3 Easy Catfish Baits for Bank Fishing

If you fish for catfish, especially if you fish for catfish from the bank, having the best catfish bait is important. Whats more important is having easy access to easy catfish baits that are not hard to come by. If you are fishing for catfish from the bank the biggest obstacle is finding good catfish bait.
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#howtocatchcatfish
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[@joebeard4687]

I have an easy trick to get worms.... Get a stick about 2ft long, sharpen the tip to a point on one end. Then cut notches down the stick about 1 inch apart. Stab it in the ground and take another stick and rub it up and down the notched stick. The vibration will have all the worms in that area shooting out of the ground as fast as they can. Just pick them up!!! This is a trick taught to me by a old man that works like a champ!!! Never pay for worms again!

[@ricksonora6656]

I saw that in a video! I think it was Gene the Fishing Machine. It was amazing!

[@joebeard4687]

@@ricksonora6656 I learned that trick about 30 years ago, when I was 12. I ran into an old man while camping at a national park and was wondering what he was doing. That's when he taught me and we caught dozens of worms in just a few minutes.

[@ricksonora6656]

@@joebeard4687 I’m maintaining a worm farm for nothin’!

[@calebchristensen900]

2 chicken breasts, 1pk of cherry jello, 2-4 tbsp of garlic powder. Cut into 1-1 1/2 inch size cubes. Set in outside in the shade for 2-5 days(depending on temperature) pkg and put in the coolest part of your freezer or fridge in airtight container(they will smell and aromaticslly assault the weaker noses) takeout when it’s time and enjoy

[@walkaboutclive]

Still love the good old hotdog…

[@brentsorrells1833]

I found out peanut butter and oatmeal made into a doe works good for small blues channels carp and grass carp

[@rickywagner3551]

Bank fishing is how I started . My dad and I would make our own sinkers. We would use an old spoon, poure the lead it. Sparkplugs worked, too expectily, if it was full of snags.

[@ennard6190]

I got a secret bait for catfish you can catch lots and lots of cat fish with it 1. Chicken 2. KoolAid small size bottles 3. Garlic powder and don't forget to shake it up in the bag!

[@cmartin3721]

I like to add jello it makes it tuff to get off the hook

[@vwmountainman9701]

I will start with - I LOVE to go fishing. Always have - always will !!! I have 2 uncle's that I usually went with. So I just did what they did - never having much success.. Had continued to do the same thing for many years. Still with limited success. A couple years ago - I started watching some KZbin videos on fishing. What a surprise - most of the things I was doing wrong or using the wrong gear in one form or another. Still no big fish - but catching more. I could at least take my daughter's fishing & come home with something for the skillet. I only watch about 4 people on KZbin about fishing. I must say - I really enjoy ur channel. By the way - I'm 52 now - I have spent way TOO MANY years catching much of nothing. Just moved to Mt. Home , Arkansas. City of the Twin Lakes - Bull Shoals & Norfolk along with the White River & Buffalo River !!! I'm planning on putting my new found knowledge to work. Making up for all those years of little to no fish. Keep up the videos. Greatly enjoy !!! Have a safe holiday weekend !!!!

[@practicedm]

Fantastic content as always. Thanks for remembering the beginners.

[@fivestring65ify]

I've started using chicken breast and I'm having good results with it. I mix chicken liver in with it to marinate it. Let it sit out and get warm, and smelly. Works great.

[@Superkeyruns]

I've been watching your channel for a couple of months. I sure APPRECIATE the straight-shootin, sound advice!

[@michaelenglish8004]

Small marshmallows and shake in Ziploc with any flavor

[@pedrocruz4710]

Thanks Dieter!

[@kennethtephabock5634]

Love your videos brother maybe one day I can book a fishing trip with you thanks for all you do

[@joematt5]

Thank you for this info. I bank fish and it is very helpful as are all your videos.

[@fredfreiberger7878]

I appreciate you warning of legal used baits

[@alanwinge8775]

I've never seen any live earthworms at Walmart, they just leave the old dead moldy ones. If using chicken livers try adding bread crumbs from dried out old bread. They soak up the juices and stick to the liver untill they wash off in the water and become a cloud of chum.

