Catfish and Carp

Catfish are known to consume odd things for their meals, so it is no wonder that some of the better baits to catch these fish are quite out of the ordinary.

Dr. Hal Schramm answers a member's question on the oxygen needs of catfish.

Dogfish, carp, drum and gar get a bad rap, but they’re actually some of the hardest fighting fish that swim! Plus, they’re plentiful and virtually ignored by anglers nationwide, guaranteeing plenty of action. Learn expert advice on finding and catching these monsters.

You saw the pictures, you knew flatheads were famous for feeding on almost anything, and you shook your head in disbelief. But you never knew the true story behind the photo of the huge cat with a basketball stuck in its mouth, did you?

If you want to catch the biggest catfish of your life, there’s no better place than a tidal river.

It was 1992 when NAFC blue cat guru Chris Harris of Richmond, Virginia, was fishing the James River and spotted bizarre shapes on his depthfinder. He dropped his baits to the mysterious structures and felt his sinkers tap off the tops and slide down the sides.

Small channel and blue cats are most likely to be caught on stinkbaits. These young fish eat a wider variety of foods than heavyweight adults.

The gold-colored instrument Denny Halgren plunked into the water looked like a cross between a ladle, spatula and something you might find aboard a flying saucer.

Although flatheads are opportunistic predators whose favorite prey is whatever swims past their mouths, anglers on certain waters have found that matching local forage can increase their catch rates.

Channel catfish in rivers could prowl the flats anywhere from the lip into the main channel all the way to the shoreline, and though they may hold in pods, those pods could be scattered.