What the locals here in NC call a mudcat is a bullhead in New York. That's all I know

BTW..the taste just as good too!

All bullheads aren't created equal either...I don't remember which species..but the big ones I used to catch in Oneida Lake NY were no where NEAR as good as the little ones from the creeks!

Here's three different species of bullheads...

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishspecs/catfitxt.html#brownbullhead

...and here's pics of some good eating NC MUDCATS:

The trick to catching big #'s of coon is you have to be where there is a big # of coon.

caught 117 and worked my butt off to do it...used bluegills and salmon /shellfish oil for lure

ran out of gills and switched to salmon at the end of season...


GLEN is right,,if you dont have 'em . ya cant catch em

some very true comments on this post in northeast pa one would have a very hard time catching 100 coon weather and population are big factors up here i like to use lure only because i dodnt like to mess with bait when i run a mixed line but i dont catch nowhere near 100 coon 20-30 if i get lucky

i caught 50 this year on just bluegills crappie and muskrat meat with spiked fish oil as lure

Location is the key along with having the population to catch that many. Myself, I am almost a 100% lil griz user. I use big marshmallows along with Red O'Hearns coon bait #1, Blackies Fatal Attraction, Blackies Fur King and lots of times just marshmallows and no other bait. I took well over 100 with the griz this year, first time ever cracking that mark.

sardines

i didnt catch 100 only 67
i used a bait recipe that Rich Kaspar of RK trapline products gave me, you can get all the ingredents here:
http://www.rktraplineproducts.com/index.htm
he's caught 93 coon in one day, so when he gave it to me for free you better believe i listened!
makes 3-4 gallons
6lbs. ground ocean fish
1/2 gal. mineral oil (this acts as an antifreeze)
1/2 pint shellfish oil
1 gal fish oil
2 cups pickling salt (preserves bait and helps to antifreeze too)
mix in 5 gal bucket with 1/2" drill and a drywall paddle.
i ran it in pocket sets and baited bucket sets
i was really pleased with the way it worked.
i think cost was around $50
but when you consider how much some prepared bait costs, it doesnt seem all that bad.

Glen hit the nail on the head. You also have to be willing to work hard for an extended period of time, keep the traps on the move, use good quality lure and bait, and make good sets on the hottest locations, then pray for favorable weather. I prefer a prepaired paste type bait over chunk bait. the coon cant just run off with all the bait at once should he not be caught right away. A prepaired bait keeps him at the set longer. Mine is just canned fish flavored cat food, Jack Mackeral, Mollasses fortifier, Fish oil, Shellfish oil, and banana extract, and sometimes dry catfood as a filler. I have taken as many as 93 coon in one night with this bait and one of my lures mixed with fish oil.

I catch 200-300 coons every year and use nothing but a little shot (4 or 5 drops) of shellfish oil as lure with a little shelled corn on either side of the traps. Not nearly as messy as puss-in-boots or fish heads. BTW, we don't have a large population of coons here!

Hey Lufkin, Coon have very short attention spans. Your probably having some coon walk by for lack of interest. A smorgasboard of odors is needed to make most of the coon work the set rather than some. You could probably take 500-600 if you gave them a little more than a few drops and just corn. A buddy of mine traps Texas for 2 weeks and kills about 300 coon every year using a lot of smell.

No, Dave, I don't think even you could catch that many coon down here.lol I mainly set the small streams not over 3 or 4 feet wide, so I know if I miss one, I don't miss him by much.lol I really like my streams to be even more narrow than that.I don't know where your buddy traps, but he must not be where I am. If you can find where more than a couple of coons have walked a stream, you're doing pretty good.Then, again, maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.lol

a couple drops per set? i squirt it all over mybe 2 oz per set

bwilson, my wife can smell one drop on me from 100 yards away, so I assume a coon that makes his living by smelling out the good stuff can smell 4 or 5 drops from a distance of 4 or 5 feet.You notice I said ASSUME.lol

My point was that shellfish is but one odor not several and it often takes several to peak a coons interest. If the coon are walking in the water how do you know if they are working the set or not? My buddy traps east texas.

I've never tried a bait that didn't get some walk-bys from coon....even when I am CERTAIN they can smell it. I trap mostly tiny creeks 1 or two feet wide, with one, two or three coon working them.

For me...it's not a consideration as I have a pathetic limit of 30 coon. I could catch that opening day if I wanted...so I don't bother with lure....

But...I think Dave is certainly on to something with his idea of many smells to keep their attention.

Dang, Dave, you're making me feel bad about myself now. I trap in east Tx.too, and I just can't seem to find them in those numbers. I am pretty good at seeing sign. I have been chasing these east Tx, coons for over 30 years and, trust me, I can tell you they aren't there in those numbers. Perhaps I'm trapping behind your buddy.lol

I know he isnt too far from the Louisianna line. Maybe he found a pocket where the numbers are better. Course hes part Irish and ya know the good luck they have. I'm sure your a top notch cooner, just saying that in my experience more smell and different smells mixed have far and away been more productive for me than less smell and only one but the water doesnt always flow the same under every bridge if ya know what I mean. LOL

use mainly blind sets here with a few SMEAR sets in high percentage areas

Thanks, Dave. I do still enjoy it, but I'm getting a little too old to keep up the pace anymore. I run a road line of 165 miles, but I can't do as much walking as I used to, so I am kinda limited to whatever is close to the road. We can't set within the right-of-way in Tx. so all sets do involve some walking.