[@williammason9789]

I've bought live worms at Walmart many times

[@BigMacAttack83]

Recently, I haven't been able to find live nightcrawlers at east metro Atlanta walmarts. Most are old dead moldy ones. Plenty of red worms though

[@chriswalls5831]

Cut bait, liver, nightcrawlers

[@walterhuske7976]

Im sure glad im not the only one who thinks that cats liking chicken breast has something to do with clams and snails. Love your videos dieter since watching them ive become a much more successful cat fisherman

[@tenorGJ1]

Something I’ve used to great success: I’ll take an old blender and blend up a container of chicken livers and marinate the chicken breast chunks in that. Best of both worlds. Only problem: it’s so popular in the waters fish, just about everything will hit including turtles, panfish, etc.

[@JustinsFishinFetish]

Great video! Got to love the chicken chunks!

[@mr.alonzofairley5476]

Thank you for this video ....

[@dahutful]

Cool thanks

[@jeffreyneely9283]

Great content Deter ,fished the bank at lake house yesterday.I used chicken breast, catfish nuggets, and worms , turtle's we're happy to see me right. Catfish didn't have a chance.lol

[@tazdog4528]

My personal best was a 30 ponud flathead from a lake near me. Used beef liver. Its the blood seeping in the water that gets their attention. Ive use night crawlers chicken livers, stinky bait ect. Always did best with good ol night crawlers but still to this day havent caught 1 as big as the 1` useing beef liver. I would like to add that was the only thing ive caught on beef liver lol. When i was growing up the old timers would say the stinker, bloodier, nastier the bait the more catfish will like it. I do believbe this to be true in alot of cases from personal experiance.

[@corleyburns6939]

Love your show, imformative and very helpful, im fishing the Tn river, Nickajack to be specific, catching anywhere from 6lb to 30, 20’s fairly regular, any Ideas for the 40-50lb fish, know their there,any imfo would help, thankyou

[@frankbishop4961]

Curious to why you cut the sides off the gill? Are you using the sides? Or did that to let the blood etc leak ?

[@Chris_Smith_burner_account]

Great stuff brother! An easy bait that has became a staple up north is shrimp. 24 hour access at Walmart. A $6 bag lasts a couple trips.

[@davidbigreels9809]

Yes sir, on the northern Mn Mississippi shrimp were dynamite in the Rocky areas where crawfish were abundant 👏

[@djgambill8343]

Agreed. Been using shrimp in Ohio for years !

[@Chris_Smith_burner_account]

@@djgambill8343 Ohio here too. Will be using shrimp on Sandusky Bay this weekend.

[@djgambill8343]

@@Chris_Smith_burner_account Hell Ya ! Good Luck

[@jstame2221]

I live in SC and fish the Santee waters mainly and shrimp is my go to specifically for big blues! I only throw 1 or two shrimp because they're not very consistent but when they're hit it's almost always a good sized blue. That's how it goes around me at least and I've used shrimp for over 2 years. I'm also only fishing from the bank so I can't got get the fish lol

[@BodarkMan]

Thoughts on chicken gizzards? They’re cheap like liver but actually stay on the hook (sometimes to the point that its hard to take them off)

[@davidbigreels9809]

Love casting worms/crawlers, it’s like playing the fishing lottery haha might get a sunny, might get a flathead 😆 Ps: I came from the podcast, great work 👏

[@ashfreman4098]

Zote soap works very very well i have caught 1000s of catfish with it. Its not bad for the fish or the water where you fish it also keeps your hands clean i use the scentless one but you can use all of them

[@brucewalker1908]

Mr. Melhorn question? If Anis Oil good for Catfishing as an attractant

[@donne9768]

Chicken breast! I cringe to think of the frustration over the last 45+ years I've fought with liver and stink baits. Multi-splash casts, dry blood under the nails, treble hooks in the digits & bait thieves. This is almost too good to be true! Hey Dieter, do you ever fish River Valley AR?

[@bigredsparanormal2879]

I don’t use chicken liver anymore I used to use it all the time as a kid but I will tell u a way where it will stay on ur hook a whole lot better. Freeze ur chicken liver a few hours before going fishing put a good bit of salt on the chicken liver while it’s still frozen the salt will make the livers tough

[@brucewalker1908]

Well Mr. Melhorn have you used Anise Oil when Catfishing. Does it work ????????

[@diamondtbar9818]

Great videos! How much of a problem do you (or anyone reading this) have with minnows basically chewing/working on your bait until it disappears? I'll carefully cast out my catfish bait, knowing full well it stayed securely on the hook, only to reel it in and find it gone. Again and again. I can tell where minnows have worked on it. Any advice welcomed! Thank you!

