Milo

• Milo is a grain similar to sorghum that is used in bird food as well as livestock feed. Making milo chum is a simple process. Fill a 5-gallon bucket halfway with milo, then add warm water to the bucket until the water line is about 2 inches above the milo in the bucket. Stir the contents of the bucket well, cover with a lid or moist towel, and set in a dark, cool location for about a week to ferment (speed the process up by adding 1/4 cup of yeast or 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the mix). The area should be well-ventilated as the smell from the fermenting milo will be quite strong. Ladle the milo chum into your the catfish hole and start fishing.
  
  

Fish Heads and Guts

• Chumming with the remains of other fish is a useful way to attract catfish. Reserve the carcass (heads and tails) and internal organs from previous fillets. Keep them on ice if you cut fillets while still fishing. Cut up the remains into bait-sized pieces, place into zipper-lock releasable bags and freeze. Once you have several bags reserved (you can also purchase live or dead bait from a tackle shop to cut up for this purpose as well) and scoop a small amount of the dead bail into the hole. Repeat again in 15 minutes and you should start seeing some action in the hole. Use similar bait on your line to increase your odds of catching catfish.
  
  

Range Cubes

• Range cubes are a commercially produced feed pellet used for large livestock. They can also be used as catfish bait. They are usually sold in 50-pound sacks, but are very economical (under $10 per bag, as of September 2011) and go a long way as catfish bait. Unlike milo, they don't create a stench when added with water. Simply toss the range cubes into the water by the handful and wait for the catfish to start biting.
  
  

Meat and Cheese Baits

• Meat and cheese baits, especially stinky baits, will attract catfish as well. Often, a binder, such as cornmeal or flour, needs to be used to hold the bait together, at least initially, when placed in the water. Combinations such as bacon grease, cornmeal, cat food, chicken livers, and smelly cheeses (such as Limburger, Camembert or Roquefort) can be made into doughy balls and frozen until ready for use. Place the bait in a weighted coffee can or bucket connected by string (or rope) with a lid on top and small holes drilled into the side. The catfish will smell the bait but not be able to get at much of it, leaving them ripe for the bait on your hook.