I'm hoping someone can help me out. I am a bass angler but I'm wondering what is the best bait to use on a small pond I fish. Normally when I catfish in bigger lakes I use Magic Bait Chicken Liver or Chicken Blood. This has worked great for me, however at the pond I fish, I can't get bit using it (I know there are cats in the pond because I caught one accidentally on a spinner bait). Any suggestions on what else I should try. FYI the pond is stained/muddy. Not sure if that matters for cats.

-Raw shell-off shrimp

-Chicken breast

-cut bait

-ivory soap

-live bluegill

Also I suggest pouring a packet of strawberry or cherry kool-aid into the bag of chicken and shake the bag to evenly coat it.

Chicken Livers wrapped in a small piece of panty hose wrapped around it works great too. The panty hose keeps the liver from being picked at, the cat has to take the whole piece! All of Horny Toads suggestions will work also, but I use the liver probably 90% of the time... I should go cat fishin' tonight, I haven't done that in years!

I NEVER use chicken liver anymore. I like either frozen raw whole shrimp or even better, frozen squid. Make sure to thaw the bait before using. I get the squid at asian supermarkets. Caught my largest channel in February on squid. For flatheads I use only live bluegill. My terminal rigs are basically Carolina rigs. Oh, squid heads with the tentacles make GREAT jig trailers for bass fishing.

i just started catfishing at smith mountain lake with chicken livers, but i have a friend who fishes small ponds back here in md and he says he just  uses nightcrawlers and catches them all day. nightcrawlers with a LIGHT splitshot weight.

In addition to the above suggestions, try this one. While you have a rod setup that is drowning worms, try casting a Rattletrap. The rattle really helps them locate it, and the semi-slow retrieve allows them to catch it. I would also trade the trebles out for some regular hooks. A catfish with a mouthful of trebles can be a pain to release. You have already caught them on a spinnerbait, that proves the fish in that pond will chase a lure. ;D