We had an eight inch catfish in our tank for quite a while, and he would stay low under the rocks during the day, and then venture out a little at night. Well he must of been in there for four months or so, when one day I opened the shop and saw the head of that little cat sticking out of the mouth of our six pound bass. The only reason the bass didn't swallow him was because his barbel(spine or whatever) was sticking through the bass' gill cover. It had impaled the bass through the inside of the bass' mouth and out the side of his face. It took a few more hours for the bass to dislodge the cat, but when he did, the bass sucked him back down head first.

I can imagine that catfish stockings can benefit bag bass during the summer, and could probably improve a nighttime topwater bite as those little cats roam the surface after dark. BMC, that swimbait you bought today might be the right one to test this theory. Although it seems to me that a day bite for catfish-seeking bass might be better explored with cranks, sinking swimbaits or other bottom bouncing baits. I know one thing, bass will eat anything that fits in their mouth, and spines, bones, hard shells or whatever possible prey has to protect themselves, nothing seems to work as a defense against a hungry bass.