Catching catfish with a worm, crawling

Catfish is a unique fish. There are legends about her. Everyone has heard about miracle fish weighing half a ton and 5 meters long. But it is practically impossible for an ordinary fisherman to get such a trophy. And such specimens are not found in all bodies of water.

Most often you can pull out a catfish up to 15 kg. Although some manage to become the owner of a trophy weighing half a centner.

To catch catfish, various baits are used: meat, bird giblets, pieces of fish, fried pigeons or sparrows, frogs, live bait. But I prefer to fish with a worm. Of course, the size of such bait must be appropriate. I use a crawling worm, which makes it possible to pull out fish weighing 2 kg or more. Sometimes a larger specimen is also used for such a nozzle. I came across a 15 kg catfish, honestly.

Let me tell you that fish of any size actively react to the worm. In this way, you can attract not only catfish, but also large carp and carp.

Tackle for catching catfish with a worm

As a rule, catfish are caught using a donk or a feeder, as it is now called. The main requirement is strength and reliability. In this case, you shouldn’t skimp on the rod, especially not use inexpensive Chinese rods. Catfish weighing 5 kg or more provide decent resistance and are capable of breaking weak tackle or breaking a telescopic fishing rod made in China.

A plug rod is used, consisting of two legs, 2.7-3.0 meters long.

A fishing line with a thickness of at least 0.5 mm is attached to the rod. The fishing line is selected based on the specimens that are constantly encountered. It’s better to play it safe and install a fishing line with a diameter of up to 1.0 mm. As for the braid, a diameter of 0.5 mm is quite enough.

Proportional to the power of the rod and fishing line, a spinning reel is selected that can accommodate up to 200 meters of fishing line of appropriate thickness (0.5 mm).

The hook will fit size 10 or larger. The hook should be attached to a leash, the thickness of which may be greater than the diameter of the main line.

When fishing from a boat, it is permissible to use the simplest bottom tackle. It consists of a reel with a special handle that simplifies the fishing process. In this case, the main requirement is convenience. The selection of other elements of the gear is carried out according to the same criteria. Long casts are not required here, so fishing is greatly simplified.

Catfish bait

Page menu:

1. Main baits:

• Medvedka
  The best bait for catfish
• Shell
  Worst bait for catfish
• Worms
• frogs
• Zywiec
• Cancers

• Additional baits:
• Grabak
• Locusts and grasshoppers
• Leeches
• Caterpillars

• Squid, soap, sparrows...

People often make simple things complicated. Fishermen are no exception. This human penchant for the mysterious has a direct bearing on catfishing. Imagine a section of a river that probably has catfish and several fishermen fishing for catfish and quok. Simultaneously. They have the same skill in the ability to create pressure in water (let there be sounds), the same boats, motors, and gear. Let’s make a small allowance for the occasion and omit some of the tricks of “group” catfishing, which belong in the topic “How to catch catfish with a kwok”, but not here.

Some fishermen have pearl barley shells on their hooks, others have mole crickets with green (meadow) worms. Which of these fishermen has the best chance of catching catfish? Fishing occurs at the end of June on the Lower Don. Usually, at this time, anglers are pleased with several days of fighting, when the catfish willingly breaks away from the bottom upon hearing the sound of a quok. The local author knows the answer and wants you to understand simple things.

I don’t have time or much interest in surfing the Internet and reading up bits of fishing wisdom. Moreover, most fishing websites are full of meaningless or outright stolen information. This is sad.

There are rare attacks of curiosity. Below is the result of a short run through articles about catfishing. The conclusion from this is simple - you need to create thoughts in your head, not rely on a kind uncle who thinks for us (you).

The green letters are not hallucinations, these are comments from the site’s author.

