I fished red river for those big cats right bellow the dam. I used big chunks of liver and a really heavy sinker. I was fishing from shore of the wall and had some success.
Little bullheads just would not leave my bait.
There was a guy fishing with us last year down at fishmasters and he swore by smelly sucker bait, he even had one that he let rot a little bit and was catching fish lol.
Nasty sight for sure.
Fresh bait works as well, worked for us anyways.