Fishermen Catch Monster Catfish Using This Unusual Bait

Continue reading...

Catfish are a popular catch-and-release fish for extreme anglers. They are easy to catch, and their large size makes them exciting to land. Catfish often swim in schools, so where there is one, there are often more, leading to fun, fast-paced fishing.

In this video, two big game fishermen search for a legendary blue catfish said to frequent the filet docks of Venice, Louisiana. Although the big one got away, the anglers pushed the limits of their lines and their nets to catch some monster catfish living in the Mississippi River, and they did it using yellowfin tuna to chum the waters and as bait, among other things. Continue reading to learn more about these gigantic catfish and where to find them.

North American Catfish

Catfish are easily recognizable by their feline-like “whiskers,” called barbels. North American catfish belong to the family Ictaluridae, which includes around 50 species. It is the largest family of freshwater fish native to North America. For American anglers, blue catfish, flathead catfish, and channel catfish are the most sought-after because they are the biggest species swimming in U.S. waters.

The catfish species in the video are blue catfish. They can grow up to five feet long and weigh over 100 pounds. The largest catfish on record is a blue catfish, measuring 57 inches and weighing 143 pounds. Flathead catfish are only slightly smaller, reaching a maximum length of just under five feet and weighing around 100 pounds. Channel catfish are the smallest on average, growing to only around four feet in length and weighing up to 60 pounds.

Catfish Hot Spots

Channel, blue, and flathead catfish reside at the bottom of their preferred water source. Of the three, channel catfish are the most prevalent and widely distributed. They can be found in nearly every state and parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico. They inhabit small streams and ponds, as well as lakes and large rivers.

Blue catfish are most commonly found in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country. They prefer large streams and rivers, especially those in the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins. Flathead catfish primarily populate the large lakes and rivers of the eastern U.S., including the Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, and Susquehanna rivers.

The Best Bait

Catfish have a powerful sense of smell and can detect some scents at one part to 10 billion parts of water. They also have an extraordinary sense of taste. Even the smallest of catfish have over 250,000 taste buds covering their bodies. Even their signature whiskers have both olfactory sensors and taste buds. So it’s crucial to appeal to a catfish’s keen senses. Stinky bait is often touted as the best bait, but this isn’t necessarily true. Underwater, a catfish won’t smell the same scent we smell in the air.

Anything a catfish would normally eat, such as shad, bream, and skipjack, is recommended by veteran anglers. In the video above, they used a huge yellowfin tuna carcass to lure the catfish close to their boat. For bait, the fishermen used yellowfin tuna, wahoo, cobia, and mahi-mahi. Their bait successfully attracted the local catfish, allowing the men to catch several monster blue catfish in the 30- to 50-pound range. The world record holder reportedly hooked his giant blue catfish with chicken breast.