1. ...catfish is a carnivorous fish.
   it eats literally every living thing... a worm, a crayfish, a rat, a bird... I have an elderly fisherman I know who claims that he personally saw a catfish drag a cow under the water at a watering hole. As soon as he drinks a glass of moonshine, he remembers it. (Tolik, cows and catfish eating girls:Link)
2. ...in a reservoir, a catfish can most often meet a worm...
   In what place in a reservoir does a catfish meet worms? Crawls ashore with a shovel? There are indeed worms at the bottom of reservoirs, which are excellent bait, but I would not argue that worms are the main food of catfish. Maybe you need to literally understand what is written and the catfish MEETS worms? Worms are not the main food item for catfish.
3. ...the lack of easily accessible food in the reservoir FORCES the catfish to eat fish...
   How to understand this phrase? I wonder what copywriter wrote such nonsense and why the site owner posted this verbal garbage on his site? What foods are “readily accessible”? Does the catfish collect pearl barley from the bottom? Both crayfish and fish can develop great speed when running away from a predator. Crayfish and fish are the main food of the catfish and it can make lightning-fast throws while hunting. I cut up a lot of catfish and ALWAYS have gobies and crayfish in their stomachs, occasionally I come across other fish and I have NEVER come across “readily accessible” pearl barley shells. In the stomachs of catfish, the shell of dreisena is often found, apparently swallowed during the hunt for gobies and crayfish. It is clear that the diet of catfish depends on the reservoir and somewhere there may be a lot of frogs and little fish and crayfish.
4. I even had to watch how 3-4-meter catfish were eaten by mayflies, accumulating fur coats on the virs.
   I don’t know what vir is, but there is nothing surprising in catfish eating mayflies.
5. Catfish feed mainly on fish, as well as crayfish, where they are found, shells, and worms.
   But most of all he loves frogs. The catfish crawls out of the hole, sneaks towards the thickets, from where the frog makes its voice, and rushes at it like lightning. Some kind of plot for a horror movie. I’m trying to imagine “a catfish sneaking through the thickets.” It’s interesting to know how catfish “crawl out of holes.” If a catfish can THROW LIGHTNING on frogs, then why does it have difficulty hunting fish and crayfish? What is true is that FISH and CRASH are the MAIN food for catfish. Naturally, you need to make allowances for the reservoir, somewhere the catfish is forced to choke on frogs

Mole cricket for catfish

-Have you stuffed the dogs? - Yes, I filled a little, about 50. I didn’t even fill my pencil case. Can you imagine what people think when they hear such a dialogue among fishermen?

Photo source: macroid.ru.

Photo source: macroid.ru.

MEDDVEDKA - the best bait for catfish

in summer time. You can find how to catch mole crickets on the Internet. I don’t want to fill the site with someone else’s information. I’d rather tell you and show you how to store the mole cricket and place it on hooks.

Medvedka can be salted and frozen. You need to freeze so that the bears do not touch each other. Otherwise they will stick together into an unsightly lump. Salt directly at the extraction site in a very strong salt solution poured into a plastic bottle. Keep away from the sun! It stinks VERY strongly. Somu likes this stench.

If there is a need to store mole crickets for more than two days, spacious containers with sawdust are used. The difficulty is that mole crickets are very active and eat and drink a lot of water. They kill each other with their powerful claws. They need to be fed with cucumbers, potato peelings, watermelon peels, etc. The mole crickets deftly bury their food and crunch very hard when they eat it.

Read horror stories about bears from the Internet:

1. Medvedka is a terribly scary monster.
   There is nothing creepy about the bear. This is a common insect.
2. Real somyatniks impale a mole cricket with gloves and tweezers!
   Complete nonsense. Well, sometimes it stings, so what? Catch them by the backs, and when setting the hook, pinch the bear’s paws with your thumb and forefinger.
3. Judging by its underdeveloped wings, the mole cricket once flew.
   How can they not fly? Mole crickets fly very well, so the container with them must be covered with a lid. Mole crickets fly at night and move quickly to areas convenient for them.
4. The mole cricket has a sting on its tail with which it stings.
   Utter nonsense. It seems the bear goes to the toilet from there or not? Conduct observations and scientific experiments

How to plant a mole cricket.

How to attach a mole cricket:

1. The most important and funniest thing: when collecting, storing and mounting the mole cricket, gloves and tweezers are not used. If this goes on, then you will be using tweezers to plant maggots. The mole cricket is not poisonous - it's just an insect.
2. They say that mole crickets pinch. I have not experienced this, although sometimes I grab them at random, but this rarely happens. I usually take it from the back, pressing the “claws” to the body.

Naturally, the method of hooking depends on the size of the mole cricket, the size and shape of the hook, and the attachment put on the hook along with the mole cricket. Some people recommend baiting the mole cricket from the tail. In my opinion, this is incorrect if you plant one insect. The catfish sucks the back, fleshy part and does not like the head, which is understandable. Therefore, it is precisely the “ass” that needs to be slipped under his nose. He has the right to life and the opposite opinion. If you attach the mole cricket with its head to the sting of the hook, the catfish will try to reach the back of the mole cricket and will quickly swallow the tasteless, bony head. Try it, experiment yourself.

