How to Make Catfish Baskets & Traps

Cut out four 1-foot by 4-foot and five 1-foot by 1-foot sections of chicken wire fencing with a pair of metal snips. Cut an 8-inch square out of the center of four of the 1-foot by 1-foot pieces. Lay one 1-foot by 4-foot section on flat surface such as a cement slab or a table. With metal wire, attach one of the pieces you cut the square out of to the end of the 1-foot side of the piece laid on a flat surface. You project should appear as a long piece of wire fence with a short piece attached to the end, which folds up and down.

Attach the other three sections you cut the square holes out of at the 1-foot point, the 2-foot point and the 3-foot point of the 1-foot by 4-foot piece. Do this in the same manner as you attached the first piece. Attach the remaining 1-foot by 1-foot piece without a square cut out of it to the other end of the 1-foot by 4-foot piece. Your project should now appear as a 4-foot long piece of fencing with five flaps you can flip up and down.

Place another section of 1-foot by 4-foot fencing next to the first long piece and connect them every 4 inches with metal wire. Fold the new section upward so that the two long pieces resemble an "L" shape. Fold each 1-foot flap so that it's standing straight up and attach them one at a time to the top of the "L." Install another wire tie 6 inches down on each small piece for support. You project should now look like two long sections of fence in an "L" shape, with five smaller sections standing straight up.

Attach another 1-foot by 4-foot section to the other side, then one to the top. Install metal ties every 4 inches as you did earlier. You should now have a long fence box with an opening in front, three passageway openings and a closed fence back. Remove the ties on three sides of the uncut small section so that it flaps downward. Use metal wire to attach a hook and your choice of bait to the inside of the end piece and reattach it. When you catch a catfish, you can detach the metal ties on the end, take your catch, reset the bait, reattach and try again.