[@matwithonet7389]

If you have a swimming pool that you use chlorine in you can get unlimited worms. My grandpa would drain the pool down a little and would drain the water on the lawn. The worms would come up like crazy because the chlorine and there was some huge ones that would come up. It doesn’t hurt the grass either. Sometimes I would get a bucket of water and add a little chlorine to it and dump it on the lawn for bait.

[@mikebeddingfield2144]

Best way of getting earth worms is to fiddle them up, you go into the woods find a small tree ( about 1 inch in diameter) clear the leaves out around it for about 20 feet cut the tree about a foot above the ground then use a hand saw and slowly drag it across the stump the worms will think it's raining and come to the surface

[@kaboom4679]

Electricity works well too .

[@Camoandcoldbeer]

Steak fat Marinated in garlic overnight works great for catfish

[@achbear10]

I started using chicken breast, sometimes I soak them in chicken blood, seems to help.

[@David-vo8zf]

Do you needed to added anything in the chicken breast?

[@christophertaylor530]

Does the color of your line make a difference

[@eddieholt5840]

We use a lot of cocktail shrimp

[@eddieholt5840]

Should grab you a bag and try it

[@fishinraider3146]

Suppose catfish are still biting on rainy 60 degree days in shallow river?

[@TreeGenie]

I saw in a video you were saying texas didn't have flatheads over 100lbs made me laugh i worked at a lake for 3 years and caught and seen dozens of flattys over 100lbs one reached 127lbs 59" theres t post for miles around the lake with 75+lbers heads on them most of the giants were not caught on rod and reel tho. Either noodled or trot lines i even noodled a 16.7 lbs largemouth bass off this lake released ofc

[@mikebeddingfield2144]

Down in Alabama they sell what is labeled as roster livers for bait, they are very tough chicken livers and stay on your hook very well. But I have found it's the blood that seeps into the water that brings the fish to the bait

[@Hawken707]

I'm from Alabama, what you see labeled as "rooster" livers is actually turkey livers. They just call em rooster livers. I have caught 1000s of cats with em.

[@mikebeddingfield2144]

@@Hawken707 they work and they stay on the hook better that i know

[@Hawken707]

@@mikebeddingfield2144 I agree. Piggly Wiggly where I grew up sells a lot of em. Lots of catfish ponds and lakes close to me. Not to mention 3 good river systems.

[@diamondtbar9818]

Dumb question: Can you use pre-cooked chicken? Or does it need to be raw?

[@trimbaker1893]

Hi Dieter, What are your thoughts on eels? I fish in the Northeast Cape Fear River, here in southeast North Carolina. Eels are a pain in the *ss generally and I have used them as bait live, and almost never got my rig back. Eels dig into the cover. Cut eels are tough on the hook. I just wonder if you, or any of the folks you look up to, use eels. Thanks for any of your thoughts on this, I like your videos. George.

[@davidrobinson7209]

I've used cut eels alot and excellent bait on the santee river

[@trimbaker1893]

@@davidrobinson7209 ok, good. seems like they ought to be good. Man, can't get a tougher bait. Gross idea...strawberry jello eel chunks. Might never eat jello again, but I bet it works

[@lordsteel7153]

Worms have not worked from the bank in 2 years here. Sorry to tell you this.

[@KamenRaiden]

Just wondering Deet, why do you cut up the fish alive rather than dispatching them beforehand? Your content is great for beginners and you even have tips for old dogs. I mean no disrespect by the comment. Just wondering if there's an advantage.

[@user-fp7he9yg3c]

What do you all think about using shrimp for catfishing

[@djgoodot]

You ever look at the video by mean gene on the video cutting down a small sapling and rubbing the root tree to trigger earthworms or “fiddler worms” to the surface and have or have not tried to use this tactic to get some and or a lot free bait?

[@Hawken707]

I think you mean Richard Gene the fishing machine... not mean Gene

[@djgoodot]

@@Hawken707 that’s possible

[@masontyler479]

I always scan the banks for muscles it’s like candy to catfish

[@thomasmills8834]

Have you been to Oklahoma to go fishing

[@DieterMelhorn]

Never been there….one day I hope!!!

[@brandonbutler1068]

Probably get asked this all the time but what weight mono is best for catfish

[@DieterMelhorn]

20#-30#

[@Chalz108]

Yesterday we caught some small crappie and sand bass on poles and it's legal to use them if you didn't catch them in a net. The sand bass heads and crappie heads did better than our freshly caught shad yesterday.

