Buh-bye to Chicken Livers: Or How to Make Cheap, Effective, and Durable Catfish Bait

I have gone through a lot of tubs of chicken livers over the past few years. They are an effective catfish bait. And at $2 for a small tub at the grocery store, well, who is to complain.

But, I am moving past chicken livers. Their biggest problem is that fish can tear them off easily. Oh, sure, there are various ways to keep them on hook. Atlas Mike’s Miracle Thread is best solution, because all you need do is wrap this elastic thread around the hooked liver. Easy-peasy, and it keeps the liver on longer while putting no barriers between the bait and the fish. I tried the egg loop knot, curing the livers into leathery medallions, and various other tricks. None of these worked great for me. Drying the livers made them less appealing to catfish. Putting the bait in little Surgitube bags and the like also weakened the bait’s draw, and was time-consuming.

Certainly, whenever I can catch bluegill or other baitfish, I’ll use those to chase catfish. But I do not have an easy source for bluegill nearby, and I’m not quite fish-crazy enough to establish a bluegill fish tank in my home.

So, my new go-to bargain bait is cheap chicken meat. You can get nearly expired thighs or breast boneless meat for a couple bucks a pound. Combine it with garlic powder (also cheap) and cherry or berry Kool-Aid (get a container of the generic version) and a bit of water in a Ziplock bag, and voila. You have a bait that brings in blue catfish and channel catfish. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and keeps in the fridge for at least a week. No cooking of complex work is required. Just be sure to cut it into chunks appropriately sized for the hooks you are using. And if you have some old hot dogs, you can chop those into chunks and pitch those in the marinade.

This bait has not failed me, and I learned about it from an excellent catfisherman at Fletcher’s Cove in Washington, DC. That day I watched him land one hog after another, including one more than 40 pounds. Critically, this bait does not fall apart or tear of the hook. I’ve caught a couple of catfish on the same chunk of this bait. It works and it lasts, and that’s huge.

How to Tie a Santee Rig for Catfish

This rigs is easy to tie, and it reduces snags and lost rigs by keeping your bait off the bottom. (When you cast, the peg floats on this rig slide to to swivel-clip/hook combo, and lift it off the bottom.) Links below will lead you to the materials you need to build this catfish rig.

40-pound monofilament: http://amzn.to/2xFk5la
Lindy beads: http://amzn.to/2iPyrfx
Swivel: http://amzn.to/2iRmN3J
Swivel with clip: http://amzn.to/2iRCMPr
Circle hook (6/0): http://amzn.to/2x02Z4t
3-inch peg floats: http://whiskerseeker.com/catfish-peg-floats/

As I note in the video, this rig also has the advantage of allowing you to easily switch hook size while you are fishing, in case the fish are bigger or smaller than you expect. If you are getting lots of bites but not lots of hook-ups, it might be the circle hook is too big to set. So unclip the hook and pop on a new one.

The barrel swivel at the top can be either tied or hooked to a swivel-clip  on the line running to your reel. The latter is my preference, as it means I can easily remove the rig to wash and store it. (Walking to or from your fishing hole with a big rig bouncing on your rod is not good. It strains your line and sometimes snap it.)

If you do not want to tie your own Santee rig, WhiskerSeeker tackle carries them: http://whiskerseeker.com/catfish-rigs-lures-floats/

Now, you might ask: so do you use a sinker with a Santee rig? Yes, you do. The sinker can be attached to the line running to your reel (not the rig!) I prefer to clip my sinker to one of these sliders, which you install just above the swivel clip: http://amzn.to/2exPXUr You can swap different sinker sizes on with ease, depending on the current’s strength. Put a Lindy bead between the swivel-clip’s knot and the slider to protect the knot from trauma.

For those of you who have not used a slider before, one thing you need to get used to is that tightening your line after casting is different. Without a slider, you cast, let the bait and sinker sink, then close your reels’ bail and reel until the line is straight-line tight. You can’t do that here. If you try to reel taut you’ll drag your bait to the slider/sinker combination, which is not ideal. Instead, you need to reel so the line is not really slack, then close your bail.