So, if one insect is hooked, the middle of the skull or “muzzle” is pierced between the small legs, the hook is passed under the skin and brought out somewhere behind. If you are hooking a pair of mole crickets, you can attach the first one from the tail, and the second one from the head - this way the fleshy “butts” will stick out from both sides of the hook.

I don’t tear off the paws and don’t tie the mole cricket by its “claws” to the hook, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. You need to navigate the situation - the strength of the current, the ground, the strength of the bite, etc.

Usually, the finch of the hook is brought out. It seems that the catfish is not very afraid of spicy food, having become accustomed to eating whole crayfish.

Of course, there is a lot of room for fantasies about “how to more effectively torture a mole cricket,” for example, you can stick it just behind the head, trying to prolong the agony of the unfortunate insect.

Separately, it is worth mentioning about planting cabbage on tees. In this case, try piercing the base of the skull from the tail side and tying it to the shank of the hook. If you leave the cabbage hanging under the hook, the catfish will tear off its fleshy “tail.” It is convenient to attach shells or worms to the tees.

Threads are used to tie mole crickets to a hook, but it is more convenient to use elastic bands. Both cut pipettes and knocked-out rings of the required sizes from baby nipples are suitable for this (suitable rubber is used there). Do what suits YOU, find what you like. By the way, it seems that suitable small rubber rings can be found in “carp” fishing stores.

Keep in mind that when fishing with donkeys, the bite may look like light touches even for “decent” catfish. Skip the “approach” and you will be left with the mole cricket skull on the hook. That is, after several pinches, a tug or loosening of the fishing line may follow, depending on the direction of movement of the catfish. At this moment you need to hook. Therefore, when I often fish with donkeys, I hold the vein in my hands so that I can feel the slightest touch of the catfish.

Although there are fishermen who advocate fishing only with shells (there is a huge laugh at this point) and even ridicule “garlands” - the latter are used by fishermen. Various kinds of caterpillars are tied above the hook. What does it look like? There will be photos here.

Catching catfish on a shell

Photo source: wikipedia.org.

Contrary to popular belief, shell is not the best bait for catfish. One cannot but agree that the shell is the most common bait and is easy to get. There are more shells, there are fewer shells, but they literally lie under your feet.

There is an opinion that the shell is a common dish for catfish. Numerous autopsies show that the stomachs of catfish always contain crayfish and fish. Mostly bulls. The shells are caught by chance and this is... a small dracena, apparently captured by the catfish by chance along with the gobies. I wonder what is most in the stomachs of catfish in the Lower Volga and other reservoirs?

For “thinking”: For you personally, what is your usual and daily food? Maybe quite boring. So the catfish prefers something tasty that rarely gets into the water. Especially during periods of passivity.

It is convenient to place the shell on tees and double hooks on a short homemade leash or tied in a row on a braided line, for those who fish with rods and reels. It is necessary to plant the pearl barley loosely, so that all the insides “float” in the water. To do this, it is necessary to remove from the shell everything that is inside, and not just the hard part of the shell.

Rhinoceros beetle larva

Photo source: macroid.ru.

Photo source: macroid.ru.

Do you call garden strawberries strawberries and any four-wheel drive vehicle a jeep? Strawberries reproduce with tendrils and spread along the ground; strawberries can be up to half a meter in height and are propagated by dividing the bushes. These are different plants! You have never seen strawberries, you will not see them, you will not taste them. Jeep (JEEP) is a brand of car manufactured in the USA, and any other four-wheel drive vehicles have nothing to do with a real jeep. So it is with the cockchafer and its larva. Fishermen and gardeners stubbornly call the May beetle the bronze beetle.

This is not a cockchafer. This is a golden bronze:

Golden bronze larva:

The green beetle called MAY is actually called GOLDEN BRONZE. The real CATH BUGLE is brown in color and very inconspicuous in appearance. I have known this since early childhood, as I am associated with gardens and vegetable gardens.

To catch catfish, the larvae of the RHINO BEETLE are used, which are huge in size - up to ten centimeters in length. The larvae of the golden bronze beetle, mistakenly called the cockchafer, are smaller in size, but outwardly similar to the larvae of the rhinoceros beetle. Apparently, because of this similarity, confusion arose.

Rhinoceros beetle:

Rhinoceros beetle larva:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

• Chafer.

This is what a cockchafer looks like:

Photo source: macroid.ru.

This May beetle is so cute in a professional photograph, in ordinary life, while digging up a garden or when getting bait for fishing, it is completely inconspicuous and invisible against the background of the ground.

