How to Keep Catfish Bait Alive

Crayfish, as well as small fish and worms, make excellent catfish bait.

Catfish are one of the most plentiful species throughout the Southern United States. Often weighing in excess of 15 pounds and valued for their sweet, edible flesh, fishing for catfish remains a popular activity. Catfish can be caught with a variety of bait, although live bait is most attractive to catfish. Keeping bait alive can be a bit of a challenge, but ending the day with a boatload of freshly caught catfish is well worth the effort.

Things You'll Need

• 5-gallon bucket
• Portable aerator
• Duct tape
• Bait, such as minnows, crayfish or worms
• Cooler
• Ice
• Rigged fishing pole

Instructions

1. Start with healthy bait. If your bait is already sick or otherwise compromised, there is a higher risk of ending up with dead bait when you reach your fishing spot. Look for bait that is lively and active when purchasing your bait from the bait shop or when harvesting it from the wild. Catfish enjoy small fish such as minnows, as well as crayfish and worms, so any of them will make an acceptable bait.

2. Fill a five-gallon bucket with water and place a portable aerator in the bucket, securing it to the side with a few strips of duct tape. A portable aerator runs on battery power and consists of a mechanical pump and plastic tubing that pumps air into the bucket. The air helps add new oxygen to the water and removes carbon dioxide, helping to extend the life of your bait.

3. Add your bait to the bucket and place the bucket in a secure spot with enough sun to help keep the water as close to a natural water temperature as possible. Minnows and crayfish both prefer temperate water, so if the water feels cool to the touch, place it in full sunlight to allow it to warm up. If it feels too warm, cover the bucket with a blanket or place it in the shade so it cools down.

4. Fill a cooler with ice and place your bait container in the cooler if you are using worms. Worms from a bait shop will be packed in a small plastic or foam container filled with damp earth that will help keep the worms alive as long as they do not get too hot. Set the worms in the cooler and cover with a few handfuls of ice to prevent them from overheating.

5. Hook your bait carefully to prevent it from dying before casting your pole. Pass the hook through the lower lip of minnows to allow them to swim as normally as possible to attract catfish. If using crayfish, run the hook through the tail, starting at the end and exiting at the base of the shell. Worms can be threaded onto the hook by running it through the body three or four times, leaving the tail free to attract fish.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to handle your bait gently. Rough handling can throw your bait into shock and cause death before you catch any catfish.

• Don't allow children to hook bait unsupervised. Hooks are very sharp and can cause serious injuries if used without careful observation.

References

• CatfishED.com: Catfish Baits
• Southern Charm: Keeping Bait Alive
• Take Me Fishing: How to Hook Bait