I had to grab a half-dozen cattail heads on the way home from the River yesterday for an upcoming channel cat trip. This will be just the 3rd forktail trip this year. Most clients want to chase walleyes, pike ,pannies or bass.

The best trips are those when folks are willing to go after what the River feels like giving up. Channel cats are almost never mentioned even though their willingness to bite approaches ‘sure thing’ status anytime water temp is above 67 degrees.

I use almost exclusively dipbait for channel cats, mentored many years ago by dipbait making legends Clarence ‘Sonny” Hootman and Ron Geary.

Both these legends approach bait making from very diverse perspectives. The only common denominator is whey & waste cheese for the base.

Essentially there are two kinds of dipbait :cheese or blood. My stuff is blood based. There is a six gallon bucket out in the pole barn that I’ve added to over the past dozen years or so as it became depleted.

The initial batch had turtle livers. Later I added fresh, bloody afterbirth from a neighbor’s calf. When my daughters were born decades ago I tried to get placentas. The MDs & my wife wouldn’t allow it. This inspration came from the late, great Toad smith. Legend hold that he caught a cat once using a piece of his own heart.

Stuff that’s in the bucket now has about a quart of my own blood collected prior to gall bladder surgery a couple years ago. this bait rocks!

Soybean oil is part of the base, too. Commercial fishers have used soybean oil and soybean cake as trap bait almost forever.
Th current batch also includes several cups of River flies and about a dozen ground up willowcats.

I added a little too much soybean oil when replenishing the bucket last week. Dipbait can be thickened with corn starch, but cattail fuzz is much better.

The ideal dipbait consistency is like a very thick milkshake. This allows the bait to drip off the dipbait worm slowly when you place it up current from catfish habitat–generally deadfalls resting in 5-9 fow with a moderate current and sand bottom. Fish location in this cover is driven by time of day, light penetration and river stage–rising or falling.

If the bait is too runny it tends to fly all over the boat and those who occupy it. Cattail fuzz mitigates funky dispersion.

When a cat eats what remains on the dipbait worm, you need to re-bait. Oil & water don’t mix. The worm needs to be blotted dry with a paper towel before bait is applied. Once re-baited the worm should hang over the side of the boat for a minutes to allow the bait to adhere even better to the worm.

All this information is common knowledge to bona fide River Rats. It is blogged here for those who color between the lines of polite society.

Dipbait is NOT for human consumption. It should NOT be used for practical jokes like saring a little dab on a motel room doorknob or door handle of a shiny car.

Not that i’ve ever done that. But believe me, the look on the victim’s face is priceless!