj's, but there are several good brands.

i've had sunfish and bluegill go for my bait off the bottom, so...i think your best option is to do what caribou says and go for the store bought catfish baits. dough bait, dip and tube works well, but try not to get that stuff on you. that stuff smells like a $#*t house door on a shrimp boat if you ask me.

Might want to put your location on your profile. If I knew your location I might be able to recommend a good lunch bait.

What size of circle hooks are you using?

I want to clarify. Most of thee store bought baits don't work well. Gotta stick with the good ones. Cj's. Shureshot. Danny kings. Catfish charlies. Stay away from the dough baits.

wal-mart sells catfish charlie.

Brian, im in the houston area. And if youre asking about circle HOOKS, im using 1/0 gamakatsus. I youre talking bout circle BAITS, Im utterly confused.

Dangit lol guys. I didnt wanna spend more money on fishing hehe im kinda embarassed to say this but the whole reason im so intent using nightcrawlers as bait is because i raise them, so i have a never ending supply

I wonder how effective they would be at bass fishing..

Getting back to the question at hand tho, would a suspended breadball bait draw catfish off the bottom to attack? Cant afford that many hangups!

He mean circle hooks.

i say, use what you have, then use the perch you catch as bait if that's what your catchin.

Lol trbrmc, i dont think id do that anytime within my life. I cant bring myself to kill non-bug animals i love nature too much