these cats were taken in the middle of winter with a water temp near the 30 degree mark
Feb.8 water temp in mid to low 30's, I was fishing a ledge that dropped to 55 feet from 45 feet using a small shad fillet on the shank of the hook and tipped with shad guts. I prefer live shad, but when the fish aren't biting you need to make a change. I switched to shad gut and started catching cats.
Jan 15, 2000
These Jan cats were caught on fresh shad which (StinkBait) had cut the bellie meat and guts out in 1 peice, this made a small bait that fit nicely on a 2/0 bait holder hook.
One of the keys to winter catfishing is to downsize your hook, bait and sinker
Using a slip rig on your presentation offers little or no resistance to finicky winter cats
The slip rig also reduces short hits and the cats dropping the bait before the hook set
Tim Foley (Stinkbait) & Molly
Feb 16,2000
70+lbs of catfish and 10 other catfish were released.
Winter Catfishing, a sport enjoyed by a few dedicated catfisherman
Here's the rig (Stinkbait) used to make this haul of fine Missouri catfish.
a 2/0 bait holder hook, an 18" leader below a size 1 swivel
and an appropriate size egg sinker above the swivel.
Only fresh caught shad were not available because of ice in the regluar places where Stink gathered his bait.These fish were caught in North Mo. in the Mo. River.
The deep holes behind the wing dikes were the areas he targeted.
See the tips page for some cool cat tips
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