Preferred catfish trotline baits are as varied as the catfish fishermen that use them. For channel catfish, many different baits are available for the trotline. The bait must be tough, but easily available.

Chicken livers are too tender for the trotline, but beef liver cut into cubes works very well. Beef livers, cut into cubes and dried for a few hours... just long enough to turn black, becomes exceedingly tough and very attractive to the channel and blue catfish.

Turkey hearts and gizzards make equally tough and attractive baits.

My favorite trotline bait is cut dead perch and whole, live perch. The flathead will take the live bait while all species of catfish will take cut bait at times. Blue catfish especially like cut bait. Carp. buffalo, skipjack herring, catfish gut, striper rib cages and striper livers make excellent cutbait. Even though shad is an excellent catfish bait, it is not recommended because it is very tender and is easily removed by the catfish.

The tough white meat from the sides of a gar also make excellent trotline bait, although getting it from the gar is a rather daunting task. First, you catch a gar. Open the shell behind the head with a sharp blow from a hand axe at right angles to the body. Then, using the hand axe, cut the shell lengthwise from behind the head to the tail. Open the shell with a sharp knife by cutting the meat away from it on both sides, exposing the meat. Cut down the backbone and remove the filets. Cut the meat into cubes and use fresh for catfish bait.

The meat of the gar can be smoked or steamed and substituted for tuna or salmon in recipes. It is light in texture when sliced thinly, and white in color. Gar meat has the flavor and texture of a scallop when fried.