The Best Bait For Ice Fishing Plus a Theory About The Best Time To Fish
Last week I went ice fishing at a small reservoir called Devils Creek just at the boarder of Idaho and Utah. The weather was very nice and the ice was a lot thicker that I thought it would be. It’s been quit warm for a winter here in Idaho and Utah and we have gotten very little snow. But the nights have been cold making the ice between 1 1/2 to 2 feet thick.
Of course when going out on the frozen lake you wonder what the best bait for fish will be. I wondered the same thing. I called my brother in law to see if he had heard what the fish were biting on. He lives near by and is an avid fisherman and knows people who have been on the lake recently. The word came back that the best bait for fishing these frozen lakes would be a yellow jig tipped with a wax worm. So that’s what I bought.
Problem is with finding what the best bait is it can be wrong for the day you go on and that is what happened to us. My nephew ended up catching one nice Rainbow Trout on a black jig that when wet it looked like a leach. There were a few hits on this same type of black jig among the five of us fishing. During the day we tried using just about everything from Power bait to salmon eggs but the black jig ended up being the best bait for ice fishing that day.
The next day I spoke with a neighbor of mine who does a lot of ice fishing. He had gone out the same day and also didn’t have any luck. However, the week before that he was at the same place and knocked them dead using wax worms. I asked him what he thought the difference was and he told me his theory.
His theory was that when the ice first comes on the fish are very active and bite well but as the season progresses and the ice has been on for a month or so and the lake is completely frozen the fish get oxygen deprived and pretty much stop biting. But give them another month and they are hungry and begin to swim around and become very active again. So based on my neighbors theory the best time for ice fishing is the first two to three weeks after the ice begins to thicken on the lake and then about three weeks to a month after that.
So, the best bait for ice fishing might be several baits or just one bait. My advice would be to take along several different types of jig, power bait, eggs, and worms (wax, mill, night crawlers). And also test my neighbors theory out about the best times for ice fishing. Let me know your experience.
Best Bait For Catfish – The Must Have Baits for Catfishing
The best bait for catfish is a topic that has many answers. There are many different prepared baits available at your local tackle shop and most will work. You also have to include live baits as a choice along with shrimp, chicken livers, and cut bait. Which one of these baits will work the best also depends on the weather and time of year. All of these factors play into the choice of bait and a good fishing trip.
Live baits are a quality best bait for catfish when fishing for Flathead catfish and Channel cats as well. Flatheads can be caught using live Blue Gills, check your local regulations, or even small Carp and suckers. These fish can grow to large sizes which means you should have heavy duty tackle to bring in fish that are often over fifty pounds. You can learn alot about the best holes to look for these big fish on the internet or asking the local tackle shop owners about the best spots to put a line in. You can also purchase live suckers for bait while you are looking for your sweet spot. Fishing on the bottom with a large weight and about a twelve inch leader will get you the best results.
Channel Catfish can be caught on many different baits ranging from live earthworms and minnows to prepared stink baits. Chicken livers are also a popular choice and, during the hottest months of summer, can be amongst the most productive. You can wrap the best bait for catfish up in small packages made out of precut squares of fine netting and hooked to a treble hook. Your fishing rig should depend on the area you are fishing. Rivers will need more weight to keep the bait in the spot you want it as opposed to lakes and ponds that have little current to move the bait.
Channel Catfish have an amazing sense of smell and fishing at night can be very productive during the hot summer months. Night fishing works best with liver or stink bait which will draw fish in from a distance. A good stink bait will smell like rotten cheese or liver and should make youtr eyes water. There are several hooks that are available with sponges or tubes attached to make holding the bait easier. You can make your own stink bait with a combination of liver, blood, and rotten cheese. For some of the best bait for catfish leave these ingredients outside in the sun, mixed up together, for a couple of days and you should have a good homemade stink bait.
Channel Catfish and Flathead Catfish are both fans of live bait. The bigger the bait is the bigger the catfish should be. This is not always what you want when fishing for Channel Catfish that you plan on eating. The one to three pound catfish are often the best tasting and you may have to adjust your bait to catch fish in this size range. Whatever your your reason for catching these fish, you can experiment until you find the best bait for catfish in your local fishing holes.
The Best Bait For Catfish Or Carp Can Be Natural Ingredinets
Here’s one I bet you haven’t thought of before but according to Tim Richardson, a professionally
trained horticultural grower, it’s the best bait for catfish are carp you can make up. Tim claims that if your bait does not include “biological activity” for whatever fish you are going for then the sensory systems of the fish won’t be activated causing your fish to by pass your bait.
