I get emails and messages from people constantly wanting more information on bank fishing for catfish (catfishing from the shore or without a catfish boat) .

If you’re a catfish angler that fishes from a boat, listen to this show also because there’s still some great information in this show that will help you in your quest to catch more and bigger catfish.

This show is one of the “Catfishing Radio” podcasts being moved from the old site as a “Best Of” episode for the Catfish Edge podcast.

Bank Fishing For Catfish Tips Podcast

Here’s what’s covered in this “Best Of” Catfish Edge podcast.

I start by covering the spring blue catfish bite and how the fishing is really heating up. If you plan on fishing for catfish this spring you need to check out the Spring Blue Catfish Techniques program.

Four Common Mistakes Bank Fishing Catfish Anglers Make

Next I move into the topic of bank fishing or shore fishing for catfish covering information on blue catfish, channel catfish and flathead catfish and some of the most common mistakes I see anglers make when they’re shore fishing (this really applies to all species of fish not just cats).

Fishing Where The Fish Aren’t

I talk about learning seasonal patterns of the fish and bait fish (like threadfin shad and gizzard shad) and how these seasonal movements affect the fish.

I also talk in depth about anglers that chose a fishing location as a matter of convenience instead of choosing a fishing location based on where the fish should be, and how doing a little work and putting some extra effort into your fishing can pay off in a huge way.

Choosing Your Fishing Location

I talk about using the knowledge of fishing patterns and catfishing techniques and finding good locations to fish.

Using tools like the Navionics app, Navionics Hotmaps and Google Maps you can find areas to fish are not over pressured and also have access to the depths and structure you need to fish based on the seasonal movement of catfish.

Catfish Tackle

I talk about using the right catfish rods, catfish reels and catfish rigs based on the areas you are fishing, where the fish are and what depth of water you need to be fishing and how specialized equipment and rod holders can give you access to not only make really long casts but also cover a lot of water.

This gives you the ability to get to fish you might otherwise not be able to get to.

Getting Off The Bank

Last but not least I cover some cheap ways to get off the shore and out in the water so you can get to the fish without buying an expensive boat and you can really get access to some amazing areas to fish, some that cannot even be accessed by big boats.

An Angler Kayak can be picked up new relatively cheap or even used on websites like Craigslist for a couple of hundred dollars.

A Belly Boat or Float Tube is also a cheap option to get you access to some great fishing areas for next to nothing and can also be found used.

I was on the lake a couple of weeks ago after I dropped my clients off and good friend came to fish with me for a few hours. As I left the boat ramp I noticed a young man throwing a cast net off in the distance. He was in a rather odd location to catch shad and he was throwing a TINY cast net.

I pulled up to the area where I was going to fish and anchored my boat. I watched him in the distance for the better part of 45 minutes throwing again and again. At one point he idled past me and I noticed he had a small child in the boat with him.

He pulls up to another location and starts throwing again and again. I couldn’t stand to watch him any more. I pulled about 100 yards off from where we’d been fishing, spotting a large ball of shad on my sonar, threw the cast net and filled up a three gallon bucket with large threadfin shad with two throws.

I then idled over to this young mans boat and gave him a big ziplock bag full of shad.

About ten days later as I was headed in at the end of my trip I spotted him again, in the same area, throwing over and over again. I dropped my clients off and went back out to catch bait for my trip the next morning.

I threw a couple of extra times, got plenty of extra threadfin shad and gizzard shad and idled back over to him again and passed him a big gallon bag of shad.

This time, I started questioning him on what he was doing and why, and offered some advice on locating and catching shad.

I received an email from him a week later thanking me, along with a picture of a big bucket full of shad. All it took to get this young man on the right track was the right tools, and a little education.

I looked at his cast net and explained to him why it wasn’t working for him, and showed him the screen of my Humminbird sonar unit.

I showed him some screenshots of shad and what they looked like on sonar and tweaked the settings on his fish finder for him so he’d be able to better tell what was below his boat.

Winter Time Shad Woes

This time of year shad becomes a “hot topic” and everyone’s talking about how hard it is and complaining about how they can’t catch bait.

The truth is, you can catch winter shad, but “blind luck” is not going to take you far in the winter. During much of the year you can get out on the water and throw your cast net a few times and catch some bait. The shad is usually scattered enough that you’ll catch a few here and there (with enough work) that you’ll at least catch enough fresh bait to fish with.

