nightfishing cats

[sirfunkeybut]

i heard that cats come up to the shallows in the evening to feed. after putting in over 20 hours with depths ranging from 10-25 feet in a lake thats about 35-40 max. So i was thinking about taking the boat out tonight and try the deep holes. Any input on my situation. i have tried a bunch of different baits and with one 5lb landed and only one bite out of all that time i feel like maybe trying the deepest spots would help.

[rasbo]

fresh cut bait,and close to the shoreline,late at night for channels

[1morebuck]

I use dough balls with herring oil, same places as Rasbo.

[sirfunkeybut]

well maybe i'll use the boat to get where others cant then.

[300magman]

cut up stew meat soaked in garlic always works for me.................

[Dustin07]

yeah I've been told stinkier the better. chicken livers or steak thats been left out a bit.

[quadrafire]

deeper during the day. Very shallow at night. You may even anchor deep and fish towards shore into the shallows

[rasbo]

fresh caught,trout,panfish,suckers,,,fresh gets it done

[carpsniperg2]

chicken livers work good but like rasbo said fresh bloody fish works great 2. i loved fishing at night with my uncle we use to do really good on them at night. glow sticks and bells

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

This time of year I have several different ways of catching them,
A lake I like to fish is pretty clear, so you can see pretty good, so I cruise along far enough out from shore that I can still see bottom.
And look for holes., they will be 6 inches or more across, and the really good ones will have gravel at opening.
Using a nightcrawler on a baitholder hook, with a split-shot about 4 inches up the line,
I cast just past the hole and drag it into hole.......
if you see the fish take the worm, count to 3 and reel him in.
usually there are 2 cats per hole.

I also S-L-O-W-L-Y creep up to lillypad patches and look for them sunning at the surface, and put the worm right in front of their noses...

Also, while you are cruising along, look for dark patches (black) on bottom, sometimes these are schools of babies, with 2 adults protecting them.
I have had them hit Bass lures in this situation, but nothing beats a nightcrawler,(its just hard to get in front of them, as they are chasing off perch, bass, sunfish, etc).

As far as night fishing   soaking bait, and drinking beer, but again, I like nightcrawlers, you never know what you will catch...

[rasbo]

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Man-catches-130-pound-catfish-98845829.html

[sled]

  I have only caught the brown bullhead catfish.  We would set up in about 10 feet of water at about 6 oclock, and fish nightcrawlers 1 to 2 feet off the bottom.  we did really good until about 10 or 11 oclock.  It was alot of fun.  A case of beer is always good too.  The beer seems to be the key though!

[1bugman]

Used to night fish in Kansas, when I was in the army, fresh cut bait was the best, crawler would work to. never had any luck with stink baits. if I wasn't catching channels, flat heads or the occasional blue, it was because of the damn turtles stealing my bait. my buddy caught a 53 lbs cat on crawlers.

[cohoho]

As a kid on the Ohio River for Channel and Yellow Cats used freshly cut Carp and destroyed them.  Stink baits i.e. chicken gizzards, chicken livers and old beef livers worked better during the day for some reason, but at night fresh nasty carp was best...  I have not night fished for Cats since the early 80's and miss it as it was a blast for sure...

[quadrafire]

Noodling is still the best.