>>5608171. Channel cats will bite at any time of the year. Flatheads are harder to catch in middle of winter and Blues are harder to catch in the middle of summer after they've spawned.
September is a great time to catch all species of catfish.
2. For channel cats I use stinkbait, I've tried many and have had the best luck with CJ's catfish punch bait in either Shad or Monster flavors. Nightcrawlers, smaller pieces of cut bait, shrimp, and lots of other stuff will also work.
For blue cats you'll want to use fresh caught live or cut bait (shad, bluegill, etc.) Smaller blues can be caught on stinkbait but the bigger ones are more predatory and will seek out live or freshly killed fish.
For flathead cats you'll want to use fresh caught live bait only (shad, bluegill, etc.) Flathead cats are almost exclusively predatory fish and are generally only caught using live fish.
I've been doing a LOT of catfishing in the last couple of months or so, this pic is from 3 hours of fishing one night last week.