[@makeshiftvirus6494]

In my pond the only live bait that works is shad and blue gill. The crappie heads didn’t hit much

[@makeshiftvirus6494]

I had 3 fish in 11 mins on the same pole using just freshly cut shad bait…. It had just rained for hours and the water was still.

[@Chalz108]

@@makeshiftvirus6494 that's what's interesting to me. Different waters vary so much on what the fish are going to hit on. I wish I knew why.

[@jokesonyou5629]

I caught a 78 lb blue cat off of limburger cheese 🤫 too the ones who see this you'll love me

[@dougbrown9832]

If you could only use 1 baite what would it be?

[@kevincowan4887]

Sardines or mackerel

[@naughtydorf18]

Wonderbread, shrimp, and hot dogs catch cats. Be sure to use raw shrimp

[@davidkeeling4074]

I use chicken gizzards

[@docd-monik4380]

Anyone who has issues handling slimy/nasty stuff should understand right off the bat, angling is a slimy, wet, stinky activity. Worms, chicken, dough, bait fish, dip bait, it's all either slimy or stinky or both. Not to mention you will (hopefully) be handling fish you catch. I always bring some wet wipes or a rag to wipe my hands off otherwise I end up hearing about it from my old lady

[@gregorysucher6987]

You just need an egg loop knot for livers

[@scottcondor3365]

Not meaning to cause anyone to get upset here, but with the threats of food shortages, I'm eyeing the feral cats around here as potential bait... any ideas on that?

[@DieterMelhorn]

In some places it’s illegal to use mammal parts as bait….

[@davidransom4476]

The hardest part of bank fishing for me has been having the bait come off when casting from the bank.

[@walterhuske7976]

Are you using circle hooks

[@davidransom4476]

@@walterhuske7976 , I wasn't. I was also using frozen shad instead of fresh. Sometimes threw ghost and mud shrimp, but that has to be wraped with bait thread. Grass shrimp are the only ones that stayed on the hooks.

[@ricksonora6656]

Don’t use chicken thighs. Fry them up for me! Has anyone tried making cloth or mesh pouches filled with fish guts? Someone said salt toughens shrimp so It doesn’t fall off the hook. I wonder if garlic salt or seasoned salt would make chicken more effective.

[@jasonsmith8825]

I have caught many prego catfish with panyhose amd sardines on a can.. everyone had eggs ... unique lol

[@ricksonora6656]

@@jasonsmith8825 Well, the ladies do like pantyhose. (Uh oh. I hope YT doesn’t cancel me.)

[@herbb8547]

I have used frozen shrimp from Walmart to great effect. I get the peeled, raw shrimp in the blue bags. They stay on the hook much better than fresh shrimp and everything eats them.

[@ricksonora6656]

@@herbb8547 Does salting them make them tougher?

[@herbb8547]

@@ricksonora6656 I haven't done that, but I imagine it would. Give it a try and find out.

[@kevinfudge9886]

Over the years I've seen many people use WD 40 on night crawlers. What are your thoughts on this?

[@wayfaringmonk6847]

I feel bad adding more chemicals into the water I fish in. Not something I'd use

[@tccurtis2932]

You can dig up all the worms you want in my wifes flower beds you want, but I want to live to actually go fishing.....

[@jondoe8914]

Where are you finding chicken breast for $1.50 lol chicken liver is going for over $3 right now in WV lol

[@chuckstith838]

If the pack of breasts cost around $6 and contains 4 to 6 breasts and you take 1 or 2 to cut for bait then it costs $1:50 and you still have chicken for dinner.

[@terryhancock]

Chicken liver's work

[@terryhancock]

Okay thanks but I haven't used it for a while

[@davidwoolsey2135]

GREAT STUFF and FOLKS.....buy STORE BRAND CHICKEN BREAST WITH SKIN AND RIBS , not the fully processed breasts. It only takes a few seconds longer with that fillet knife to get the breast off the ribs and the skin off, but the price for breast done that way instead of fully processed is significantly LESS. Put the rib pieces and the skin in a pot and make some chicken stock for soup or stir fry cooking, to stretch those dollars even further. 😉

[@Last_Chance.]

Ever use chicken thighs?

[@MadTuning01]

Did you not watch the video ?

[@AsaBraunschneider]

Fileting that bluegill alive was cruel!

[@DieterMelhorn]

No death in nature is pleasurable…..