Yes, you can certainly catch catfish with marshmallows. Catfish will eat almost anything that is edible.
Marshmallows are tasty, sugary treats that catfish do love.
Although they are not my first choice, they are a great choice when it comes to grocery store catfish baits.
Marshmallows are obviously not a natural food source that catfish eat. But catfish are willing to eat just about anything.
Especially bullhead and channel catfish. These two species are not picky about what they eat.
I would never use marshmallows for blue or flathead catfish because they tend to be a bit more selective with what they eat.
Now marshmallows attract catfish primarily with their sugary flavor.
They don’t have lots of scent, but as they slowly dissolve in the water, those particles travel through the water right onto the whiskers of a catfish.
Marshmallows are pretty much 100% sugar. These blocks of glucose actually give catfish (and anything that eats them) a boost of energy.
Catfish don’t get much sugar naturally, so marshmallows are once in a while treat for them.
Yes, marshmallows do float. This buoyancy is actually the biggest catfishing advantage of marshmallows.
In many lakes and ponds, the bottom is lined with weeds, leaves, soot, or other debris that make it hard for bottom feeders like catfish to find food.
But if you can suspend your bait 6-12 inches of the bottom, you can keep it out of this debris and catch tons of catfish.
Also, even though catfish are primarily bottom feeders, they will often cruise around 1-3 feet off the bottom.
Catfish will typically do this during the evening, nighttime, or fall season.
Since marshmallow’s biggest advantage is it’s floating ability, you want to use rigs that accommodate this.
You can never go wrong with a slip sinker rig. It is the only catfish rig I ever use, and it never does me wrong.
As long as you keep a bit of tension in you line, the marshmallow will remain suspended about a foot off the bottom.
If you have slack in the line, the marshmallow will float too high up.
Like I said earlier, marshmallows don’t have very much scent to them. When it comes to catfish baits, the more scent the better.
So you can add scents to the marshmallows to make the better baits. Popular catfish scents are garlic, Jell-O, Kool-aid, blood, and sprays that really stink up your bait.
Just be careful with liquid scents because if you add too much, the marshmallow will dissolve and be unusable.
So yes, you can catch catfish with marshmallows. They are not the best catfish bait, but if you are low on time and money, they are a great option.
I have had the most success with small bullhead, but they can catch bigger catfish as well.
Honestly, I would recommend using marshmallows, but it is a fun experiment.
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