# help with catfishing



## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

i finally got a boat so i can go in escambia river a little and want to catch some cats. i do a lot of saltwater fishing and a little bream fishing but never targeted cats. whats the best bait, times, etc? is it even worth it on escambia?


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Live bream or river shiners work good, Escambia is a great catfish river also...fish deep holes around heavy cover. Fish on the bottom with heavy tackle and you should be able to hook up with some blues or flatheads...


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## skiff89_jr (Apr 1, 2011)

Flatheads- You can catch them day or night, but since you're new to it I would suggest going at night. The daytime bite can be a little slower, so if you go at night you will become more comfortable and more confident with you abilities. At night i'd suggest finding deeper holes in the channel. It doesn't have to be super deep, but just deeper than it's surroundings. Log jams and things like that are good spots too. Use a live bream on bottom and i suggest heavy tackle. They fight like a freshwater grouper lol and are highly addictive.

Channels- You can catch them about anytime. Just fish the channels with stink bait, cut bream or any baitfish, live shiners, crawfish, shrimp, bar soap, or livers. You can use lighter tackle for these if you want.

Blues- At night big blues like to cruise the sandbars to attack schools of baitfish. Heavy tackle will do the trick and get your bait about a foot off of bottom and fresh cut mullet is a hot bait. During the day you can find them in the channels.


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

cool thanks. im gonna give it a try this weekend and ill let yall know.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Stay away from slack waters and fish the current, they like that cooler flowing water during summer time.


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

well i went last night to try and catch a catfish and learned 2 valuable lessons. dont forget the bugspray and dont take your girlfriend. def the first one, you cant drink the mosquitoes away. we were only on the water 30 min but got a little blue cat, a couple little bass, a few little bream and one big bream. gonna try again this evening. i also really need lights on the front of my boat.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Yes never ever ever forget the off, as for girl friends ill be taking mine up to the river tonight, all I will do is drive to the spots set the rods out and let her hook and fight every fish. She loves this Flathead fishing over any other kind of fishing. Especially since it takes place at night under the cover of darkness and away from the summer heat.


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## murfpcola (Aug 28, 2012)

What about Perdido/ Styx rivers. I see alot of bush hooks but would like to try to catch some cats on rod and reel. I guess use the same advice as you guys gave for Escambia?


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

murfpcola said:


> What about Perdido/ Styx rivers. I see alot of bush hooks but would like to try to catch some cats on rod and reel. I guess use the same advice as you guys gave for Escambia?


Basically yes these tips will work for river catfishing...


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## murfpcola (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks. Not trying to steal his thread.


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## robbiewoodcutter (Jun 30, 2011)

BAR SOAP????? ive caught cats off buttermilk bisciuts and thought it was kool but bar soap? what kind of soap are you using?


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## tips n tails (Mar 2, 2011)

Ivory soap . Ive seen it used on YR awhile back


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

You can catch channel cats on just about any thing you put in the water. Now that does not mean you will catch a lot of fish on soap unless you are fishing in Steaves ponds.

You will not catch a Flathead on soap, if your lucky you might get a small blue cat on soap but believe me there are better baits to be had.


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## jayhoward (Sep 9, 2011)

i tried going after some flatheads the other night and jus by using the lil knowledge i knew it turned out to be a cluster****! haha i jus wasnt in the right holes it was my first time and really didnt know where to pick a good spot.we had all the right gear and live bait but i dont think we had heavy enough weights because the current took the bait down river very fast and a majority of the time into log jams.any tips on where to find good holes?


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