I made this post for the Catfish forum but thought I would add it here also for those of you with an interest in chasing cats. This sucker which you see being cut up put 5 nice channels in the boat last night.

I took the grandkids out fishing yesterday afternoon and we caught a ton of fish and had a great time. My grandson, Tony, caught a beautiful 15" sucker that went right in the livewell to become some evening cut bait. When I took him out of the livewell to cut him up it seemed like an excellent time to make a quick post on how to prepare a large sucker for cut bait. Most people use the medium / large bait store bought suckers for their cut bait and aren't quite sure how to make bait from a river caught large sucker. I'll try to use some photos to show the process:

#1: I like the 15" to 18" suckers that can be easily caught on the St Croix. We were just using a simple plain hook and split shot rig with a piece of nightcrawler for bait.


#2: Run the fillet knife down one side of the bait and make your standard fillet. You will end up with one standard fillet and then the other half of the fish which will be pretty thick and still have the backbone attached. I do not skin the fillet - I leave the scales and everything attached to fillet.


#3: Cut up the thinner fillet into strips about 1" wide and about 3" long. I don't remove the scales (some people do but I don't think it matters). Cutting up the fillet with the scales still on can be a chore with a knife. I use a Cabela's Game Shears which makes the whole process effortless. This picture shows what that fillet looks like when it has been cut up:


#4: Now you need to deal with the rest of the fish. Cut off the head and the tail and discard in the trash. You will have a very thick and heavy fillet. This is where the game shears is worth its weight in gold. It will cut through that thick fillet, the backbone and all the other bones to make some great cut bait chunks. I leave as much of the gut attached to the chunks as I can. You want lots of blood and juices attached to the pieces as possible. Here is a picture of the final product:


#5: Put it on the hook and you are ready to go. Be careful that the point of the hook has not picked up any of the thick scales from the sucker. I normally fish a piece of cut bait like this for about 15 - 20 minutes and then put on a fresh piece so that there is a good scent trail going into the water.


#6: Get set for a fierce strike. I fish my cut bait on circle hooks and set the rods in rod holders. The channel cats will hammer this bait and hook themselves. You will have a tussle just trying to get the rod out of the holder:


I hope this post has helped you catch and make good cut bait.
Good Luck -

Steve

Thanks for taking the time to put this together, nice job.

When you are fishing cats from a boat with cut bait, do you leave it on the bottom or suspend it?

I use a No-Roll sinker in about a 1 1/2oz and let the bait sink to the bottom. They will find it from the scent trail.

This souds like something fun to do with the kids. Is there a certain depth that is better then others? Thanks for the info!

I noticed that in your hook picture that you did not cover the hook! Is that the correct way? Will a cat fish see the hook and not bite like some other more senistive fish? And by the way Steve D you have been much help in my learning of Catfishing. It is greatly Appreciated!! Thank You Very Much!!!

Cats are not hook or leader shy so don't even worry about that hook being seen and avoided. The same goes for leaders - I make my leaders out of 65# HiVis PowerPro. I like the HiVis line because it is easy to see in the dark and to get untangled in the dark. Cats could care less about hooks or leaders, both flatheads and channels.

Channel cats most of the tme will find your cut bait from the scent trail. They pick up that scent from down current and follow it right to your bait. When they finally come up on that bait they will just engulf it - I have seen channel cats make some incredibly hard bait strikes, it looks like they are going to pull the rod right out of the rod holder.

When fishing flatheads with live bait (I use bullheads) they find your bait by the vibration and noise being put out by the struggling bait. That is why you want fresh, lively and strong live bait for flatheads. Flats will eat a hunk of cut bait but they prefer live bait.

Ick... Cats seem to be the Turkey Vultures of the St. Croix. Cut Bait, blood cheeze, they hold lots of toxins, and stuff like that, am I wrong?

Yep, You're wrong.

Im still fairly new to fishing on the saint croix. Yesterday I was out fish the eyes at about 6 30 pm. I was fishing the weed patch by the 5 mile marker on the minnesota side and caught my first cat fish. Small guy that put up a great fight. Do you have any recs on gear if a guy wanted to just have some fun catching these.. Rod, reels, line ect. Working with a small budget so more than likely wal mart will be my friend on my purchase

Thanks for the great info

I not a believer in expensive gear for catfishing. Working with a small budget this is what I would do if I was just starting out. Since you can fish two rods on the St Croix I would want to end up with two dependable rod and reels. I would set up one spinning combo and one baitcasting combo. Here is what I would get:

Spinning Rod: Shakespeare Ugly Stick 7' one piece spinning rod, Action Medium Heavy, Line Wt: 15-30 lb, Cost: $34
Stock#: UCSP1170

Spinning Reel: I would take my favorite walleye / bass spinning reel and use that for catfishing by taking the spare spool and filling it with 30 lb test HiVis PowerPro line. When I want to catfish just take the reel off my walleye rod and mount it on my spinning catfish rod and I am in businees. Cost: $15 for a 150 yard spool of PowerPro HiVis Line.

Baitcaster combo: If you already have a baitcaster combo that you use for musky fishing then I would just use that combo for catfishing. If it can handle a musky at close quarters you can get by using it for flatheads until you are sure this is what you want to do and by then you will have a better idea of what you want personally for a heavy action flathead combo. If you don't own a musky set up and want something to get you going, this is a good baitcasting starter combo that can do double duty as a channel cat and flathead rod:

Casting Rod: Shakespeare Ugly Stick 7' one piece casting / trigger rod, Action Medium Heavy, Line Wt: 15-30 lb, Cost: $34
Stock#: UCCA1170

Casting Reel: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500C3 about $85. Spool it with about 150 yards of PowerPro HiVis 50 lb test line about $15.

Now please, don't a bunch of catfishing guys take me to task about my selection of equipment. There are about a hundred different kinds of rods and reel combinations that would work in this situation and all are probably excellent. I was trying to suggest an inexpensive way to put together a beginner two rod/reel catfishing set.

Note:
#1: Both of these combo setups would work very good for sturgeon also.
#2: Both rods recommended are white rods which I prefer for night fishing - it just makes everything easier to see in the dark.

If you have trouble finding the rods recommended you can go to www.catfishconnection.com and they will have everything you need. I bought mine at WalMart so you should be able to find them there.
Hope this helps. Good luck chasing cats.

Steve

wow.. thanks for the in depth response. So for around 50-60 bucks or so I'm set with one set up

Man, i really appreciate it.. sku numbers and all!.. thanks man