It can be exhausting and sometimes even expensive to learn how to catch big catfish. Because mega-cats or whiskered warriors, as they are sometimes referred to, can bust rods, straighten hooks, snap heavy line, and ruin equipment overall, it can get frustrating trying to hook and keep a trophy-sized catfish.

Of course, depending on what type of catfish you are searching for, the term "big" is definitely relative, but learning how to catch big catfish simply begins with being patient and taking tips from others who have success stories.

Because trophy-sized cats don't appear on a daily basis, it takes a lot of patience to find what you are looking for. While you can find heavyweights of various types in many waters, it doesn't guarantee that there is an over abundance of them.

Keep in mind that many of the largest catfish are extremely old and may even outdate those who are trying to catch them, meaning that they've had lots of time to practice avoiding the hook. Large fish tend to become even shier and more elusive as the years pass, making them all the more difficult to find.

However, combine patience - especially since you can spend several hours without catching anything in your attempt to find big catfish - with persistence and you may get lucky. In your search for a trophy, you should be prepared to get comfortable on the lake or river where you've decided to make your attempt.

Take with you a comfortable seat, food and drink (carry a cooler to keep everything fresh), and some good insect repellent. Also, you may not want to go it alone, since you may be spending some long days and nights on the water and will begin to crave companionship. Perseverance is a must because without keeping bait in the water, you will never be able to catch that trophy-worthy catfish.

Because catfishing used to be considered a strictly nighttime sport, how to catch a big catfish was always thought to be a no-brainer. However, it's become clear that catching a large specimen can occur at anytime, day or night.

The real question is where and how to go about it. For example, you can find catfish in clear waters, and in these areas, you are probably most likely to catch a winner at night (catfish prefer a darker environment). However, if you frequent the more muddied and colored waters in the rivers and lakes that provide the best catfish, you have just as much chance of finding your prize winner at high noon as you do in the wee hours of the morning.