How To Catch A Monster Catfish

The first important step in catching a monster catfish is fishing in a body of water that holds the trophy sized fish you are seeking. It is amazing sometimes how many times I come across fishermen who are fishing for a specific species that I know does not even inhabit the water they are fishing.

For catfish some bodies of water are much more prone to have trophy fish than others. Small ponds for instance may have large amounts of Catfish but will rarely have any true trophies. Bodies of water that hold Flathead Catfish and Blue Catfish are much better places to fish for a true trophy than a lake that only has Channel Catfish for instance.

Your next consideration is equipment. Big Catfish are capable to extraordinary fighting strength. You will need a heavy rod with strong backbone for two main reasons. First is the process of setting the hook. A catfish has a mouth that is often very tough to penetrate. If you use a hook without sufficient backbone your hook set may be poor resulting in the loss of a fish.

The second reason for a heavy rod is the fight itself. Catfish in the fifty to one hundred pound class can put tremendous strain on a rod. You will need the heavy rod blank to steer the fish and to tire it out. The object of fishing is for the angler to tire the fish not the other way around.

You will need a reel with a high line capacity. Typically you will be using line in the thirty pound weight class or higher for trophy catfish. You will therefore need a large reel that can hold at least one hundred and fifty yards of high diameter line. It is also important that the reel has the proper drag to withstand the long runs fish of this size can make. You generally will not need to make very long or accurate casts, choose a reel that is designed for fighting the fish rather than one that specializes in long and accurate casts.

For catching trophy catfish it is best to use live bait. You will therefore need tackle that is designed for live bait fishing. Your hook should be as big as need to cover the bait being used. A 1/0 through 4/0 hook selection should be fine. You should also have some high quality swivels and a selection of weights that will keep your bait near the bottom. I like to use a high quality two way swivel with the weight above the swivel and a twenty four inch leader below it.

For trophy catfish the best bait to use if fish. I like to determine what the standard forage is for the species I am fishing and use that as bait. It can be a bluegill, perch, large shiner or any small to medium sized fish. For true trophy catfish I suggest bait in the eight to twelve inch long class.

You can use cut bait if you only have larger fish available for bait. They will often work as well or better than live bait.