Catfish get their name from their whiskers.  There is no better fish to target for people who are new to fishing.  Catfish are aggressive feeders, they put up a great fight, they survive out of the water for photos and removing hooks, and they are delicious if you choose to take them home.  Catching a catfish is as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Spot:  You need to find a lake or river that has catfish.  Check out our local area guides for great places to catch catfish near you.
2. Bait:  Catfish will eat almost anything.  The worse the bait smells, the better it will work.  Slices of hot dogs make good bait, but old smelly hot dogs work better.  Berkley’s Power Bait catfish bait is specially designed to attract catfish, while staying on your hook.
3. Hook: Good catfish bait has the consistency of dough, which makes it difficult to stay on the hook.  Specialized catfish bait hooks are best because they hold the bait on the hook.  The key is to hold the bait on the hook, which means catfishing requires patience.  You must cast or drop the bait and let it settle on the bottom.  Do not reel in your line to a different location or let a drifting boat pull your bait along the bottom, because this will likely cause the bait to fall off.  Just get the bait to the bottom and let it wait for the catfish.