hey! havent fished in about 3 years. i want to start off by maybe catch and releasing some catfish. im not looking to catch monster cats. i want to take my kids to catch those 2-5 pound catfish like channel or blue. any one know where i am almost gaurenteed to catch atleast a catfish or 2 with my children near germantown tn? (i dont want to drive more then 30 mins) 

 

im also bank fishing with blood dough with some ground beef mixed in and garlic marinated lamb meat chunks. thanks

Herb Parsons and the Mississippi River around Harbor Town and the Pyramid.

https://www.tn.gov/twra/article/herb-parsons-lake

 

thanks! do you think shrimp would work there? or lamb meat chunks how far should i be casting. give me some tips on how to fish there please. thanks

I think the best bait is shad guts.or just chunks. Someone suggested wrapping chicken livers in shad cut across the back.

 

 

Fresh cut shad, herring, or mackerel (or other oily baitfish like carp), are going to be your best options for blues and channels. There's a chance they might eat ground beef/lamb, but there's also a good chance you never hear about people using it for bait. If you do try it, it seems oily/fatty cuts of meat are best. FWIW, I once set a few trotlines in the Kansas River using pieces of venison liver and heart. They sat overnight and in the morning I was not missing a single bait. Not every the prolific softshell turtles or gar had touched it. In those same areas, if I set with shad or cut carp, I'll often have a fish before I'm even finished setting them. Moral of the story, stick to feeding them what they normally eat so you don't waste your time. 

10 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Fresh cut shad, herring, or mackerel (or other oily baitfish like carp), are going to be your best options for blues and channels.  Moral of the story, stick to feeding them what they normally eat so you don't waste your time. 

X2. 

would cut bluegill marinated in sardine oil work better then mackeral and herring 

 

whats best?

 

shrimp

squid chops

bluegill in sardine oil

mackeral

herring

 

for some 2-3 pound catfish. im not much of a huge catfish fisherman i only like to catfish small size fish since i enjoy eating them once in a while

also any herb parsons pics of fish? thanks!

18 hours ago, david123 said:

would cut bluegill marinated in sardine oil work better then mackeral and herring 

 

whats best?

 

shrimp

squid chops

bluegill in sardine oil

mackeral

herring

 

for some 2-3 pound catfish. im not much of a huge catfish fisherman i only like to catfish small size fish since i enjoy eating them once in a while

Just use fresh cut bluegill. I use it all the time for what I call "bass fishing for catfish". Most of my average fish are under 10 pounds. The put out lots of fish feeders in most of the lakes around me, it's pretty much cheating.