MyFishFinder Forum
MyFishFinder By Species => Bullhead => Topic started by: Busby on Jul 19, 2004, 03:08 PM
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I have never fished for them or any kind of catfish. I need to know a few things.
How deep should I fish?
What time is good?
And where is the stinger on them?
Any info would be a great help. Thanks.
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I am not a pro, and I hope others answer you but Spring is best, and the only time I will keep them as they get sick tasting in the summer. They get them from shore a lot in the Finger lakes NY in the spring. Also catfish don't have a stinger, they have horn like fins on the sides right below the gills and the dorsal fin. the "sting" is actually a puncture type of a wound that burns. Poke yourself with a crabapple thorn to demonstrate. Same idea. If you don't alow it to poke you the are safe.
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You should fish off the bottom with nightcrawlers and the best time to fish for them is in the dark hours the rest is up to you ;)
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The best thing that works for me is Catfish Bait flavored BLOOD. I fish for them at night with a nice big light.. ;D
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bulls bite for the most part after dark but can be caught during the day. as for bait , anything smelly or stinky like chicken livers,cut fish like shiners and even prepared baits that come processed. the bulls are usually caught on bottom. some people use a sliprig for them but the over all favorite is 1 or 2 hooks with a heavy sinker under the hooks. alot of people ive seen use a bobber for a strike indicator. bullhead fishing is fun and the rewards are delicious meals if cooked right and sometime fast action.
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A lite pole with a small hook is key. Nite crawlers for bull heads.
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A lite pole with a small hook is key. Nite crawlers for bull heads.
I will put leetches up against your worms anyday of the week.
As for the pole go with a medium to heavy.
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Bullheads are a fun fish!
are you fishing rivers or lakes? The best bite seems to be spring; from now to late may.
In rivers; you want to find slack water with cover and structure... Not particular shallow, but they don't go for those deep rocky holes.
In lakes/ponds; look for some cover and shallow water with access to deeper water, but now steep banks or anything. I used to fish near stream mouths, but the size of my bullhead has increased as I focused on other spots. in a big lake, look up into the coves for shallow points and structure.
as for myself, I love bullheading in a mid-sized river. grab a latern, worms and liver. my bait 'recipe'. little bit of liver and a worm on a treble hook.
PS. just tried for em last night. Haven't caught them yet, but the time is SOON I just know it.
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Guys you're killing me!!! I want the "games" to begin !! We are to receive a couple of days of rain this week---I'm thinking this might be turning them on. Good fishing and sent reports. Gunner
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Night time on a sand or gravel bar, not too deep, not too shallow. Use a lighted or glow slip bobber rigged with a size 1/0 hook hung about 6 or 8 inches off of the bottom. find slack water if you are not fishing a lake. Use bait like you would use for crappie, worms leeches, small minnows, bugs, or anything else.
Stay away from rotten stuff, they don't like it.
The best bullhead lakes seem to have clear water and sandy or gravely structure in them.
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Stay away from rotten stuff, they don't like it.
I disagree but, If you want to catch a Bull head, nothing beats a Nite Crawler on the bottom. Your right about 6 Ft' is a good place to start. I got one tonite on a crawler on the bottom.
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You guys don't believe me, no one believes me! Bloody, greasy, gooey, is good! Rotten is bad!
This holds true for channel cats too. Next time you go fishing with a friend, you fish fresh stuff and have your partner fish rot. You will out catch him 2 to 1. You wont smell nearly as bad at the end of the night either. ;)
The one exception is dip bait, it smells awful, but it isn't rotten. Cut up sucker will outfish dip bait most of the time though. The only time I have done well with dip bait is in heavy current in warm water.
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I met an old timer coming off the slang one day at 9:00 in the morning. He was puttting his jon boat in the truck and he had two 7 gal pails of bullhead. I asked if he had been out all night and he said no. he had only been out a few hours. So I asked howed you catch so many fish. He then told me too take my canoe and pull into the fingers of the swamp and get this hit the side of the boat with my paddle.I asked if he was kidding and he said you'll see. I pulled into the first finger hit the side of the boat.... nothing . next finger same thing. Figured he was messing with me. Next finger hit the boat and the exploded with bull head, hundreds. hit the boat again and same thing. threw the anchor and killed them.could not believe it, been doing every since.
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Ill try anything. You may be right, I dont care if its bait its in the water.
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They use a tool called a clonk in Europe to call wells catfish in. It kinda looks like a dipsey with a long handle, they plunge it into the water to create a loud "glurp". This sound carries through the water and the fish come to investigate. As bullheads are also members of the catfish family, Id bet you are on to something! I will give it a try next time I am after channels on the upper Mississippi. :thumbup_smilie:
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It is really quite something to see. Reminds of Parana feeding on a deer or something.
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I usually have better luck using shrimp than nightcrawlers.
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Shrimp is expensive use craw dad tails. ;)
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hook 2 or3 small to medium shiners right through the middle got outfished at least 2-1 with this set up and I was using crawlers same spot. Cut up dace or shad (fresh) work well also. We used to tie a can of cat food or tuna to a rope and punch some holes to a rope and throw where we intended to fish seemed to work . Have seen people throw dogfood in the water to chum and keep them around. I am just learning the area I am in but have found a couple of good looking spots and watched others catch them back to back right in the middle of the day while I was fishing for steelies.
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I know of an old guty who feeds catfish dogfood in a small lake.