While the weather warms, trout plants subside and catfish plants increase.......... has anyone noticed bass and/or striper bites leaning more towards the catfish colors when throwing the larger swimbaits? Are there catfish swimbait imitators on the market? Or do the lunkers just dont pay attention to the catfish plants unlike the trout plants? Just a thought.. What do u guys think?

-Twoody13

i was thinkin the same exact thing, i have a old catfish pattern crank i will try a skinner during stock.

If you've ever gotten poked by one of those pecteral fin gafts you might wonder if a bass would enjoy that poisonous sting. I know I wouldn't which is why they spend summer preying on sunfish and others from the perch family which aren't so fast and don't come with a wicked stab. In reality though, anything smaller than the fish behind that big mouth is up for dinner if caught not paying attention.

We had an eight inch catfish in our tank for quite a while, and he would stay low under the rocks during the day, and then venture out a little at night. Well he must of been in there for four months or so, when one day I opened the shop and saw the head of that little cat sticking out of the mouth of our six pound bass. The only reason the bass didn't swallow him was because his barbel(spine or whatever) was sticking through the bass' gill cover. It had impaled the bass through the inside of the bass' mouth and out the side of his face. It took a few more hours for the bass to dislodge the cat, but when he did, the bass sucked him back down head first.

I can imagine that catfish stockings can benefit bag bass during the summer, and could probably improve a nighttime topwater bite as those little cats roam the surface after dark. BMC, that swimbait you bought today might be the right one to test this theory. Although it seems to me that a day bite for catfish-seeking bass might be better explored with cranks, sinking swimbaits or other bottom bouncing baits. I know one thing, bass will eat anything that fits in their mouth, and spines, bones, hard shells or whatever possible prey has to protect themselves, nothing seems to work as a defense against a hungry bass.

Your post brings another point to mind;
Obviously fish do not feel pain the way that we do....... Because if you bit into a Big Mac and a sharp metal object pierced completely through your cheek (ouch !!!) would you go on and eat it anyway ?
PETA gets mad when we stick sharp objects into a fishes mouth, but is it okay then, if the fish does this to itself ? Hmmm.

Anyway, I know that Bass will eat catfish, but I think they are way down on the list of choices, while trout are on the top of the list.
BTW, big catfish, especially Flatheads, will hammer smaller catfish, which is why they hate to get one in the farm ponds in the Southern US.
I guess the bottom line is, "big fish eat little fish" and the species of either is probably not too critical.

Peace,
Fish

do they stock perris with catfish?

They only stock Perris with Jet Skiers.

haha... it gets so crazy there its nonsence

I think i saw a catfish imitating swimbait in Bass Pro or Cabelas. It was about 6" long and the lead head it came with had prongs and all!

calicokid