I’ve caught a wide variety of fish using worms, including walleye, trout, bass, bluegill and catfish. I’ve found, though, that nightcrawlers work best for walleye and bass, while smaller worms — red worms and leaf worms — are great for for panfish like bluegill and perch.

The best types of fishing worms we will be looking at are:

• Nightcrawlers.
• Mealworms.
• Red Wigglers.
• Leeches.
• Waxworms.
• Bloodworms.
• Butterworms.

Worms are very good at catching bullheads, catfish, trout, sunfish, bluegills, walleye, rock bass, striped bass, and crappie. Worms and nightcrawlers are some of the best fishing baits that work universally well for most species of small and medium-sized gamefish.

Live (or natural) baits are anything alive or previously alive that you use to catch fish. Some of the best freshwater fishing bait include worms, leeches, minnows, crayfish, crickets and grasshoppers. Select good saltwater baits including sea worms, eels, crabs, shrimp, strips of squid, and cut-up pieces of fish.

Hot dogs are a common food taken along on fishing excursions and double as excellent catfish bait. Points to remember when using hot dogs as catfish bait include: Cheaper hot dogs seem to catch more fish. Catfish will find the baits.

10 Best Catfish Bait – Both Live and Artificial

1. Chicken Livers. Chicken livers are traditionally the best way to catch catfish if you’re fishing in deeper waters.
2. Asian Carp.
3. Crawfish.
4. Nightcrawlers.
5. Stink Bait.
6. Punch Bait.
7. Blood Bait.
8. Shrimp.

The best time to fish for channel catfish Still, the best time is from late spring, before spawn, when they feed aggressively, until fall, when temperatures drop. When asking what is the best time to fish for channel catfish, we see the answer is similar to the answer for most common catfish species.

The best times to fish are when the fish are naturally most active. The Sun, Moon, tides, and weather all influence fish activity. For example, fish tend to feed more at sunrise and sunset, and also during a full moon (when tides are higher than average).

Best Times to Fish

• Early Morning. 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
• Late Morning to Afternoon. 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Afternoon to Dusk. 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.