So im fishing a cove about 2-2/2 acres. Its a semi-private lake so without a boat this is the only spot i can fish. With a carolina rig and a worm you can catch all the mudcats you want, but we call Standard Issues about maybe 1/2 a pound big. I want to catch a big catfish, but dont know whether they are blues, channel or anything in there. How do i need to go about this bait, rig, etc? This is the last thing i have on my list that i can do at this point in my life{ex. no brazil, deep sea or european grayling anytime soon]

so help me get it done! thanks

Well if there are that many small mudcats its a fair bet there aren't many predators there. But one thing you can do to try and see if there IS anything bigger in there is catch you one of those lil mudcats and cut him up.

For mudcat cutbait I like to fillet a side, and chunk up the rest. Leave the skin on. toss it out on a 6/0 or bigger hook and wait. Mudcats are very bloody so if there are any predators/large scavengers in the area they'll find it.

Good luck and good fishing!

I agree about there not being many predators there because of all the mudcat. If there are many flat heads, blue cat, or good Bass in there then there really shouldn't have a big population of mudcat or the would be eating them. Channel cat don't seem to be so hard on them and in tanks the mudcat seem to overpopulate even when channels are added to them. Actually competting for food so much that the channel cat population suffers. Throw a bunch of blues in there and in a couple years your hard pressed to find a mudcat in there. So I agree, probably not a good number of decent sized predator fish in there. Least not yet

Are Mudcats like little flatheads?

no, totally different

no, they are not flatheads.

Do the mudcats grow or do they stay at 1/2 pound?

It's not just mudcats it's packed with LM, carp, crappie, sunfish, wipers, etc.

hmm, the bigger the bait the bigger the fish. Do you know the stocking history of the lake? It could be TPW or the owner had recently dumped 1000 or so finger sized muds in there and there just hasnt been enough time for the bass or other blues to knock the population back into a normal ratio. Dont get caught releasing blues in there, but might not be a bad idea

If I were you I would set up several drop lines with either a baby mudcat or a live perch thats about the size of your palm. Have about 4oz of weight on each and throw half out as far as you can and keep half in close.

When rod and reel fishing try different baits such as beef liver, live shad, minnows, and cut perch.
Also fish it at different times of day.

next question would be setting the hook, had several hard "hits" today on cut bait, but wasnt sure when to set the hook with catfish

Get some circle hooks, They make a big difference in my fishing.

If it is big cats then you could set the hook as soon as they start running.
If they are little ones just picking up the bait and moving it then you will not be able to set the hook anytime unless you foul hook them.

If you are getting a lot of little bites then try smaller hooks and smaller bait until you start hooking some and get an idea of the size of them.

If you are sure they are big cats then what I like to do is let them run with my baitcaster on click and then set the hook.

Good luck and fish on!

BigDozer66

big bait lettem run with it, if using circle hooks reel down on them to tighten the line then the force of their run will sink the hook in em

What's best way to cut shad for bait? Like how bought a 10" gizzard!

Bump