The newest addition to the Gulp! line of softbaits is Gulp! Alive!, packaged in livebait-style tubs filled with Gulp! Alive! attractant. Reported to absorb 20 percent more Gulp! scent and yield a more natural swimming action, Alive! baits can be recharged by placing them back into the tub of attractant. In limited trials on a small river this summer, Gulp! Alive! Squids produced several channel cats fished beneath slipfloats. Berkley’s new Gulp! Alive! Swimming Mullet looks like another catfish catcher.

FoodSource Lures—Developed through a 3-year cooperative partnership between Auburn University fishery researchers and food scientists, FoodSource says their lures are the only ones made of 100 percent real food. In laboratory trials, fish not only ate these baits, but also grew and thrived on them.

Also unique to FoodSource is that even after baits are left out of water, they can be re-softened and recharged. Simply place them in water or a water-based solution for a few minutes and return them to a bag of unused baits.

Of interest to catfish anglers are the 3-inch Saltwater Shrimp Tail, Catfish Bites, Big Cat Meal, and the Goliath Grub. Fish the Shrimp Tail on a classic set rig or drift one below a float. Rigid, non-action baits, such as the Big Cat Meal, reportedly work well during summer, particularly when dipbaits and other prepared baits are producing catfish. Chunk-style baits might work fine in pay lakes or other settings where cats frequently encounter a wide variety of discarded baits, such as doughbait or cheese.

The FoodSource Goliath Grub, a giant 9-inch curlytail, can be productive, but you need to modify it to get it working right. Tear the flat tail section from the tube-shaped body. The tail from this bait is as close to an ideal piece of imitation cutbait as it gets. Hooked once through the base (torn-off side) of the tail with a 1/0 Eagle Claw 84, this little flap of scent and taste waves and flutters in current.

There’s something catfish find attractive about these thin, flat strips. Scent and taste remain fundamental attractors, but in many instances, the elements of visual appearance and natural action in the water make a positive difference. Catfish not only detect minute movements and vibrations, but in many environments they can visually discern familiar cues in their natural food. When set-rigged on bottom, interspersed drags or short rod-tip sweeps activate these “flappy” softbaits to trigger cats.

The cube-shaped chunks of cut baitfish that we often use sprout thin, fleshy strips of skin that subtly flutter and flap in current. This is a trigger but an easy one to overlook because built into natural baits, so we don’t often think about it. Still, catfish likely respond to this as part of the overall food package. Even if they can’t always see it, they can feel it.

Fishbites—Developed through decades of study by marine researcher and University of Florida professor Dr. William Carr, Fishbites are a synthetic alternative to natural cutbait. Carr’s research has led him to conclude that, when it comes to the chemical stimulants fish use to detect and track prey, what humans smell in the air and what fish detect in the water are very different, because fish sense and react only to chemicals that are dissolved in water. Moreover, even strong, airborne odors (strong to us) do not necessarily dissolve in water so they may not attract fish.