The Ironic thing about dipbait for catfish is that no matter its aromatic intensity, these tubs of vile goo are among the cleanest baits you can fish. Done right, dipbaiting keeps your fingers clean enough to scoop peanut butter straight from the jar.
Catfish, whose olfactory abilities outweigh a bloodhound and a bear combined, can apparently discriminate between oozing Limburger and moldy Muenster cheeses. Yet whether flavorings like garlic, liver or blood salivate a catfish抯 barbels best?compared to a serving of always appealing cutbait?there抯 no doubt a good cheese-based dipbait will induce bites in practically every environment.
In recent years, news has spread nationwide that dipbait can be a truly tasty offering for 1- to 5-pound channel and blue cats, perhaps the best bait of all time for catching a serious pile of catfish. Old-school dips such as Sonny抯 Super Sticky have lately given way to some gnarly newer concoctions. Bootleg #131 Bold & Bloody, a particularly potent blend brewed by Rippin Lips has rapidly risen to the top of the ranks among modern dipbait practitioners.
Pro angler John Jamison, who抯 used dips to tackle blue catfish in tournaments, and to catch serious strings of eater-sized cats, recently switched from Super Sticky to Bootleg, having experienced exceptional results. 揑 can抰 tell you what抯 in it,?he claims, referring to the cryptic catfish formula, 揟he brewmasters won抰 tell me, and truthfully, it抯 probably better left that way. All I know is, the stuff is amazing; catfish have been gobbling up jars of it everywhere I fish.
While Jamison has used dipbait to boat cats in cold water as well as cold fronts, he says dipbait actually produces catfish all year long. Although many anglers wield cheese-based dips during the traditional warm summer months, Jamison has had success in water as cold as 37 degrees and as deep as 50 feet.
When the water is colder, Jamison adds a bit of vegetable oil to the dipbait jar, which softens and keeps it malleable on the hook, where it continues releasing strong scent and flavor into the water. 揃ootleg comes with a black lid, so we抣l place jars in direct sunlight, which keeps the bait warm and soft.?
Conversely, on the hottest summer days, he'll place dipbait jars into a cooler, so the bait stays soft yet tacky. In cold water, Jamison opts for blood-flavored dips, while in warmer water, he often prefers sweeter dips such as Bootleg Batch #17, Sweet & Sticky. In all cases, it抯 best to occasionally stir the bait to maintain a nice pliable consistency.
揜igging up to fish a dipbait is easy,?he notes. 揧ou can fish it below a bobber or on a standard slip-sinker rig." And while some folks use specialized dipbait hooks, sponges and dip-worms, Jamison opts for an alternative.
Starting with a #1 or 1/0 Eagle Claw 84 or Rippin Lips Circle Hook, he impales a soft foam strip onto the hook several times, such as the stuff used in old car seats. He punches the hook into the bait with a small stick, building up a morsel of goo the size of a marble. 揇on抰 overload the foam with bait. You抣l want to re-dip every 5 to 10 minutes, and all it takes is a nice coating of bait to attract catfish.?
Jamison gives the hook a quick dip in the water to lock the bait onto the hook. He notes that dips such as Bootleg contain special waterproofing agents that help make it stick to the hook.
If he's fishing a river, Jamison places baits along current seams. In reservoirs, he chooses 2- to 10-foot windblown points because current distributes the scent.
揇oesn抰 take long for cats to follow the scent to the source, and we抮e quickly on our way to a nice batch of catfish. Can抰 beat it with a stick.?
