What’s everyone’s go to catfish bait and strategy for catching summer time catfish. I’ve been going between a commercial dip bait and cut blue gill. I’ve not been having much luck during the day lately . I think it may be time to break out the lanterns.

we always used chicken livers fermented in the sun for a couple days if cut bluegill wasn't cutting it

What kind of catfish you trying to catch?

I caught a 5 pounder in the middle of the day using shad a couple of weeks ago

I use squid aged in salt and my catfish scent for 3 to 5 days in the fridge. Use enough salt to really coat the squid. I use my scent but you do not have to use scent at all or use what ever scent you like. For smaller cats I strip them like I would for weakies and flounder, but if you want big fish use the whole thing. Shrimp is also a very good bait I age them the same way but only a few days as they get soft. Day time in my area is SLOW all the time!

Depends on what kind of catfish you're trying to catch. Around here we have some huge flatheads and guys that consistently catch them are using big goldfish. For blues and channels we always use cut brim or shad, but it helps if you can catch the bait from where you are fishing instead of catching some brim out of a pond and then taking them to the lake.

If you find the bait the fish won't be far behind, so look for shad flicking or swirling, heck if they're thick in the back of a creek or something you'll be able to smell them. Good luck!

I mostly catch channels.How do y’all like to fish your cut bait or whole shad (directly on the bottom santee drift rig)?

I normally use a dancing rig buddy, it's 3 way swivel with an 8" drop down for the weight, and a 14" long leader for the bait

Santee rig for me. Where are you at in sc? If you're around santee you need to give it a shot for the catfish. They're real fun there especially if you find a wad of them around the cypress trees

Ten four Tom I’m gonna have to pick your brain about that. Dagger do you run the peg float down near the hook?

I use Canadian night crawlers dipped in garlic scent. My rig is a leader coming off a swivel on the main line with a hook 6 inches from the swivel and another about 14 inches down and a 2 to 3 oz lead pyramid sinker at the end of the leader about 12 inches from the bottom hook. I fish 2 to 4 poles at a time.

Bluegill underneath a balloon

If I'm using a light bait and a smaller hook like I would for channels I can usually get it further away from the hook, but if I'm fishing something a little harder to float I'll put it a couple inches from the hook

We will be hitting the river tomorrow am. I am so ready to catch some cats!!!

fresh caught baitfish or an eel from the local shop.

Nobody uses Creek chubs at night anymore? Sort of the standard issue bait from what I can remember.

I still do

Sunny's dip bait the best

most important thing in in small water during the summer is staying above thermocline .

Does anyone use dough bait anymore ? Many years ago a friend brought some up from St Joseph Mo it sure worked well, one thing about it you didn't forget surgical gloves or your hands smelled for a very long time ha ha .
Allan