Catfishing Near Reagan National Airport, February 6, 2017

Near where Four Mile Run feeds into the Potomac and just south of the airport is a place to catch catfish, according to Elstan Perez and Luke of Catfish & Carp. Both these guys were fishing this spot in December 2016 and January 2017 when the weather appeared to be in the 40s. (Elstan tells me it was mid-50s when he was there.)

Elstan used cut yellow perch; Luke used a carp rig with panko-jello-corn pack bait and frozen cut shad on a 4/0 hook.

Where to park? Elstan writes: “parking cost me $17 Long term economy parking [at Reagan airport]. You can find parking across the bridge at the grocery store or somewhere nearby for free if you didn’t want to walk half a mile or more.” And he bought two perch for $2.50 at Fresh World market.

So I gave it a whirl, and you can get full details here. Yes, I got a catfish, and you can see the video of it here.

Two pieces of advice: consider parking at Potomac Yards Shopping Center for free. And do bring some sort of stakes to prop up your fishing pole, as the stream’s shore is a mix of long grass and rocks held under wiring.

Reeling in a Channel Catfish (2 min 32 seconds)

Bluegills, Bass, and Catfish at Four Mile Run, February 6, 2017

This is urban fishing, for sure. Upfront I should say that this is not an easy place to fish for anyone who is not in decent condition. To fish Four Mile Run stream (history here) requires keeping one’s balance on a slope made of rocks and covered with metal fence-like material. It is slippery, and there is plenty of brush and such.

But the hassles are worth it. Four Mile Run stream offers lights-out fishing. There are tons of bluegills (easily taken on a size 6 snell, bobber, and worm) and large-mouth bass (I scored mine of a pumpkin green Senko worm Texas-rigged. Cast, let it drop for a few seconds, and slow reel in.) The bass range from pipsqueaks (6 inches) to hogs (7 pounds). Guys fishing drop-shot rigs with Senko and Zoom worms tend to do very well here. One inevitable challenge around this bridge is snags—they happen a lot.

Bluegill and bass are plentiful near and under the Jefferson Davis Highway bridge (south side of the stream).

Photo credit: Kevin R. Kosar.

To chase catfish, walk eastward all the way to where the creek meets the Potomac River (map here). I put out four lines today with fresh cut bluegill. I had two serious bites in two hours, and one produced a 10-pound channel catfish. It was a sizable one, but there are much bigger ones in there—forty to fifty pounders have been recorded by guys on FishBrain. The water level rises and falls, but fishing seems to be good here whatever the tide.

You can park in the Potomac Yards parking lot, which puts you a few minute walk from entry to the stream edge next to Jack Taylor Alexandria Toyota. Yes, you could get towed from the shopping center lot, in theory, but I have staved off this threat thus far by buying drinks and snacks from Shoppers and leaving the receipt and shoppers plastic bag on my dashboard.

Photo credit: Kevin R. Kosar.

2/7/2017 Update

Turns out the same day I was here, the Metropolitan Angler was landing small bass with a Rapala hard bait. You can see him do it in this video, and you can watch me pull in this catfish.

Catfishing on the Potomac River Near the Watergate, January 29, 2017

Metropolitan Angler, who posts videos on YouTube, fishes here. He brought in at least two blue catfish that were 24 inches or more on January 20, 2017. (The temperature that day was about 45 degrees.)

So I decided to give it a try on January 29, 2017. I am very glad I went.

It was 45 degrees and overcast, and the tide was very low. One can park at Thompson’s boathouse (there are meters) or on Virginia Ave NW. One walks on the sidewalk through the intersection of Rock Creek Parkway and Virginia Ave NW toward the Watergate and Kennedy Center—the spot is only a couple hundred feet past the intersection.

My expectations were low, but I had a good hour of fishing. I rigged four rods: 2 steel helicopter rigs that each had two 4/0 circle hooks baited with thawed cut sunfish and a 3-ounce pyramid sinker. The other two rods had my standard catfish rig with an 8/0 circle hook rig baited with Surgitube bag jammed with chicken liver and a 3-ounce flat sinker.