Winter Time Shad: All Or None

During the winter catching shad is more of an “all or none” deal.

If you throw in the right location you’ll have more bait than you need, but you have to be precise.

If you’re randomly throwing your cast net to try and catch bait you’re not going to be successful.

Three Reasons You Can’t Catch Winter Shad

Here’s the three reasons I see people having way more difficulty than they should catching winter shad. I can’t begin to stress how important it to not only make sure you have fresh bait but that you put the time and effort into to learning how to locate and pattern shad.

There’s no argument that fresh caught shad is one of the top baits for catching blue catfish.

1. Using The Wrong Cast Net

This is the number one reason people go wrong catching shad...

Choose the right cast net and your quest to catch bait will be much easier. Choose the wrong one and you’ll have to work much harder (or you might not catch any shad at all).

Using the right tool makes a difference with any job and it’s true when catching shad also.

You wouldn’t try to drill a hole with a hammer, using the wrong cast net is no different. Using the wrong net will slow down your results getting bait or at times make it impossible to catch shad.

There are times when the net you use won’t make much difference. But there are times when the wrong net will make it very difficult, or even impossible to catch shad.

If you’ll use the right tools at the right time catching shad will be much easier.

Before I get into the specifics on choosing a cast net, it’s important to understand the different parts of a cast net. As you learn about how the size and weight of each part impacts your ability to catch shad, this is critical.

Parts Of a Cast Net

How To Choose a Cast Net (And Get The Right One)

Again the wrong tools at certain times will mean no bait. This is especially true in the winter.

Here are some notes that summarize the information covered in the podcast as well as links to some cast nets online. Make sure you keep this information in mind before you buy your first cast net (or your next one).

Here’s a summary of the information covered in the podcast.

1. Check Your Local Laws 

Make sure it is legal to use a cast net to catch shad and learn what the largest size net you can use is.

2. Choose The Right Size Cast Net

Get the largest legal size you can throw in your state.

3. Nylon Or Monofilament Cast Net, Which Is Better?

Mono does not absorb water and it tangles less than monofilament. Monofilament sinks faster in the water than nylon. Always buy nets made of monofilament. Monofilament is less visible in the water also.

4. Stay Away From “Gimmicks” 

You don’t need rings or throwers or any extra junk to help you throw. Just buy a plain cast net and stay away from nets that have throwing rings and other gimmicks built into them and by all means don’t get suckered into buying one of these items from a third party and adding it to your cast net.

5. Choose The Right Mesh Size

This is the size of the spacing of the mesh in the net. Mesh size impacts the size of baitfish that you can catch and how quickly the net sinks in the water.

*  1/4 Inch Mesh – Stay away from these. These are really for catching very small baits like ghosts minnows. These sink really slow which will be an issue in deeper water.

* 3/8 Inch Mesh –  This is a good average size for catching bait. It will catch small shad and you will have fewer issues with fish being “gilled” (their heads stuck in the net). You’ll catch bigger shad and all of the smaller shad with this mesh size. This is a good mesh size for when the bait is not in deeper water and if you want smaller baits. The biggest problem with a net this size is you will still catch lots of very small shad (which is why I don’t use a 3/8 inch mesh).

* 1/2 Inch Mesh – The larger the mesh the faster the net sinks.

The Catfish Edge Podcast is back with Episode 2 this week.

We mentioned in Episode One of the Catfish Edge Podcast we’d be doing a couple of shows with some “housekeeping” of sorts to help fill in the blanks and answer some of the questions about the transition from Learn To Catch Catfish to Catfish Edge (as well as the change from Catfishing Radio to Catfish Edge).

Plus as promised we wanted to let everyone know what Catfish Edge is (and isn’t) and what you can expect from us going forward.

This is the last show if this nature we’ll be doing for a while so be on the lookout for future shows that cover the tips, tricks and information that you’re looking for to put you on the cutting edge of catfishing.

Check out the Catfish Edge Podcast! Cutting Edge Catfishing –> Click To Tweet

What Is Catfish Edge?

The show starts with some quick introductions and a little about me, Chad Ferguson.

Announcements:

Spring Blue Catfish on Fox Sports Outdoors

I’m hosting the Fox Sports Outdoors show (formerly Southwest Outdoors Report) again this week. The name of the show has changed it now airs on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports South as well.

This show will air Thursday April 10th at 10:30 PM and Saturday April 12th at 7:30 AM on Fox Sports Southwest.

