Agreed, they are pretty opportunistic in that they will take a great deal of things, much like carp. Many people have fished dough balls, lima beans and even sweet corn with success..just to name a few. Every solid cat fisherman has his secret recipe or two though...
Growing up in PA I had a great deal of luck fishing chicken livers for big cats, carp and landlocked striper hybrids. Also chub or shad cut baits or live baits. One place in particular I used to net about a dozen live shad in the morning, place half of them in a bucket alive, the other half I'd cut up, place in a bag and set in the sun for the day. I'd fish one rod on the bottom with a bit of the cut bait..the other I would place a whole shad ( about a 6 inch fish) hooked just behind and under the dorsal fin, place a slit on the under side of the tail and toss it out to flap around and slowly die. I've had big cats up to around 40 pounds using this method.
My other favorite was , as I mentioned, chicken livers. Fresh is best but they are tough to use on a hook. I find that wrapping them in small squares of cheese cloth works well. Another great method is draining them and packing them in salt for a few days or so. This drys them out and makes em tougher..the salt helps enhance the flavor as well.
Growing up in PA I had a great deal of luck fishing chicken livers for big cats, carp and landlocked striper hybrids. Also chub or shad cut baits or live baits. One place in particular I used to net about a dozen live shad in the morning, place half of them in a bucket alive, the other half I'd cut up, place in a bag and set in the sun for the day. I'd fish one rod on the bottom with a bit of the cut bait..the other I would place a whole shad ( about a 6 inch fish) hooked just behind and under the dorsal fin, place a slit on the under side of the tail and toss it out to flap around and slowly die. I've had big cats up to around 40 pounds using this method.
My other favorite was , as I mentioned, chicken livers. Fresh is best but they are tough to use on a hook. I find that wrapping them in small squares of cheese cloth works well. Another great method is draining them and packing them in salt for a few days or so. This drys them out and makes em tougher..the salt helps enhance the flavor as well.
