Originally posted by: Trace on 7/14/2007 9:38:07 AM

Use big live bait. Hang a 4 to 6 inch bluegill on your hook, the little ones won't try to eat it but the big ones will. Also, try fishing along the edge of the channel in shallow water. The big ones leave deep water to feed. It is easier to catch small fish, crawdads, and water dogs in shallow water and the big fish know this. Big fish can choose to chase food in deep water where there is plenty of room for the food to escape or they can hunt in shallow water where it is more difficult for food to escape. Big cats got big because they are not stupid. They want to exert as little effort as possible to catch the food, this means hunting in shallow water. Use big bait that is alive and swims. If you toss a worm, liver, or stink bait that is big, the little ones will just pick at it until it falls apart and they eat it anyway. The key is big, live, swimming bait, little cats won't touch it, big ones will gobble it up.

Originally posted by: Geeker36 on 7/14/2007 8:23:50 AM

one of the places i fish for cat i am having a problem with. it is in a channel off of a lake. the big cats are at the bottom but there is so many small cats that i can't get anything to the bottom to catch the big ones. you through a hook in and within seconds there is a 6" cat on it. this even happens with NO BAIT just a hook. is there a way to get the smaller cats away and catch the bigger?

i know this sounds dumb. it is nice to have the smaller ones when i take my nephews fishing after a long day of catching nothing and they can go there and catch a couple within minutes.

thanks for your responses.

Originally posted by: Geeker36 on 7/14/2007 11:08:56 AM

geee i feel stupid now.

thanks for your tips i will let you know how it goes

Originally posted by: san juan worm on 7/14/2007 1:07:27 PM

Never feel stupid, there is a learning curve for all of us at one time or the other. I was gonna add to this topic but trace has covered it pretty well. Good luck to ya.

Originally posted by: Trace on 7/14/2007 2:13:51 PM

Don't feel stupid, I used to do the same thing. Put a glob of liver or stink bait on the hook and toss it into the deepest water I could find. My thinking was always, fish in the deepest water where the biggest fish live. My Grandfather straightened me out on this issue. Big fish will live in deep water but they hunt where it is easiest to catch food. If they try to catch food in 9 feet of water, that is 9 feet if up and down the fish food can swim to escape not to mention limitless left and right. Deep water gives the fish many ways to escape a hungry predator. When the big ones decide to eat, they move from deep water into shallow water. If they are hunting in 2 feet of water, they just cut the room for small fish to escape by over half. Big fish are lazy, they don't want to chase food very far. If you stick a small fish (food) on a hook in shallow water, now you have presented a struggling food source right in the middle of the catfish's hunting zone. The food is in distress, an easy meal, and it is just like ringing the dinner bell. If the big fish are in deep water, chances are they are not in the mood to eat. When they move to shallow water, they are there for 1 reason and 1 reason only, they are hungry and looking for food. They want an easy meal and if you present it to them, they will eat and you will catch them.

Good luck.