Buy Killer Catfishing Bait at the Grocery Store and Forget Nasty Catfish Chum

There's no need to make a extra trip to the bait shop or punish your nose with the smell of catfish chum! Unless, of course, you just want to stop by and see how ol' Fred's doin'. When you're in the grocery store to stock up on beer and cheese for your catfish outing, grab some bait while you're at it.

For starters, pick up some Spam. That's right, the canned meat that gave junk e-mail a bad name. You've probably heard of this as an productive catfish bait. Just cut it into cubes. This is how Charles Ashley, Jr. Of Arkansas caught his record-breaking 116-pound blue cat in 2001. His grandfather and father used it, and he had no idea people used anyone else to catch catfish. His record-breaking catch caused a Spam shortage in east Arkansas and west Tennessee for a few months.

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Next, make a trip to the seafood department. Get some fresh or frosty shrimp. Channel cats, blue cats and flatheads up to about 10 pounds love 'em. To put shrimp on the hook, start head first and leave the tip of the hook sticking out of the shrimp's tail.

While you're there, see if they have any squid. Non-cleaned is best. Use half a squid per hook. This is a good bait to use in winter, when it's difficult to find live bait. Smoked salmon and salmon eggs are effective, too.

When you're in the meat department, pick up some bacon, chicken livers, pork chops, hot dogs, bologna and salami. Hickory smoked bacon works best. Hot dogs are also quite tasty to catfish. But they like turkey or chicken hot dogs best--not your usual beef hot dogs. Some anglers use raw ground beef meatballs. I prefer to use fresh meats, as opposed to rotting catfish chum.

Pick up some extra cheese just for the catfish. They'll love you for it. You might try a smelly cheese such as Limburger. But even plain ol' Velveeta, American or sharp cheddar works well, too.

Don't forget to pick up some bread. You'll want to get white bread. Remember when you were a kid and you'd tear off the crust and roll the town in a dough ball and eat it? Catfish like those white bread dough balls, too! Some anglers have caught great cats by rolling an whole loaf into a giant dough ball. Of procedure no meal would be perfect without vegetables. Even catfish eat their veggies--corn and peas, to be exact.

And be sure to make a trip down the pet food aisle. Catfish will gobble dog food. Rumor has it the brands Tender Chunks and Kibbles -n- Bits work best. Your best companion Spot might get jealous, though! And cat food will attract catfish, too. Just get the cheap canned type.

And grab some Ivory soap. No, not for cleaning off that fishy smell after you get home, for the fish! No kidding. Just bait your trotline with chunks of it or thread smaller pieces on your hook. The trick about Ivory's effectiveness is that it's pure--no perfumes or chemicals.

When you arrive at the checkout lane, be sure to grab a incorporate packages of bubble gum. Bubble Yum, double Bubble and Bazooka have caught catfish. If you buy old-fashioned Bazooka, you can enjoy the comic, too! Chew the gum just a itsybitsy to soften it for attaching to your hook--but don't suck out all the flavor! The cashier will probably never guess that you're going fishing! Your spouse will also appreciate that you don't come home smelling like nasty catfish chum.

Buy Killer Catfishing Bait at the Grocery Store and Forget Nasty Catfish Chum

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