On Fox Sports South the show will air at 6:00 PM on Thursday April 10th and at 8:00 AM on Sunday April 13th.

As always as soon as the full episode is released online I’ll post it here on the Catfish Edge website also. If you haven’t done so already be sure to heck out the last show I hosted on Drift Fishing for Winter Blue Catfish here on the site.

You can check out a sneak peek preview of this weeks show on Fox Sports Outdoors here.

If you’re looking for more in depth information on catching blue catfish in the Spring then check out the Spring Blue Catfish Techniques book and the other products on the products page here.

Outdoor Life May 2014

In addition to the Fox Sports Outdoors show I have a feature running on catfish fishing that will be in the May 2014 issue of Outdoor Life magazine.

Keep an eye out for this issue as it will be hitting news stands any day.

Show Sponsors:

Brute Outdoors – Use the Coupon Code “CATFISHEDGE” for a discount on these awesome five day coolers through Brute Outdoors.

Brute is also offering a customized Catfish Edge logo Brute Box cooler that looks really awesome if you want to show some catfish love and sport the Catfish Edge logo.

You can order coolers from their website here and again use CATFISHEDGE as the coupon code for a discount.

If you want to order the Catfish Edge branded cooler call Tyler at 1-855-BRUTE55 and place your order by phone. Just tell him you want the Catfish Edge cooler and which size you want!

Catfish Edge Show Topics

Finally we talk about what Catfish Edge is and isn’t and what you can expect moving forward.

What Is Catfish Edge?

The short version of this is that Catfish Edge is going to be involve...

You asked for it, you got it, the Catfishing Radio podcast is back (kind of) but with a new name and not quite exactly the same.

It’s a podcast though!

Those of you that have followed from the beginnings at Learn To Catch Catfish know about the Catfishing Radio podcast.

All of the old Catfishing Radio shows are still available on iTunes so you can still check them out but given the new beginnings here at Catfish Edge we’ve decided that change is in order so welcome to the Catfish Edge podcast!

If you’re looking for a podcast show that covers catfishing tips, tricks and information then this first episode of the Catfish Edge podcast is probably not the show for you.

Episode 1 of the Catfish Edge podcast is more about the history behind Catfish Edge and Learn To Catch Catfish, how we’ve ended up here at the new site with a new name and image and why this has taken place. It also covers a bit about my background so you know who the heck Chad Ferguson is!

What The Heck Is Catfishing Radio?

Catfishing Radio was the podcast show produced through the other site, the site that started it all (it was Catfish Edge before there was a Catfish Edge I guess you could say.

What The Heck Is The Catfish Edge Podcast?

Catfish Edge is the new podcast show. We’ve decided (at least for now) that moving forward we’ll be doing “all things podcast” through the Catfish Edge site and under the Catfish Edge podcast name.

What The Heck Is A Podcast?

Podcast is a fancy high tech term for “radio” I guess you could say but it’s not really a radio show because it’s not transmissiting through radio towers.

Podcast are digital media that you can listen to on your iPod, iPad, iPhone, Android or other high tech digital device. Or if you want to “kick it old school” you can sit in front of your computer.

Here’s what Wikipedia says:

A podcast is a digital medium consisting of an episodic series of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The word is a neologism and portmanteau derived from “broadcast” and “pod” from the success of the iPod, as audio podcasts are often listened to on portable media players.

In “Non Geek” Talk, That Means:

We talk about fishing for catfish and all things catfishing related, record the audio of it and put it on the interwebs so you can list to it when and where you want and revel in all the glory of catfishing goodness.

Catfish Edge Podcast: Episode One Show Notes

OK so here’s the deal…….

We’re going to talk about catfish fishing on the Catfish Edge podcast.

That’s where we’re headed but since…..

* I was so absent in 2013 from the old podcast and the Learn To Catch Catfish website.

* There are so many of you that have been asking questions about Catfish Edge wanting to know what the heck is going on.

* Everyone’s wanting to know what’s happening at Catfish Edge.

* There are so many rumors about what’s taking place here (and about me)

* There’s a gaggle of new people who’ve just found all this

We’re going to do some “housekeeping” I guess you could call it.

This particular show is not a show that’s all about catfish stuff. It’s the show that’s going to answer all the questions and tell the story about Catfish Edge, who Chad Ferguson is and all of the questions I listed above.