Catfish Bait on toledo
 

Decided to bring some jugs with me to Toledo bend this weekend. What do y'all prefer for catfish bait? Heard there's some pretty good gar up there too, may try for some of those as well

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If you catch a big carp cut that up. That is the number one IMO. Shad is a close second. Followed by bream. If you are fishing for eaters with rod and reel those little channels love cold night crawlers.

Bream. We catfish Toledo a lot and nothing out fishes bream for big catfish. If you're looking to catch blues cut bream works very good. Also there is a bait shop on 191 north of Toledo tackle that sells live river shiners and they work great also. And also like said shad works well too if you can find em. Stay away from gold fish

A big German carp cut up is hard to beat. Stays on hook forever is bloody as hell and stinks. I have always found shad to be the best for blues and live bream for opps its all personal preference and bait accessibility ( Whatever you can get your hands on ) but you can't go wrong with any kind of fish. Them gars love some a scaled up bream too.

Hmmmm, cool deal. I know jugs have to be labeled, but do trotlines have to be labeled as well? What all goes on the label? I've never set out jugs or trotlines before, and tried to look in the regs, but I must be missing it.

Do you have any tips on what type of areas to target for the opps. I've used live bait before but haven't caught anything on them.

Opps love cover like laid down logs and stumps along creek channels and sharp cut banks any where they can lay up under stuff and ambush bait. They are predators like bass. Blues tend to scavenge but both are opportunistic and will eat whatever they can catch but opps love live stuff. They seem to rather a small goggle eye than bream but I'm sure it doesn't matter. I wouldn't mess with labeling a Trot line. Other people will find it. Take a trot line and run it along a creek channel that's lined with stumps and you should catch a few opps. What kind of jugs you running ? Free Float or weighted ?

We set out trot lines. I never labeled em. Never seen one labeled over there before and I've fished catfish out there a lot of years.

We usually like to fish on the drop off of a creek or on the outer edge of a hump. Have caught many big ops (40-80#) seems they come up and circle those humps for prey. I've noticed that blue gill seem to be the favorite but that's just my personal experience some may do better with different species of bream but for me it seems there something about a big blue gill that the ops love.

Have never seen jugs labeled before. I think YoYos do.

Last time was at Toledo ( early spring ) they had a bunch of jugs around labeled with name and phone numbers. Didn't know it was a regulation though.

I didn't know it was regulation either. I know they have to be labeled in the refuges

What's the regs on trotlines? Length, hooks, distance between hooks? Thinkin I may run a trotline or 2 as well.

All I know is 3' between hooks

Catfish Expert at Toledo!
 

I have caught hundreds of catfish on Trotlines at the bend!! Live bream is the best for big catfish! Hands down! If you want to catch a bunch of them and not to worry about the size use beef liver.. It stays on hook very well since it is a tougher piece of meat opposed to chicken liver.. You will catch more on beef liver than you will on any other bait.. Trust me I have tried them all!