I've had great luck catching large catfish in Occoquan with chopped-up hotdogs.

Free heavy food, you say? On the Potomac, you say?

> blue catfish up to 50 lb or more

Tasty invasive, large enough to feed me until Lonelytimes' Day... Hmm...

Anyway... I've read reviews that Zote laundry bar has been used in the Deep South for swamp catfish. I suspect the tallow component is why.

Am I the only one that interpreted this title the wrong way 😂

I'm angry that, despite OP's clarification, I could still interpret your comment to mean the non-aquatic kind.

Pick up oily fish from the Asian markets, I like mackerel, and fish the Virginia side from fletchers to chain bridge…deeper the better (it gets to 70 feet in a few spots). I’d recommend 60lb braid and 60 lb mono/fluro leader as well as a bunch of extra lead (you’re going to get snagged a lot).

Right now the water is a bit cold so the bite is slower, but the big girls consistently eat all winter. Look for eddies and current that go from deep to calm. I like 2-4 ozs on the bottom

We’ve caught some on the bay by accident using blood worms

I remember my dad using Wheaties to catch catfish. He mixed it with some other stuff and made balls out of it. It wasn’t in the Potomac, so I not sure if it would work for you.

I know little about fishing. 😄

Heh.

If you want to catch the big catfish on the Potomac you're going to want to use cut Shad or cut herring not any of the bait you can buy in the stores. You're also going to need a boat to do it because you're going to have to net up the shad so you can use it for bait. This time of year you can get all the shad you want at the blue Plains discharge. I guarantee you most of the professional guides that fish all winter long on the Potomac net up hearing and Gizzard/ Hickory shad during the Spring runs and freeze it until they're ready to do serious fishing in the winter time where they catch the big ones.

No joke, old head down by tha river told me the secret was slim Jim's. Works every time

Oh that's interesting, I will definitely give this a try. Good snack to have out there too.

You can catch shad pretty easy on crappie rigs in the spring near fletchers. Some of them are endangered though if you are using for cut bait. Those will also land you striper when they’re spawning.

Original is pretty good, the funkier the better though. I cut it into small disks between 1/4 and 1/2 inch and put em on an octopus hook #4/0 or bigger. Triple swivel with a 2-4 oz weight on the bottom, launch that puppy and wait. Idk if its still accessible because of city planning etc but hanes point, where the Potomac and Anacostia meet had like a 80% hit rate on that rig. I never hit that sweet 50lber but I (almost) always landed a cat.

A buddy of mine ran the same rig further up river past fletchers cove by the 495 Bridge and landed a 30

Cheat code is a pack of Oscar Meyers. Cheap, fragrant, and they stay on the hook pretty well since they're firm. Heavy sinker (half ounce or so) with 50-lb wire leader and #8 circle hook.

I've had luck with fish in the 20lb range, mostly blue catfish.

https://www.triplecityanglers.com/product-page/the-chunky-rig

Netting Shad is illegal and The Asian market mackerel works just fine, if not better bc of the oiliness.

On a lark I took my surf rod and a bottom rig out on a boat just upstream from Key Bridge a few years ago (late spring, mind you). I was using frozen cut herring.

We anchored and I just dropped my line and it held taught in the current.

Caught two huge cats. One was probably 6-7 lbs and the other was over 10.

That was the first and last time I've fished for cats.