Evidently, there are certain foods that cause a reaction in the brain that make one food more appealing than another. Chilli peppers are one of these foods and mixed with our bait can be a best bait for catfish and carp stimulate the long range motile and protein feeding response. Juices such as pineapple juice mixed with your bait can also add that stimuli.
It’s also interesting that spices can play an important part of bait making when mixing up your favorite best bait for catfish or carp. Spices such as curry powder, nutmeg, turmeric, cinnamon, chillies and black peppers, even many herbs like celery, garlic, onion, and familiar red and blue fruits like cranberry, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry and so on are great attractors and stimulator’s and would be wise to try different combinations when putting together your best bait for catfish.
Evidently, there is an ingredient in body building and weight gain drinks called bromelain that is great for attracting and stimulating the senses of the fish. The key here is to soak your bait in these ingredients. You would take your body building mixes and add water to them to make them runny and then include your catfish or carp bait to it. This is another best bait for catfish or carp. But there’s more! You can freeze your bait and then when you use it and it starts to thaw causes many beneficial fish stimulatory structural and chemical changes to occur.
As a best bait for catfish or carp it is recommended to include naturally derived extract from sugar beets called betaine which triggers fish to feed. Many vitamins, minerals, health, weight, and muscle improvement supplements have betaine in them and these extracts have supposedly been used by the top anglers for years as their best bait for catfish or carp or any other fish really.
I believe what Tim is trying to state here is that the best bait for catfish is a bait that contains ingredients that are active and alive which will cause the fish to be attracted to it which of course of an ingredient in the best bait for catfish or carp.
Best Bait For Catfish – Especially The Big Ones
The best bait for catfish is the stinkiest stuff you can find. Catfish are bottom feeder and will eat just about anything. The more your bait smells the better catfish bait it will be.
I remember as a kid doing some trapping. My dad killed a skunk and actually extracted the sent sack and mixed it in a jar with some cut up meet. Let me tell you, that stuff stunk! Why am I telling you this? To help you understand that most living things are attracted to the smell of things and for predators like fox and scavengers like catfish the best catfish bait will be the smelliest stuff you can find.
Bait that is smelly is one of the best bait for catfish but another best bait is a bait that is alive. Movement attracts attention especially in the water. You have seen some of the shark movies where the swimmer is out in the water, seem to be late a night for some reason, but their kicking and splashing is what brings the attention of the sharks.
Catfish are the same way and one of the best bait for catfish is live bait that will splash around. We know that the catfish is a scavenger so it should be no surprise that some of the best bait for catfish is insects, worms, other fish, and even small rodents such as mice. catfish also like shrimp, prawns, crawfish and other crustaceans. Just be sure that these types of bait are free of shells.
If you are really serious about catching catfish then you might consider consulting your local biologist. Depending on where you live your biologist can tell you what they are eating which will help you concoct your best bait for catfish in your area. It’s amazing how big some of these Catfish can get! For example, the Flathead catfish can weigh as much as 123 lbs. However, they are regularly hauled in weighing 40-80 lbs. You will want to make sure that you have the proper size line so that when you do hook into one of these bad boys you’ll be sure to keep’em on the line. When using live bait the best bait for catfish, monster catfish that is, use bullhead catfish. Bullheads are considered game fish and may not be legal in your state so make sure and check your local rules and regulations before fishing with them.
If you’re not fishing with live bait then the best bait for catfish, in my opinion, is the smelliest stuff you can find. But if you’re using live bait then the best bait for catfish is bullhead catfish.
Look for more information here:
- Catfish Bait – Best Homemade Catfish Bait | – Making the best homemade catfish bait is simple and easy. Catfish do not have great sight but it is still recommended that a bright colored catfish bait be used. They do have a great sense of smell and this is how they find food.
- Best Baits to Catch Channel Catfish | Catfish Angling – Are you going fishing for channel cats? Then you are going to want to know what the best baits to catch channel catfish are. Channel cats will eat just about anything you put in front of them. Heck, they have been know to bite on everything from hot dogs to ivory soap.
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- The Best Bait For Ice Fishing Plus a Theory About The Best Time To Fish January 18, 2012
- Best Bait For Catfish – The Must Have Baits for Catfishing December 14, 2011
- The Best Bait For Catfish Or Carp Can Be Natural Ingredinets November 6, 2011
- Best Bait For Catfish – Especially The Big Ones October 20, 2011
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