Hi, i was wandering if anyone had a favorite bait for catfish.  If so, how or where do you make/buy it? 
    Thanks,
    ><>Jake<><

Check the tread about spicing up bait. It's all about what everyone uses for cat fish, and a lot of great ideas I never thought of.

I like to use chicken liver for smaller channel cats, usually taking pantyhose or something to wrap the liver up with so it wont fly off the hook during cast since it is very soft, any grocery store should have it. also use live 8 inch or bigger sunnies or bluegills for the bigger guys. we caught a 32 lb flathead from the susquehanna river using a large live bluegill. goodluck

Flatheads- live sunfish or carp.

Channels- frozen squid. Stays on the hook till you take it off. Caught my pb channel on squid in February. Also, squid heads make a great jig trailer for bass. All Asian supermarkets have frozen squid.

i recently asked the same ? to an older friend of mine. he told me that hes tried leeches raw chicken liver, shrimp soaked in wd-40, chew bubble gum just to the point where its soft but still has plenty of sugar and flavor and put that on your hook. he also said to take night crawlers and dip them in sugar.

ALL STORE BOUGHT STINK BAITS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY, THERES NOTHING BETTER THAN HOTDOGS/CHICKEN LIVER/SHADS/TALAPIA/ FOR CATS

Catalpha worms, chicken livers, sunperch have been my mainstays. After reading the post on ivory soap though I'm gonna give that a whirl and may have a new favorite.

We usually take some frozen shad, or skipjak from the bait shop as back up. For our main bait we go to a creek and catch some suckers, and we also catch some bluegill out of my pond. If any die they become fresh cutbait, either live or as cutbait they usually catch channels and flatheads. Good luck.

Hot dogs make a good bait and if the fish ain't bitting. Then you have your lunch. Just remember to bring the buns and mustard.

You ALL have a great day.

i use shad, live and cut, and lewis kings select punch bait. the punch bait catches a lot of blues as well as channel cats.

I use chicken liver and hot dogs but when you have your own worm farm, you got a variety of choices so I like them all

Chicken liver, frozen shrimp (thawed of course), hot dogs, and shad guts, but far and away, my favorite is fresh cut skipjack or bluegill.

LEOPARD FROGS WHACK THEM ON TREE OR STONE IT STUNS THEM FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES BUT WON'T KILL THEM THE VIBRATION THE CATS SENCE. HOOK THEM AT THE HUMP OF HIND LEGS

Live Shad or Blugills, white perch then cut sum up for cutbait use anything thats a regulary in the food chain from the body of water you are Catfishing

I like dough balls and cheese filled hot dogs.  You can make dough balls by squeezing bread around a hook.  If you want to add extra scent, you can dip it in peanut butter.

JUST READ THAT YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK CATCHING CATS IF YOU CUTUP SHAD BEFORE PUTTING ON HOOK WILL TRY THIS NEXT TIME OUT.

For flatties I like live gills 4"-9" and also I like to use creek chubs up to 9".
For chans if I want eaters I like chicken and turkey livers. Cut or live shad, cut gills, uncooked shrimp with sugar and anise oil (check local laws on this,anise oil). Last but not least and I know this is gonna get a few laughs but it really works Gummyworms.

GUMMYBEARS IS ALL MY GRANDAUTHER WANTED ME TO USE ON HER HOOK SHE SAID CHICKEN LIVER WAS GROUSE BUT SHE DIDNT GET A BITE

if i can catch shad, that is #1. if no shad i use lewis king's select punch bait. after that it is danny kings bait, and now that he has it back in his name, it should be very good again.

I don't like that catfish bait you can buy. The only thing I have had luck with is chicken liver that you can buy at almost any grocery store. It is pretty gross but it definitely produces. It's kind of hard to make it stay on a circle hook so sometimes I use a treble hook. Also I've heard people wrap the liver up in a cloth or panty hose and it stays on better.