Well rather than going back out after ducks tonight Biggriggs and his son and I went a minnowing. Hit the marina with the cast net for half an hour or so. No huge hauls, but steady consistent 8-16 fish per throw. Ended up with half a bucket of carp minnows from 3.5-6.6". So lots of different sized fish. It was really fun and now we have bait. Later J
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Sounds like you and griggs had a nice haul Jeff. It makes me wonder if someone were to catch shad in the lower section of the Bear, if they could be kept for bait[:/]. Seems like this subject has come up before but I don't remember the answer.[crazy]
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[#0000FF]Gizzard shad are kryptonite to DWR. No possession of live or dead shad are allowed away from Lake Powell...and gizzard shad are totally verboten. But you can use dead threadfin shad at Powell.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The only exception is the "processed" shad you can buy preserved in plastic packages. But because they are preserved in a formaldehyde solution they smell even worse than usual and do not catch much.
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Hey Curt, yup it was a bunch of carp for sure... I think we got several hundred, I was a little disappointed with the size... Seems like a lot of them are too big, so I may have to cut them in half to make them eatable to the cats on finicky days... Did get some in the just right size, but I froze them, so I was fishing with the 5"ers the other day and didn't have but one taker.... Oh well, we'll figure out how to use them anyway... Was a lot of fun throwing the net and bringing in the haul... Later J
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[#0000FF]You gotta cut those larger carplets in half and use "heads or tails". Cats like both but for some reason I seem to have better luck with the head portion. Must be because "the eyes have it". At any rate, cutting the bait in half increases the scent attraction. On the smaller chubs and carplets I use the point of a knife to poke holes in the whole baits...and that seems to help a lot too.
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Thanks Pat,
I seem to have better luck with the heads as well... when I've used partial fish... unless it's cisco at Bear Lake, then they like the tails... for me anyway... Hadn't thought about the scent trail being better for the cut fish, but I'm sure that's true especially where I typically don't do anything to my minnows to leak more scent... I'll have to try that and see if it helps... Thanks Jeff
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[#0000FF]There have been a whole lot of times when after not getting any love on a larger minnow I cut it half and get bit quickly. Ditto for bringing in an unmolested whole minnow and poking some holes in it before throwing it back out...and go bendo.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Most fish are heavily scent-oriented, but that is especially true for kitties. However, I have also caught quite a few wipers, walleyes and other species after "smellifying" my bait.
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LOL, yea I remember getting one of those formaldehyde solution packages of shad, it was a waste of money for sure. I guess the DWR can't take the chance but in certain bodies of water, I can't see that it would made any difference if the shad got down stream, like Willard, the lower section of the Bear river and Lake Powell but I guess they just can not take that chance.
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[#0000FF]Criminal minds will find a way to slip through any little loophole DWR might leave. So it is best to slam the door and lock it.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]What? That's not a chub minnow? Honest, I didn't know those silvery ones were not legal to use.
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I ditto everything TD said. My only addition is that if you cut the bigger ones into three parts the middle section exudes twice as much scent. And from my limited experience I have had good luck with just the head, not so much the tail section.
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Looking forward to splitting the bait next trip out.... Hope I can find something that's still moving fast enough to grab a hold... Thanks for the tips... J
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Ya know I've never had much luck with center sections of bait fish... I buy your thoughts, but seems like it's harder to keep that section on my hook and I've just done better with either end... Most of my experience is with Cisco on Bear Lake and it seems like I never catch much on the midsections.... Almost worth just cutting them in half, even though my limited supply of cisco won't last as long that way, but lately I haven't made it over as often as I'd like to... so I just as well use more bait so it doesn't get freezer burned too bad... Guess I need to get over there and burn up the last of my cisco before the next season starts... Always nice to need an excuse to go fishing... Later J
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Have you ever used anchovies or mackeral for catfish? Thought I might try something different in these waning days.
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[#0000FF]Most of the oily salt water fish make good bait for catfish. These include mackerel, anchovies and sardines. In my experience, they often work well but no better than local natural baits...and sometimes not as well. But adding sardine or mackerel oil scents to carp meat or white bass meat can sometimes get you more action.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Actually, there are very few fishes that catfish won't eat if presented as bait. If you can find an Asian market with a seafood section you will find a lot of unusual species...some very inexpensive...and most will work as bait.
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I haven't used any of the salt water bait fish for cats, I have had my FIL want to use sardines, but they were processed and soft so they wouldn't stay on the hook...
I'm assuming you have a source of raw semi fresh or frozen bait fish.... If so I'd expect them to work like Pat mentions.. I really don't depart much from good ole carp minnows, fathead minnows if I can find them and cut bait carp and night crawlers... Once in a while if I've been fishing with Pat I'll have some chubs... Those are my favorites... So nothing too exciting in my bait closet... (Wish I would have joined Mike and caught some suckers during the spawn, but I ended up cutting hay instead.)
I used to use chicken liver, which worked well, but was always stinky and rotten, so I gave that gross stuff up...
This time of year I've had fatheads at times and done the best with them, if they are fresh, not frozen... They get soft if frozen... I'd also pick up crappie while fishing for cats with the fatheads... always a nice side benefit... Probably a good time to try night crawlers again, they seem to work well when you can keep the mudcats away from stealing all your bait...
Anyway that was more info than you asked for, or wanted, sorry... J
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Yup, we have an Asian market at 5th West and Center in Provo. They have frozen mackeral at $2.99 a pound. Will be fun to see what all they have (window shopping). If I can find a suschi place I might see if they have any heads they are discarding. The reason I am looking for such bait is that all my regular baitfish have been frozen and thawed a bit much to be the highest quality, at least that's what the cats seem to be trying to tell me.
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[#0000FF]As with a lot of potential bait fish, mackerel can get soft after being frozen...or "long time no sea". You will be able to keep it on the hook better by winding on some thread after pinning it on the hook. But if you get good fresh not previously frozen mackerel it should be firmer.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Anchovies can also get soft after freezing. But if you wrap the hook around the spine it stays on the hook better. And if you use the head section that gives you something more solid to get a good hook placement.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The other tactic you can use on previously frozen fish...from fresh water or salt...is to lay out the fillets to be used for bait...flesh side up. Then sprinkle them generously with sea salt or kosher salt. Let them sit awhile and the salt will draw out moisture and firm up the flesh. Also, salt is a natural attractant for many species.
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I like salt on my fish also... guess that makes me a sucker... Later
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[#0000FF]Yeah. You could star in that new movie "Puckerlips Now".
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I was hoping to find a career in stardom.... Maybe I should give it a try... Later J
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