This is the larva of the cockchafer:

Photo source: macroid.ru.

• Golden bronze.

This is what golden bronze looks like:

Photo source: macroid.ru.

Golden bronze larva:

Photo source: macroid.ru.

Fishermen of the Lower Don call the rhinoceros beetle larva GRABAC. In Ukraine, on the Volga, it seems, they call it an oil seal. I can not say exactly.

I have been digging hornbeetles for many years and always find dead or half-dead rhinoceros beetles near clusters of their larvae. What is natural - where should parents be, if not close to their children? Only once I came across a large accumulation of golden bronze larvae, which for some reason is called the May beetle. I came across the nest completely by accident - I was disappointed to find a grabber around the old silage pit and just walked along the grass and poked it with a pitchfork wherever necessary. That’s how I ended up on a large accumulation of bronze fly larvae. Why did I decide that these were larvae of the bronze beetle, and not a rhinoceros beetle or another beetle of the same family? It’s very simple - along with the larvae there were also their parents. There were a lot of dead beetles and a lot of larvae, but most of them were no more than two centimeters long and were not suitable as bait for catching catfish. I collected a few of the larger larvae and covered the rest with earth.

Why are beetles always half-dead or half-dead? The fact is that the life of rhinoceros beetles is very short - only a few days during which the beetles must find both a mate and a suitable place to procreate. Unlike their parents, the larvae live for several years until they turn into beetles.

The rhinoceros beetle larva is placed on the hook by piercing it under the head or tied above the hook. It is better to tie above the hook, since catfish that are pinned under the head are often torn off. The larvae are stored in spacious containers in old manure, in sawdust, where you dig and collect soil. They live in captivity for a long time in a spacious container and low temperature in a cellar, for example, or in a hatch well. They don’t like a lot of dampness, so you have to be careful with water, but sawdust and shavings are very welcome. I once found a lot of large rhinoceros beetle larvae in the waste of a furniture factory and spent several seasons collecting as many of them as I wanted. Take a closer look at the elevators. They settle in seeds.

The larva of a rhinoceros beetle (“grabak”) is the best bait for catfish, next (and together) to the mole cricket. The bark beetle, as we have already learned, is more of an addition to the main bait than an independent bait.

Video about rhinoceros beetle larvae that were sitting in a compost heap and waiting for me to get them out of there so that I could go catch catfish with a quok.

Techniques and tactics for catching catfish

To begin with, you should learn how to properly place a worm (crawl) on a hook. The main task is to disguise the hook as much as possible. For this purpose, a whole bunch of worms is placed on the hook. Moreover, such a bunch of moving worms will not leave a hungry catfish unattended. As a rule, from 2 to 4 huge worms (crawlers), pierced on all sides by the hook, are attached to the hook. At the same time, the hook must be securely hidden under the thickness of the bait. The catfish, before swallowing a tasty bunch of worms, will want to taste it. If, absolutely by accident, he gets stuck on the point of the hook, he will immediately refuse the bait.

If you throw a hook with one crawl, it is unlikely to interest the catfish, but it can interest other representatives of the underwater world, such as carp, tench, crucian carp, roach and others. In any case, fishing will be useful.

Correct creep attachment - video

hair crawler attachment

Where to look for catfish

You can catch a catfish, or you may not catch it if you throw the tackle wherever you look. In this case, you will have to wait a long time for a bite and leave fishing in vain. The first task is to find a promising place for fishing. The bait should be placed exactly in the place where the catfish is located. Catfish prefer to be in holes, and the deeper they are, the better for it. Therefore, you need to look for holes, pools and other deep-sea points. On a river, especially a winding one, it is easy to find catfish in the area of ​​cliffs, where there is always a deep-water place. If aquatic vegetation is observed near a deep place, then this is certainly a catfish place.

In the daytime, the catfish tries to hide from direct sunlight, therefore, it may choose a place in the thickets of reeds or reeds. He will be happy to stop at a section of the water area that is closed by trees hanging over the water. If he does not have such an opportunity, then he simply moves to the depths and remains there until dark.

Under cover of night, the catfish leaves the pits and goes in search of food. At the same time, he does not like to go far from his favorite place. The catfish does not chase potential prey, but waits for it to swim to it. He prefers to be on his territory. If they are not large in size, there may be several individuals in one shelter.

