Welcome to my site. I just put this page together for some info for others about cat fishing in GA and the Atlanta area. I am new to cat fishing i just started last year in March of 2003. I am kind of addicted to catching these fish. They are good fighters, great eating fish, can get huge compared to alot of freshwater game fish and really are not that hard to catch and can be found in most of Georgia's lakes, ponds and rivers.
BAIT
Some of the baits i use are shinners, stink baits, crawfish, shrimp and small bluegill. I have never caught a catfish on chicken liver !!! I have tried, even tried garlic cured livers and not even a bite. One bait that works extreamly well but is messy and smelly and just not fun to use is CAT TRACKER dip bait.It comes in alot of different scents and it will catch fish. I have used all the scents. The sewer bait, shrimp and blood scents work very well for catching 1-10lb channels and blues. I will use there egg worms, rig them with the 20lb leader that comes with them but use a size 2 Eagle claw wide gap single hook, not the treble that comes with it, then tie a snap lock swivel to my main line, a glass beed to protect the knot and a 1-2 oz egg sinker. Now this stuff stinks and is messy. I suggest getting some of those rubber dishwashing gloves, a plastic or metal putty knife to stir it. Make sure the worm is dry, use paper towels to dry off the worm.You have to dry the worm eveytime before you bait up. Drop the worm in the bait tub, use the putty knife to cover the worm in the bait. Pull it out with the line, go wash off the rubber gloves in the water, take them off cast it out and wait. In the summer the bait is nice and soupy and sticky, in colder weather it may become thick and not stick to the worm well. Mix in some cooking oil to make it stick better.I did catch a 10lb flathead on the shrimp scent. Some people say this kind of bait wont work for flatheads but it can catch them. Shinners have caught me some fish too but dont seem to work as well as the dip bait. I will use them live hooking them in the back, then cut them in half after they die. They dont live long, big catfish will eat live fish so use a larger hook for shinners like a 3/0 on the same type of bottom fishing rig i mentioned above. Bluegill/small bullheads are supposed to be good for big cats, specially flatheads. I have never caught one with one but plan on useing them more.With blue gill scrap off some scales for larger oness cut off the back fin and scrap off some scales. Use 2-5" ones and use a large hook. You can use them as cut bait as well. Bullheads are good to use, big cats will eat there own kind. They are very tough and stay livley for a long time. There is a county pond off of Rockbridge RD in Stone Moutain in a county park way in the back. If you walk the trail behinde the pond you will see a drainage system that empties into a small pool down the bank behinde the pond. In that pool are hundreds of small bluegill and small bullheads. Use a tiny hook, bobber and worm and fill up the minnow bucket with them.I actually have 2 bullheads i caught from there in my fish tank :-) Shrimp and crawfish work well too. Whole raw shrimp or whole raw crawfish. I get the crawfish at Wayfield grocery store , shrimp are cheaper at a famers market like the one off Buford highway. Shrimp are easier to use and mimic crawfish. Peel the shell off the tail, cut the head off and put both halfs on the hook. Peel the shell off the crawfish use the meat, i suggest a treble hook with the crawfish cuz the meat is softer and doesnt stay on the hook well. Or use them whole on a 7/0-8/0 sigle hook. Big flatheads and big cats will eat whole crawfish. I have even found smaller cats that have crawfish in there bellies. For more info on all types of cats, feeding habits etc visit. GAME and Fish Info.
E-MAIL ME with info suggestions or spelling corrections :-)