Get Catfish With Possum, Beef, Kidneys And Livers

My fishing friend Danny Fields had a desperate mission. He'd had to leave the catfish biting because he had no bait. Earlier in the day Fields had baited with live minnows. However, when he went to the bait shop, the owner told him he'd sold all his minnows and wouldn't get anymore until the next day.

On the way back to his fishing camp, Fields spied a possum lying dead on the side of the road. Although the possum hadn't yet begun to swell, it had a strong smell.

"I picked that possum up, put it in a plastic bag and went back to camp," Fields reported. "I skinned the possum out and cut up little chunks of the possum for catfish bait. I baited the possum on my trotline and on my rod and reel and caught the most cats I'd ever caught. Now if I see a dead possum on the side of the road when I'm driving the three hours from my home to my cabin on the river, I'll pick it up and use it for catfish bait."

Some anglers buy inexpensive pieces of out-of-date beef at the grocery store, cut it into small chunks, put the chunks in mason jars and place lids on the jars. Then they bury the jars in the ground for two to five days. Because the jars don't see sunlight or get exposed to air and/or drastic temperature changes, the beef becomes rancid but not rotten. The fishermen then dig up the jars and use the rancid beef for catfish bait.

You also can buy inexpensive beef kidneys and chicken livers for a productive catfish bait. Leave the kidneys and/or livers sitting in the sun for three to six hours before you begin to fish. As you fish, cut off small pieces of the now rancid organs into the water to call catfish.

To learn more about how anglers fish for catfish all across the country, go to Night Hawk Publications' Home Page (www.nighthawkpublications.com), and click on fishing books to see "The Masters Secrets of Catfishing."

Tomorrow: Cheese and Honey Sponge Bait, Awful-Smelling Mixture and Bad-Dip Bait