How to catch catfish with bluegill - fishing for catfish with bluegill

hi Luke here with cats and carp calm and I'm gonna show you everything you need to know about catching catfish with blue gills catfish love blue gills flathead catfish love blue gills blue catfish love blue gills channel catfish love blue gills I routinely catch big catfish on live and cut blue gills now when I say blue gills I'm actually talking about all the species of pan fish that includes sunfish red ear pumpkin seed white perch rock bass bluegill and all the other Pam fish make up a majority of a big catfish is diet bluegill work well all over the country because there are a few places where catfish don't feed heavily on these pan fish if you don't believe me check out the contents of an adult cat fish's stomach you'll find a lot of bluegill what is surprising is that you normally don't find one or two fish but several fish catfish will pack their bellies with as many bluegill and fish as they can fit inside other bait fish work well too big catfish loves shad skipjack chub carp minnows sucker shiners and bull heads but these fish aren't found everywhere and sometimes they can be hard to catch a good numbers for fishing bluegill can be found in almost every body of water where there are catfish and so they are one of the most universally good catfish baits if you want to catch big catfish and you don't know what bait to try try bluegill everyone knows how to catch one or two bluegill it's not hard but if you want to catch a big catfish you'll need to catch a lot of bluegill very quickly on a busy night I can use fifteen to twenty bluegill as is live bait so catching a couple dozen bluegill and under thirty minutes is really important a rod and reel is a simple method for catching a lot of blue gills really quickly if you need to catch a lot of bluegill quickly having a small and sharp hook is really important a number fourteen size bait hook is my preferred hook in most places but anything from number ten to number eighteen can work depending on the size of bluegill you want if you want smaller bluegill use a smaller hook a bobber and a hook with no weight is my preferred rig adjust the height of the bobber so that the hook rests the same depth as a fish but doesn't get snagged on the bottom for bait I like worms slim jims and cured sweet corn if you'd like to see a video about catching blue gills with slim jims click on the video here or get the link from the description cured sweet corn is more attractive than regular corn it targets bigger bluegill and is tougher and less perishable than normal sweet corn click here or go to the description for a link to my video about curing sweet corn and catching bluegill with cured sweet corn fishing flies like san juan' worms or pheasant tail nymph can be great for catching blue gills they are also more convenient if you don't want to carry bait with you one of my favorite lures for catching blue gills is a tiny piece of white rubber foam it looks like a piece of bread but it won't tear off the hook I've got tons of bluegill off the surface with just a little piece of white foam on a number 14 hook when you drop a bait into a school of bluegill the biggest blue gill tend to attack first so usually the first bluegill you catch are the biggest then you tend to catch smaller and smaller fish the longer you fish in the same spot if you are fishing for big flathead catfish and you want to use big bluegill as bait move spots after catching one or two bluegill so that you can get bigger bait if you're fishing for smaller channel catfish you might want the little bluegill that fit in their mouths easier you also tend to catch a bigger bluegill further from shore and smaller bluegill in the shallower water the key to catching bluegill for bait is to catch them quickly if you are getting a nibble within one minute of putting your bait in the water then you're not in a good place after all if you want to catch 15 fish in 30 minutes you need to catch a fish every two minutes so don't just sit there and stare at your bobber if you go a minute without a bite move your bait around to another spot in the daytime shady spots are key under docks under trees undercut banks around sunken logs and sunken rocks are all good places after you catch a few and the bites slow down move around a little bit a cast net is a good way to catch bluegill but the biggest problem is that cast nets get torn and snagged very easily and blue you like to hang out in snaggy areas throwing your net around docks and boat ramps is a good way to avoid snags when using a cast net for bluegill if you'd like to learn how to throw a cast net or how to pick the right net for you check out these videos fish traps like the cloverleaf trap are fabulous for catching a lot of bluegill really quickly you can make these traps for about 10 to 15 dollars they can catch dozens of fish at one time you simply bait the trap with bread and other baits and by the time you're ready to go catfishing all the fish you need are in the trap check your local laws before using any fish traps if you'd like to learn how to make this trap click on the video or follow the link in the description I like to use bluegill as live bait or as cut bait cut bait requires fewer bluegill and allows you to catch big and smaller catfish live bait is more work but it works better on trophy fish especially large flathead catfish when I'm fishing with bluegill I have two favorite rigs the first is a basic bottom rig a sliding lead a bead a swivel 18 inches of mono leader in a big circle hook the second rig is a large adjustable casting float with a circle hook underneath and no weight I use the bottom rig the most but I use the float more when I'm searching for catfish along the bank or when I'm fishing above a very snaggy spot when I'm rigging cut bait I tend to cut large bluegill into three sections the head the middle and the tail i hook the head to the eye socket now at the forehead or I put the hook through the back behind the eyes when I use a middle piece I like to cut out the gut pouch and hook through the back when using a tail piece I cut off the tail fin so the bait doesn't spin when I reel it in and I hook through the back when fishing with live bluegill I hook them differently depending on whether I'm fishing in current or in still water if I'm fishing in still water i hook the bluegill through the back behind the dorsal fin if I'm fishing in current i hook the fish through the nose so it faces upstream and the hook point is up in both cases I do not trim the fins or wound the bluegill whether you're using cut bait or I've made is important to use the correct size bait the ideal bait should be bite size and fit easily into a cat fish's mouth if the bait is too big you'll get a lot of bites but no hookups if the bait is too small you increase the chances of gut hooking the fish in all cases I want to make sure there is plenty of hook point exposed and no scales on the hook point so the hook can do its job without interference from the bait if you are fishing with live bluegill keeping the bluegill alive and healthy is super important a live well with a water pump or aerator is the best way to keep fish alive my boat has a live well with a water pump that constantly changes the water it's a great way to store dozens of live fish but running the pump constantly can drain the starter battery if I'm not careful the float roll from frabill is a great solution if you don't have a live well or if you need to stay mobile the float roll is a container with holes in the top and a spring shot one-way door you put the bluegill in the bucket and then lay the bucket in the water the holes in the bucket let water circulate around the fish without letting them jump out if you put bluegill in a plain old bucket they will jump out I've had bluegill jump out on my boat live well over the pontoon rail and into the water they love to jump out the float roll costs about eighteen dollars and there's a link in the description to where you can buy some if you need something bigger or cheaper than the float roll you can use a collapsible laundry basket as a live well IKEA sells them for seven dollars they're compact for storage they come with handles and velcro lids to keep the fish from jumping out you can put a rock in the bottom or tie the handles to something to prevent it from floating away one basket will store dozens of bluegill and also your catfish or any other fish as well there's plenty of room if you are fishing with live bait and you want to move spots unhooking Andry hooking the fish can kill your bait to solve this problem I like to use small painter buckets to transport live bait on the hook each rod has its own bucket of water when I reel in the live bait I put it in the bucket while I'm moving around I like to use wire to tie the buckets to the rail of my boat well I hope that this video was helpful and talked to you a little about catching catfish with blue and other panfish if you have questions or if you'd like to suggest other video topics leave a comment in the comment section of this video and if you liked the video check out these other videos including how to catch catfish in a pond and my top 8 catfish baits for new videos every week don't forget to click subscribe thanks for watching

Channel: Catfish and Carp

Views: 3,641,937

Rating: 4.5618267 out of 5

Keywords: How to catch catfish with bluegill, fishing for catfish with bluegill, bluegill, catfish bait, fishing for catfish, how to catch catfish

Id: NoBgQKl5fwk

Length: 9min 13sec (553 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 29 2016