In short, both rigs and baits proved attractive to catfish. We were there only one hour but caught an approximately 12-pound blue catfish (on the sunfish) and had bites (on the sunfish and the chicken livers twice).

Be careful—there is no rail and the drop to the water is at least 10 feet if not more (when the tide is out). This is no place for toddlers or young kids.

And forget bringing a net, unless it has an unbelievably long handle. The water is way beneath your feet, so best to use very heavy line (25-pound or more) because hauling a thrashing catfish up through the air puts huge strain on your line.

Fishing Nanjemoy Creek at Friendship Farm Park on November 2, 2016

The Nanjemoy Creek in Maryland is known to outsiders for its bass and catfish. Twice previously I’ve fished a different part of the creek, and the catfish were many and included a 12-pounder. I also twice had 30-pound leaders snapped by BIG catfish. (Lesson learned: loosen the drag so the fish can pull line out.)

This was the first time I fished Nanjemoy from Friendship Farm Park (4715 Friendship Landing Road, Nanjemoy, MD 20662). There is a nice pier to fish from, which is next to a boat launch. You do not need a fishing license to fish here. (The farm was private property transferred to the state’s custody, and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources manages it.) There is ample parking, and when I visited on a weekday there was only one other angler, who was casting from the shore and catching perch and catfish with night crawlers.

The day I visited the temperature was about 60 degrees and rose to the low 70s. I was there from 9:30 to 12 during slack tide and then with the tide coming in.

I enjoyed my visit, but I was a little surprised that the only catfish biting chicken liver were small catfish. Real small—like a foot or so long. The other angler there caught a 24-inch blue catfish and an 18-incher around 8am. after that, she reeled in only pipsqueak catfish and white perch, which also hit the worms she was bottom-fishing.

For 2.5 hours, I had hit after hit—but they were tiny ones as you can see from this video. The rods dipped just a little and sporadically. (What you want to see is the rod bend forward and stay down, indicating the fish has taken the bait, run, and the hook has popped through its cheek.) The little catfish picked at the bait but were hard to hook on the big 8/0 circle hooks I was using.

Will I return to Friendship Farm Park again? Certainly. But I will come equipped with smaller hooks to use on at least one of the rods. These Mustad Size 4 treble hooks would do very well with chicken liver tied to them with Miracle Fishing Thread.

How to Catch Catfish at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC

Previously, I wrote about fishing the Tidal Basin. The more I fish there, the more I am impressed.

There are so many fish. One can catch four types of catfish (blue, channel, flathead, and black bull), along with needlenose gar, bass (small-mouth and large-mouth), bluegill, crappie, golden redhorse, shad, perch, and stripers.

Catfish Tips (including recommended bait and gear):

1. The bite waned during the scorching temperatures in August. All I can guess is that the catfish fell into a heat-induced stupor. Conversely, the bite improved on the mornings when the temperature had suddenly dropped 10 degrees or more relative to the previous morning. (E.g., On Monday September 12, 2016 it was in the mid 60s whereas the morning before it was 75.)
2. Once autumn’s chill hit, the catfish bit less often. Were they chilling far out in the center and deeper parts of the Basin? Beats me. Days when it was gray, breezy, and in the 50s the catfish were few. But, the catfish awoke on days when the thermometer rose above the mid-60s. Windy weather has been tough for fishing—the water flows faster, which disperses the scent of your bait and making it difficult for catfish to detect.
3. In terms of bait, chicken livers have proven consistently successful. (Yes, cut bluegill also gets hits—but not as consistently in my Basin experience.) To keep the livers on a circle hook (size 8/0), wrap it with Atlas Mike’s Miracle Fishing Thread. Or, slip liver into Surgitube gauze before popping it on a hook. (Instructions on how to use Surgitube are in this short video.)
4. A simple catfish rig uses 30-pound monofilament line, an 8/0 circle hook, a 3-ounce sinker, two plastic beads, and is topped with a double surgeon’s knot/loop. Here is my video showing how to make that kind of rig.
5. The best spots I’ve found for catfishing the Basin are marked on this map with X’s.
6. Parking: You can easily find free spots on Ohio Drive SW early in the morning—both before the little bridge at the southern end of the basin and past the bridge (just under the first big bridge across the Potomac).
7. Cast a medium distance (50 feet). if you get no hits within 10 minutes, reel in and cast farther out. After 30 minutes, if you’ve not had any solid hits, then move to another spot and put out fresh bait.
8. After you cast out and let the put your fishing pole in a hole and/or use a prop rod.
9. Clip a bell on the end of the rod, and wait and watch. When a hit comes, the bell will jingle. Don’t touch the rod until it is bent over for a few seconds—this signals that the circle hook has penetrated the fish’s cheek.
10. Use a long-handled net to help lift the fish out—catfish can snap your line by thrashing as you lift them out of the water. Having a net around the fish reduces the strain on your fishing line and ensures the fish does not escape even if it does break your line. (Short-handled nets, by the way, are better to use when catfishing in a boat)

