Private Pond Catfish methods

Hey, I am on the central coast of california and fishing a private pond, the pond has lots of bluegill, a few bass, and some cats. I'm a relatively young fisherman (only 20). I was wondering if you guys had any reccomendations on what baits to use, if you know hook sizes, and weight sizes/types please include that. Ive tried berkely stinkbait, and mealworms and havent had any luck. I've caught a lot of cats on nightcrawlers and hotdogs but theres no bait shops nearby that sell nightcrawlers. I've had extremely good luck in lakes in san diego county, one time me and 2 friends pulled out 50 cats in about 5 hours, nothing big but fun either way. any advice would be greatly appreciated. also, if you know how to catch baby bluegills please let me know, i havent had any luck catching the little guys.

I catch bluegills for bait. I went to bass pro bought some tiny size # 10
hooks. Wax worms are good bait for them and to use on those small hooks.You
can fish on the bottom or under a bobber and you have to yank the line when
you get a bite. They will alot of times suck it in and spit it right out.So
as soon as you see your bobber bob or pole twitch give it a little tug. You
can go dig your own red worms if you dont have a bait shop around to find
them. Even tiny pieces of shrimp will work on bluegill. Shirmp should work
good on those catfish too, get the whole raw shrimp. Might want to try some
of those little bream too, cut the head off and use the head. I use a eagle
claw 4/0 circle hook with shrimp. Good thing about the circle hooks is it
will almost always hook them in the lip and they wont swallow it. It sounds
like a big size but it is good for average eating size cats. Depending on
the size of the bream may have to use a larger one like a 7/0. I use 3oz no
roll sinkers, alot of weight but i have 8" cat claw rods and it lets me cast
far from the bank, and i fish some spots with heavy current so it keeps it
from drifting. Not sure what size rod you have but it should say the max
weight you can use on it. .



"asther00tsundo" wrote in
message m...

Hey, I am on the central coast of california and fishing a private pond,
the pond has lots of bluegill, a few bass, and some cats. I'm a
relatively young fisherman (only 20). I was wondering if you guys had
any reccomendations on what baits to use, if you know hook sizes, and
weight sizes/types please include that. Ive tried berkely stinkbait,
and mealworms and havent had any luck. I've caught a lot of cats on
nightcrawlers and hotdogs but theres no bait shops nearby that sell
nightcrawlers. I've had extremely good luck in lakes in san diego
county, one time me and 2 friends pulled out 50 cats in about 5 hours,
nothing big but fun either way. any advice would be greatly
appreciated. also, if you know how to catch baby bluegills please let
me know, i havent had any luck catching the little guys.


--
asther00tsundo

awesome, thanks a lot! are wax worms kinda like larvae(spelling)? i normally catch bluegills on mealworms pretty consistantly, im just looking for the little guys for bait. ill look into some wax worms. thanks a lot.

Not sure what wax worms are they look like maggots kinda, just a little
bigger and fater. I get them at the bait shop, $8 for 300 of them. I thread
them on the hook so nothing is dangleing that they can grab and pull on.
Think the trick to catching those little bluegill is tuging on the line as
soon as you get a nibble.


"asther00tsundo" wrote in
message m...

awesome, thanks a lot! are wax worms kinda like larvae(spelling)? i
normally catch bluegills on mealworms pretty consistantly, im just
looking for the little guys for bait. ill look into some wax worms.
thanks a lot.


--
asther00tsundo

You should try live crawfish if you can get your hands on them.They are
by far the best catfish bait.Use smaller ones for small fish and the big
ones if you're going after 20lb. plus.

I also fish a private pond much like you described and was catching cats by
accident trying to catch bluegills on grasshoppers and bugs right there at
the pond. I started taking a size 1 hook and loading it up with grasshoppers
and was catching cats left and right. Sometimes it helps to use whatever
they would normally be eating in a smaller body of water. Might want to give
that a shot.
"asther00tsundo" wrote in
message m...

Hey, I am on the central coast of california and fishing a private pond,
the pond has lots of bluegill, a few bass, and some cats. I'm a
relatively young fisherman (only 20). I was wondering if you guys had
any reccomendations on what baits to use, if you know hook sizes, and
weight sizes/types please include that. Ive tried berkely stinkbait,
and mealworms and havent had any luck. I've caught a lot of cats on
nightcrawlers and hotdogs but theres no bait shops nearby that sell
nightcrawlers. I've had extremely good luck in lakes in san diego
county, one time me and 2 friends pulled out 50 cats in about 5 hours,
nothing big but fun either way. any advice would be greatly
appreciated. also, if you know how to catch baby bluegills please let
me know, i havent had any luck catching the little guys.


--
asther00tsundo

thanks guys, i tried some macerol (spelling) a few days ago and didnt get anything, ill definitely try everything you guys mentioned though, in fact, i might go out there and do some night fishing tonight. ill keep you updated, thanks again.

use 1/4 of an anchovy tied to number 1 hooks with dental floss

R wrote:
I also fish a private pond much like you described and was catching cats by
accident trying to catch bluegills on grasshoppers and bugs right there at
the pond. I started taking a size 1 hook and loading it up with grasshoppers
and was catching cats left and right. Sometimes it helps to use whatever
they would normally be eating in a smaller body of water. Might want to give
that a shot.


Grass hoppers are really number one , when you can catch some, try to
get those too big for the bream.

I have never had a cat fish turn down a hopper

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

I also fish a private pond like you said, is the accidental catch the cat, trying to catch grasshoppers bluegills and right there in the wrong pond. I started a size 1 hook, load it with the cat to catch grasshoppers, are left and right. Sometimes it helps to use any of them will usually eat a small body of water. May want to give a shot.