Who fishs at pay-lakes here or fish for big catfish?

[Sniper82]

I fish at this pay-lake about once every week or 2. Well the owner has one pond for small stock fish and one pond for 15lb+ fish(money pond). Anyway I fish at the money pond alot because I like catching big fish. Anyway I am kind of new to fishing for the big ones as I use to just fish for stock fish. Anyway I have a few questions.

Past few times I been to the big fish pond I have seen that most fish with floaters but it looks like they are on bottom because the floater lays down some(like they don't have a stop knot). Any idea why they do this if they do? Also I have noticed as soon as they cast when the floater settles they stick the tip of their rod in the water and switch the road real hard making the tip of the road bend alot and the line cuts the top of the water. Its hard to explain but I figured someone may know what I am talking about. Just curious as to what they are doing.

Whats the best rig for fishing for the big ones. Also could someone give me some pointers as to how they act compared to smaller fish and what I can do to help me catch more?

Thanks

 

[MotleyCrue]

Thats strange, I never seen or heard of anybody doing that. I used to goto the catfish farms with my granpa, and we used homemade stinkbait. My granpa made it by combining limburger cheese with either calf brains or hog brains. You mix it up good then put it in a jar with a lid on, but not tight, and place it out in the sun for a few weeks. It smells terrible, but it caught fish. To fish with it you would put a about a 1 inch square piece of foam on your hook then dip that into the bait. Then just cast it out into the pond. Lets it sit for awhile, and hope for a fish to goe after it.

If you are gonna go after the big ones you should get a decent baitcasting reel on a big strong pole. If the place allows you to use treble hooks then I would use them. We didn't use floaters when we fished, we just let it sink to the bottom as it had a small weight on the line.

 

[DrPizza]

What you're describing with the tip of the pole to the water, then pulling hard, is probably the other fishermen straightening out the line. When they set the hook, they don't want a big loop of line in the water eating up half of the pull. I've never seen someone fishing the bottom with a bobber (at least not someone doing it intentionally...)

 

[DrPizza]

btw, where is this? And, how much does it cost to catch 15 lb catfish? I've never been to a pay lake (If it was easier to catch fish where I go, they'd call it catching, not fishing)