As a closer, here’s a video by a great catfisherman that shows you Tidal Basin catfishing.

Catfishing at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, July 13, 16, and 17, 2016

Yes, you can shore fish from much of the Tidal Basin. It’s a beautiful place, and inevitably there are friendly tourists and other fishermen who will shoot the breeze with you.

And the Basin has tons of fish: carp, catfish, large-mouth bass, striped bass, eels, and more.

A spot I worked all three days is on the jefferson Memorial side of the Basin, just past the bridge beyond the boat rental area. The sun does not hit that area in the morning.

When I fished July 13, I angled for catfish and bass. (By the way, I got a large-mouth on a Texas rigged, pumpkin green, speckled Senko worm.) I used hot dog, chicken livers, and eventually frozen drum or spot that had been in my freezer at least a year. The chicken livers drew plenty of attention, but 5 of the 7 were stolen by catfish. I lost another to a bad cast (livers tear very easily). And one liver brought a 20-inch channel catfish.

Surprisingly, the cut drum, which had been ignored at the Basin and had only scored once for me at Fletcher’s, brought in a 15-inch blue catfish. (These data may support the common contention that channel catfish love livers and blue catfish love cut fish.)

Annoyed at all the livers and catfish lost, I looked for various ways to improve my baiting. I settled on making netted balls of liver. :I used this plastic netting from a $3 bath loofah bought at Safeway. I made 10 balls with fresh chicken livers inside ($2 to $3 a container at Safeway or Giant).

The netting was so-so—it sometimes it untied, and the knots were too big and the balls might have put off the carp due to their plastic-ky smell and the big knots. But, I scored an 18-inch catfish 10 minutes after starting fishing on July 17. Sadly, I had very few hits after that morning and landed only one more catfish—a 14-inch pipsqueak channel catfish. Was the fishing lackluster because it was only 12 hours after a heavy rainstorm? Who knows.

Next time I will use tubular gauze and see if I get better results. I also want to source bluegill, which I failed to catch on corn and bread with bobber.

How to Tie a Simple Catfish Rig

This is a very simple rig that I use and it works very well. It requires no swivel—just a sinker and a hook. It is two Palomar knots. It sometimes is called a helicopter rig.

Shad Fishing and Catfishing In the Potomac River In Washington, DC, May 17, 2015

This sinker lengthens casts and helps get the dart deep into the water.

It was mid-60s, cloudy, with occasional light drizzle. It rained the night before, making the river swollen and cloudy brown. We left with Captain Woodhouse from Buzzard’s Point Marina (at the very southern end of Half St SW) at 7:15am

It was too late for shad fishing. We got a few hits in spots north of Fletcher’s Cove. So, we switched to catfishing, and brought in 7 catfish sized 14 to 20 inches. They hit on Safeway Hot Dogs (mix of chicken, pork, etc.) and also hit Fish Bite quick-dissolve fake blood worm. They hit blood worm alone, and hot dog alone, and hot dog plus blood worm.

Above is a sketch of the shad rig we used that day. The lower line is 2-3 feet. The technique is to face up river against the current, cast toward 11:00 or 1:00, then let the rig sink for 5 seconds before slowly reeling it in. Often, we are told, shad hit on the rig as it curves back against the current (as you pull it to the boat) and just before the rig surfaces at the boat.