This will draw them out of a deep sleep. Since I've been posting a lot of photos of catfish caught with strawberry doughballs I figured I better add a section explaining what they are and how to make them. A strawberry doughball is simply a doughbait flavored with strawberry, usually strawberry jello or kool-aid is used as the flavoring. You should now have a dough that can be molded into a ball and put on a hook like you would Power Bait trout paste or any other dough or paste bait. I also have good results with other flavors such as vanilla, maple and blackberry.
Hot dogs are a very good bait for catfish at Clear Lake.
Many fish in excess of 15 pounds have been taken with hot dogs. More unusual baits I just received an email from Jordan Elfers in Wayne Nebraska saying he caught a 10 pound 12 ounce catfish on raw bacon . C. Irwin has caught several cats up to 10 pounds using sour dough french bread. Bill from Oregon fishes the Snake River and catches lots of cats with large crickets. Zack Mock of North Carolina caught a 18 pound 3 ounce catfish with raw squid.