If you carefully examine the surface of the water, you can easily determine the location of the catfish, especially during a thunderstorm. Since catfish hunt at night, it's worth listening to find out where they are. By these signs you can determine that the catfish is in its territory.

The best periods for catching catfish

Catfish is a nocturnal predator, so you will have to catch it at night. But the fishing spot should always be prepared, and for this, it is advisable to arrive at the fishing spot much earlier. After all, it is necessary to prepare the gear, set up the tent, set up the camp, and only after that should the gear be cast. The first bites are recorded before sunset, but, as a rule, it is young animals who bite. Larger specimens go hunting after sunset. You can catch catfish until the morning and up to 9 o’clock, after which the relevance of fishing is reduced to zero and you can reel in your fishing rods.

The effectiveness of night fishing can be significantly increased if you throw several donks. Basically, 4-5 tackles are thrown, after which bites are expected. As a rule, one of the fishing rods starts to bite, and all the others are either idle or they catch completely different fish.

A large catfish takes the bait and tries to go for cover. At the same time, the bite alarm is triggered. Under certain conditions, its resistance can puzzle even an experienced fisherman. He offers significant resistance. Sometimes it is simply impossible for one fisherman to cope with his resistance, and fishing turns into a duel between the catfish and the fisherman.

Night fishing for catfish is a fascinating type of fishing, which involves one of the types of outdoor recreation. As a rule, fishermen combine business with pleasure and do not forget to try barbecue in nature. In between bites, you have the opportunity to simply lie down or chat on any topic.

Catching catfish is not only an interesting event, but also quite dangerous. This is especially true if fishing is done from a boat. If you catch catfish from a boat, it is almost impossible to cope with a large specimen alone. Moreover, a catfish can easily turn over a boat, and with it a fisherman. Considering the fact that fishing is carried out at night, it is very difficult to navigate in such conditions. Therefore, the result can be very disastrous.

Artificial baits for spinning fishing

In addition to animal baits, bait for catching catfish can be of artificial origin.

Important! Large deep-sea imitators with active play, creating strong vibration waves and sound effects, perform well in preying on the mustachioed predator.

Colors often play a secondary role, since the color schemes of baits at depths are hardly noticeable to fish, which are not particularly vigilant. Regarding spinning fishing methods, it is worth noting that hunting for catfish is promising using the trolling method, jig and casting. In this case, powerful and reliable fishing equipment is used, capable of withstanding a couple of hours of struggle with huge fish that actively resist when caught.

Wobbler

One of the best types of artificial baits today are wobblers. Manufacturers have developed a number of model lines of deep-sea wobblers specifically designed for trolling catfish fishing. These are deep-sea fats and shads that have factory settings for low-frequency play with noise chambers built into their bodies, which are filled with metal balls. These balls not only create sounds that are attractive to catfish, but also balance the bait, making the stroke uniform in frequency and stable during its retrieval, and also, when casting is necessary, long-distance delivery.

Wobblers are equipped with a powerful and large shovel, sometimes with a lead load in its front part. The mass of such a tool exceeds 20 grams with a length of 12–15 cm, and the depth parameters can reach tens of meters. In shallow waters, spinning anglers use large wobblers such as minnows or cranks, capable of going 2.5-3 meters deep.

Silicone

You definitely won’t need bait for catfish if you find the predator’s parking areas and make spinning wires using large silicone. Solid catfish are great for jigging using twisters and vibrating tails loaded with stationary jig heads with a massive and durable hook. For this type of fishing, large silicone baits with a length of 12 cm and above are chosen, loaded with masses capable of delivering the bait to the bottom as quickly as possible.

For passive biting, they switch to using edible silicone, reducing the size of the bait. Color, just like when choosing a wobbler, is not a decisive factor in success; to a greater extent, the fish are lured by the blows of the jig on the bottom and the vibrations from the dotted movement applied to the parking area of ​​the simulator predator.

Spoon

Oscillating spoons are considered a promising bait for catfish, especially in summer. Heavy and massive lures in the form of a classic spoon shape are suitable for fishing for mustache. Good indicators in terms of the number of bites are shown by double spinners, which, when retrieved, produce a peculiar metallic clattering sound that provokes the predator. The color design uses dull silver and copper colors of the instrument. Slowly moving the spoon with stops near the very bottom rarely activates the nearby catfish. In shallow waters, up to three meters deep, the use of large rotating spoons is justified at night. The fifth number of Mepps classic spinners and similar variants of spinners from other brands will be in demand in the arsenal of the spinner, without being an extra, over time having caught trophies in the standings.