If this guide is helpful, I would appreciate it if you would check "Yes" at the bottom. Thanks!  

If you want to skip all my drivel and just get the recipe, scroll to the bottom.

I live on Lake Jackson in beautiful Monticello, Georgia, and shortly after I moved out here a couple of years ago, I was having a heck of a time getting any catfish to bite. The bluegill were goin' crazy, but the cats were nowhere to be found. One night, a neighbor and his grandson were out fishing and I kept hearing the excitment in the young man's voice. I started watching them, and lo and behold, they were bringing in the cats hand over fist!!!  Me? Not so much! After watching them bring in about 30 nice channel cats, I couldn't stand it any longer, and I yelled across the way "You guys seem to be doing pretty good!" To which my neighbor answered "Thank you!". "Whatcha using' for bait?" I hollered.  "Red wigglers" he answered. "Rats" I thought. "That's the same dang bait I'm using and I ain't gettin' squat!" Finally, my neighbor, obviously exhausted from reeling what seemed to be 50 tons of catfish, decided to call it a night. He came over and asked me if I was catching anything. I was tempted to say "How in the world would you expect me to be catching anything when you and Junior over there cleaned out the whole dad gum lake!" Instead, I meekly said "not really". He then asked me the question that changed my fishing life forever. He asked me if I had been throwing out any catfish food to attract them. The dumbstruck look on my face told him that I had no idea what he was talking about, so he educated me to the fine art of chumming (which I'm sure every other catfisherman on the planet BUT ME knew all about). He instructed me to go to our local Feed store, and get a 50 pound bag of Sinking Catfish Food. He said to steer clear of the floating kind because it would likely drift away from me and defeat the purpose. He said after a little while, they would be in that area and it would be MUCH easier to get them to bite. Now some may consider this cheating, but as an old Baseball coach of mine used to say "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin!". Being a Christian, I don't agree with that philosophy at all. But I don't see anywhere in the Old Testiment or the New Testiment where it says that it's sinful to feed the catfish!  I even checked the maps in the back of my Bible. Nope, not even a single mention of feeding fish.

 So the next morning, bright and early, I hopped in my old pickup truck, and I headed for the Feed Store and got me a 50 pound bag. Then I went back home, hauled the bag to the end of my dock, and proceeded to throw all 50 pounds into the lake. It might have just been my imagination, but I threw out so much catfish food that the lake level seemed to go up a little bit. Anyway, later on that day I was getting carpal tunnel from reeling in the cats. Then another thing happened that I didn't really expect. I heard this enormous splash about 50 yards out, that sounded as though someone had thrown a 1st grader in the lake. Scanning the horizon for 1st graders and seeing none, I surmised that a carp had arrived in my area! Sure enough, later that afternoon, I had a huge carp run with my worm and snapped my line after just a few seconds. A few minutes later, I managed to catch the biggest fish of my life (to that point) which was a 19 pound carp. Well, I was wearing out the road between my house and the Feed Store, but one day I got the news that caused my heart to sink. The Feed Store had run OUT of Sinking Catfish Food. Oh the humanity!!!!   I tried to convince the clerk that there must be some sort of mistake! There HAS to be more Catfish Food back there! "Well, we got the floatin' kind, but we ain't gonna have no more of that sinkin' kind in for a couple days" said the bright young feed store clerk, fittingly named "Tater". (I made the name part up. I think his name should have been Tater, but I believe that his parents chose a different name for the lad. I think his real name was Skeeter or something).  Anyway, I was desperate, so I asked Skeeter to load me up with a bag of his finest Floating Catfish Food. "You want this catfish food in the back of the truck?" said Skeeter. "No, I'm gonna snack on it on the way home, Skeet'. Put it in the front seat, will ya".

When I got home and started throwing it out, sure enough it started floating away. "Dang it!". I had to do something different. I know! I'll soak it in water for a while and then I bet it'll sink. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes, I could smash it all up into a big ball of food, and it would sink like a stone. Occasionally, some of it would float, and the fish would just tear it to pieces. Which gave me a idea.....If I could that stuff to stay on a hook, that would be the bomb!  At first, I couldn't get the consistency right, but finally I decided to add some bread and cotton balls to the equation, and Voila! A bait that the catfish and carp go crazy over!!! I like to make a dough ball out of it and cover the entire hook (even the eye of the hook). I guess because the dough ball is so big, the bluegill don't mess with it to much at all.  Since I started using this bait (almost exclusively) I have caught hundreds of cats and carp! My biggest carp was 30 pounds but my son caught a grass carp that was 34 pounds.

So head on down to your local feed store and tell Skeeter to hook you up with some Floatin' Catfish Food. Tell him "Tommy sent ya!"

UNCLE STINKY'S RECIPE

PUT 1 LB. OF FLOATING CATFISH FOOD IN A BUCKET  OR BOWL AND POUR JUST ENOUGH WATER TO GET ALL OF IT MOIST.  IF YOU STIR THE CATFISH FOOD UP A LITTLE IT WILL HELP GET THE MOSITURE TO ALL OF THE FOOD. IF THERE IS EXCESS WATER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BUCKET, POUR IT OUT BECAUSE IF THE MIXTURE IS TOO WET, IT'S HARD TO GET IT TO STAY ON THE HOOK. LET THE CATFISH FOOD SIT FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES. THEN START SMASHING IT ALL TOGETHER AND MAKE A BALL OUT OF IT. IF YOU CAN GET THE CATFISH FOOD AT THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY, YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE IT AT THIS POINT. HOWEVER, I LIKE TO TAKE 4 PIECES OF WHITE BREAD AND REMOVE THE CRUST. I THEN ADD THE BREAD TO THE CATFISH FOOD AND MIX IT IN. I LIKE TO PAT IT LIKE I'M MAKING BISCUITS,WHICH GIVES THE MIX SOME ADDITIONAL CONSISTENCY.  LASTLY, I FLATEN IT OUT AND I PULL 1 LARGE COTTON BALL APART AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE DOUGH. I MIX IT ALL TOGETHER AND I TRY TO GET THE CONSISTENCY SO IT'S A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO PULL APART. IF YOUR BAIT IS TOO WET AND ISN'T STAYING ON THE HOOK WELL, YOU CAN ADD SOME BREAD AND/OR CORN MEAL TO HELP DRY IT OUT. IF IT'S TOO DRY, SPRINKLE A VERY LITTLE BIT OF WATER ON IT AND IT WILL COME BACK TO LIFE, SO TO SPEAK.

THE WAY WE USE IT

WE FISH IT ON THE BOTTOM. WE USE A SIZE 4 REMOVABLE SINKER, PLACED ABOUT 6-12 INCHES ABOVE THE HOOK. WE USE A SIZE 6 OR 8 HOOK AND WE COVER THEN ENTIRE HOOK (INCLUDING THE EYE) WITH A FOOTBALL SHAPED DOUGH BALL.

UPDATE: THIS STUFF IS "KILLING" RIGHT NOW. YESTERDAY (JUNE 21ST)  I CAUGHT 10 VERY NICE CATFISH (BROWN BULLHEADS, SPECKLED CATS AND 1 FLATHEAD) IN ONLY 19 CASTS.  AS SOON AS IT GOT TO THE BOTTOM, THEY RAN WITH IT. I EITHER HOOKED 'EM OR MISSED 'EM ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER IT HIT THE BOTTOM.