I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t fish freshwater too much. I grew up fishing the salt, so it’s what I’m comfortable with and what I will pick given the choice. There are times, though, when I can’t always get on the ocean or even to the beach for a surf session. I store away articles like this one for just those times.
In this piece, professional catfish angler John Jamison reveals his top secrets for consistently catching the whisker fish.
In recent years, news has travelled north and south that dips can be among the most alluring offerings for 1- to 5-pound channel and blue cats, perhaps the best bait of all time for catching a serious pile of catfish. Gradually, old-school dips such as Sonny’s Super Sticky have begun to give way to several gnarly new concoctions. Bootleg #131, a particularly potent blend brewed by Rippin Lips, has rapidly risen to the top among modern dipbait practitioners.
Jamison, who’s used dips to tackle big blue catfish in tournaments, and to catch serious strings of eater-sized cats, recently switched from Super Sticky to Bootleg, having experienced exceptional results. “I can’t tell you exactly what’s in it,” he claims, “because, well, the brewmasters won’t tell me. And truthfully, it’s probably better that we don’t have the ingredient list. All I know is, the stuff is nearly intoxicating, and catfish seem to gobble up jars of it, no matter where I fish
Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Photos: Fish and Boat (top), Outdoors Unlimited (above)
