Forget about the nightcrawlers, dip baits, and liver if your going to be fishing for big tropy catfish. You might luck out and eventually catch one on these baits, but they are generally for small eating sized catfish. Bigger fish require bigger baits.
By far the most popular catfishing bait on the James is the native gizzard shad. They are filter feeders and cannot be caught on a rod and reel, but are plentiful year round and easy to catch in a cast net or gill net. Small gizzard shad, sometimes called "candy" shad, are caught in a cast net due to their smaller size and are used whole. (Click HERE to see my candy shad rig) The bigger shad can be caught in either a cast net, or more easily, in a gill net. Big gizzard shad, nicknamed "cutters" are chunked up, or cut into fillets. My favorite cut in particular is the first nice bloody chunk from behind the gills. (See photo on the left.) Use the heads too, they are bloody and stay on the hook well. The tail sections generally get tossed or cut up into baits for small cats and fished on the smaller rigs. I cut up several shad at a time and keep the pieces in a small bucket with a lid so that fresh bait is already cut and handy when needed. Keep uncut shad in a container or cooler with a frozen bottle of water to keep it cool. Putting bait directly in contact with ice exposes it to melt water which will wash the blood and scent out of the baits. There is also the risk of bait contamination from chlorine and other chemicals that may be present in the ice when it melts. Take care in how you wash your bait container or cooler for this reason as well. I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on my bait cooler from time to time when it gets really stained and stinky. It does not contain any cleaning agents that leave a scent, and does one heck of a job cleaning a cooler.
Eels are another popular bait. They are very hardy and survive well in just a bucket of river water. As an added bonus they are difficult for a fish to steal off the hook. Eels can be obtained from most of the local bait shops.
Jumbo minnows, white perch, bluegills, herring and hickory shad are also commonly used blue cat baits, both live and cut, and most are easily caught on light tackle. Whatever bait is used, one of the most important things is that it be as fresh as possible. Fresh as in not frozen. Frozen bait fish will work, but are generally less bloody and softer, meaning they wont hold on the hook as well and wont put out as much scent. I will use frozen hickory shad and herring, but only because they are seasonal and can only be obtained for about a month out of the year. American shad are illegal to possess in VA at any time. Bait that has been refrigerated, but not frozen is fine. Some claim that refrigerating shad for a few days will actually improve it's attraction. If you do decide to freeze some bait, try and either vacum seal it first, or freeze it in water. ( Not tap water!- use river water.) Vacum sealing is the best way to go.
At times it seems a live bait such as an eel or bluegill will get all the action while cut bait gets barely a nibble. Other times it seems to be the opposite. It's always a good idea to have both live and cut baits out. I normally have anywhere from 4 to12 lines out, depending on how many people are fishing, and will put a different bait or cut of bait on each until we see what is getting the most action. I try to have live bait on at least two of the lines. Nose hooking live baits such as bream and small shad does the least harm to them and they survive longer on the hook than if they are hooked through the back or tail.
Change cut bait whenever it gets a "washed out" appearance and no longer shows any blood. This will be more often in warmer water than in cool water, and more often in strong current than in still water.
