I want to catch a catfish to be my pet...or a small bass...BEST BAITS?

Question

i want to catch a smaller catfish to keep or a largemouth bass... i want a wild fish because not very many people have them as pets and im tired of seein gold fish and other aquarium fish...i know how to catch bass pretty easily compared to the catfish... ive caught catfish on hotdogs before cause i ran out of worms, i think liver is to hard to work with cause it falls apart to easily enless in panty hose, wat other bait would be best to catch the smaller catfish...and wat baits for the big ones lol

Answer 1

There are aquarium grade bass and catfish that you can buy from reputable pet stores.  Don't be fooled by the tiny catfish you see there, though.  Many of these are young.  A good aquarium catfish can around or over 1 foot long if well cared for. If you do successfully capture a wild catfish or bass, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that it will survive.  These fish are adapted to their environment and will not survive long in tap or bottled water.  You should also consider the habits of a catfish before deciding that you truly want one.  Many species of catfish are nocturnal and like places to hide like logs or holes in the ground.  If you did manage to catch a catfish and put it in a tank with such a hiding place, you would very seldom ever see it - as it would spend much of the day hidden in its little home.  

All of this considered, I must strongly discourage you from attempting to make a wild animal your pet.  

If however, you are dead set on it - your biggest challenge will be knowing what the fish eats.  Simply because a catfish WILL eat hotdogs doesn't mean that it should.  If you caught a fish on hotdogs and fed it nothing but hotdogs afterward, I would imagine that the excess salt in the hotdogs would eventually make the fish sick.  In fact, your best bets for catfish food would likely be anything from algae pellets to live fish (Which can get very expensive.  I spend $10 a week feeding them to my fish.)

And then there's the problem of parasites and illness.  Many fish you will get from the wild will have illnesses and parasites that are harmless to people but are deadly to the fish.  Untreated, these illnesses can kill the fish, and any other fish in the tank.

Below you'll find several links.  Some cautioning against making wild fish pets, some telling you how, and a video of a pet bass eating a live mouse.  This illustrates how much food a bass will eat, and might give you an idea of how much it could cost to feed such a creature, as well as give you an idea of the size of a bass, and it's activity level.  You'll notice that most of the time, the bass just sits there.  Not a very interesting pet.  You might consider instead getting a pet shark.  There is also a link talking about that.

Answer 2

leave the wild fish where they are and buy tank bread ones

how would u like it if u lived in a big 10 bedroom house nd all of a suddon u was living in a bedsit

most fish will eat live bait like shrimps

y dont u get an arrowana they are quite big and will eat live foods

u will need a chiller and they are around £6-800

Answer 3

Don't keep bass or catfish as a pet.  Many species would require large tanks.

Answer 4

It would be easier to catch a small bluegill since they bite pieces of worm on a small hook. People catch catfish with commercial "dough bait". You will have to keep the fish colder than room temperature, at least at first, since the water you catch them from will be much cooler than you think down where they live.

Answer 5

They wouldn't live long.  Bass and catfish need extremely large tanks, the transition from lake water to tap water wouldn't go well, and it some places its illegal to take animals out of the wild as pets.

EDIT:  There are plenty of active large fish that can eat live bait.  Oscars, Jack Dempseys, these get large (75 gallon tank) and can eat live fish.