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OK guys I got a question for you.How and what are some things that can be used to bait a crappie hole to hold and attract crappie.I've heard some people say dog food and other thingd what would be the process for doing this,example how much would you sink and how often,how much time should you wait between the time you bait a spot and the time you actually fish that spot,and also is it legal? Come on everyone there has to be someone on the site that knows some good secrets to pass along.
I hired a guide in Toledo Bend several yrs ago and asked him the same question.He told me he has heard of people baiting brushpiles with rice cakes.I heard it again from someone else not too long ago.Maybe try calling a local feed store and see if they have them.I guess placing several cakes in an onion sack with a brick and chunk it over!:D
Man, I have heard about as many diffrent crappie attracters as crappie jigs. I have heard, and tried most of these. Dogfood both dry and canned, Fish Meal, Rice, Cottenseed meal, Alfalfa Hay (havn't tried only because I couldn't get any), and others I can't remember. The best thing I have found is to sink willow branches for brush piles. It seems habitat is the best attractant. There was a thread about a year ago on this subject and if you search you can most likely find it. There are also may threads on building habitat, with pics that are really good. Hope this helps.
I would try different things mentioned. You are not attracting Sacs ,you are attracting Minnows and grass shrimps to the food. That in turn brings Sacs. I myself use horse and mule feed with molassas in it. Terrerific bait. The sweetness of the molassas ferments and draw minnows and grass shrimp by the thousands. Willow branches are good also. IF THEY HAVE CANE SYRUP ON IT BEFORE YOU SINK IT. Don't tell anybody I told you this. Good luck.
I have seen a rectangle constructed of pvc pipe with many ribs of pvc
pipe in between and verticle pieces off of the main ribs,make sure the
pvc pipes will go through the holes in a brick(s) which you will use to
sink this contrapsion,after you drill plenty of small holes 1/4 so it will take
on water and sink.Sorry I don't have a picture but I hope this helps.
Tree Fishing
I really feel no bait is needed as long as a well placed structure is placed in the RIGHT SPOT. Bamboo works for me. Bait hides good in this thick structure and it holds crappie nearby.;):)
As far as dog food, people typically get a fairly large pvc pipe and strap it to a tree or pier with openings on each side. The top having a cap and the bottom having a small holed net to hold the food and allowing the food to slowly sleep through it attracting the bait fish. Also you can buy a 50lb bag of rice brand, which comes in white threaded bags, not paper, and just sink it in your spot. This is a little easier bc there's no preparation, the food can come out of the bag on its on so you just have to attach something to it to sink it and you're done.
I will answer your questions for you :)
I know several professional guides who use "baiting."
Now if it's ethical or not is beyond me, I don't want to argue it. I just know that when they have a paying customer come here from another state and they don't catch any crappie its super bad for their business. So they will do whatever it takes to make sure their customer is put on some fish and catches a boatload.
Here's what they do to guarantee a catch in almost any weather or day of the week. They use home-made structure and mealcakes in combination. Structure consists of taking a plastic mop bucket bought cheaply for 4$ at the dollar general store and filling it with quickcrete. Before the concrete has a chance to dry you shove a bunch of bamboo down into it. Bamboo needs to be around 4-5 feet in length and its ok if the leaves are on it. In fact its better to leave them on.
Let the concrete dry and then take the buckets to your fav spot and drop them slowly over the side of the boat.
Now as far as baiting goes, there is no better product than meal cakes. Some feed stores sell them locally and even market them as fishbait. However call around first because not every feed store has them.
The mealcakes are compacted tightly and slowly release in the water attracting baitfish by the multitudes. Wherever there is baitfish, crappie and bass will definantly follow.
PLEASE NOTE: If your local store doesn't have mealcakes they most certainly will have "Range Cubes" which is basically the same thing and works equally as well. Range cubes are 2-3 inch long pellets that they feed cattle. you can buy them in 50 pound sacks for around $7 a sack. Make sure to ask for 20% range cubes as the other types will dissolve too quickly in water.
If all else fails you can buy mealcake here:
Mealcake.com -Old Fashion Mealcake & Hoggum Concentrated
Now, if it's catfish your after, go to the everything's a buck store and buy that really cheap canned dog food. The kind that is 4 for a dollar. It's nasty stuff trust me, lol my dog wont even eat it.
Take about 8 cans and go to a spot on your fav lake and use an icepick to stab about 5 holes in the top of the can and 5 holes in the bottom of the can. Then chunk the cans overboard. You want to sort of throw them out to make a big circle.
Now come back the next day and you will catch tons of catfish like you have never seen. You can fish there over the cans as soon as you throw them out but it takes a while for the food to start seeping out of the cans. Usually a couple hours and the water is saturated.
Dont put anymore than 5-7 holes in the top and bottom because the idea is for it to be a slow leak so it lasts longer.
but is it legal?
Yes it's legal, it's the same as chumming catfish.
Team m&m got it down pat but he left out a couple of things. there nothing like building them dropping them when the temp around 100 while everybody else is under the ac. then when cooler weather arrive and its time to fish them you get out there.and there a couple of boats setting on top of um pulling um in one after another. and five other boats just waiting to get in there and all you can do is set back and watch how your hard work paid off.john
Baiting has not been successful for me to many catfish in lake when top is full of catfish not many crappie can hang as for as camojohn and people finding my tops goes I just put out a lot of tops and try not to let it bother me when a few get found I primarily use cedar tops not all are sucessful its all about location location location only my opinion but good fisheman will find your top and hopefully he will not set up camp on it so that you can fish it at another time.
Noslab
question about the range cubes,do you just throw them out like floating catfish food,or put them in a bag and sink them,do they float or do they sink.
I put some range cubes out in a old crawfish sacks ,old sock any thing and put them in front of old tree tops or the cottenseed meal cake . the net company in jonesville sells some stuff to bait with already in a bag about 30 $ a box it it works well . you need to put some kind of wieght on any of it .
and yes don't let anyone see you are see pulling fish out .I mostly fish smaller bodies of water so I can hide from everyone But everything that has been writen will work good luck
As far as bags go, crawfish bags work great, same as the big onion sacks etc. Some grocery stores if you ask the produce department will save their old onion sacks for you as they usually throw them away.
One alternative if your hard-pressed to find any is to go to the Dollar general store and go back to the laundry section. They sell big mesh laundry bags with a draw string on it. They are usually around $2-$3 and would probably work great.
thanks guys for all the input,I will have to give it a try and see what kind of results I get.
do you guys throw the sacks near the top on top of the top or to the sides of the top. i have always wondered that. i have thrown them near it like 15 20 feet away so i don't get hung on them if i am fishing close to the bottom.
also Alfalfa Hay is awesome. but it takes a little secret to make it work. you have to put it in your sack and pack it tight. then water it down in your yard and let it start to rot. once it has started take it out and drop it. this will attract zooplankton and plankton which gets a feeding frenzy going with shiners. once you have that going hang on because the fish will be right behind them. i use this a lot for night fishing and green lights. talk about some fun. it is a little bit of work but it is worth every part of it.
Treman,
My name is CK the crappie King ....
When Cat fishing, I use Range cubes in a bag tied to the boat. Passing boats shake the bag, Other cubes thrown around Followed with Deer Corn. I fish the inside bends of curves Tied off to Trees
Don't waste your time or money. Tried them all. Like noslab said build structure & location location location.
I know that this is an old post, but yesterday I was at one of my fishing holes n a guy pulled up n asked if I had a bite n I told him that I was out there almost an hr n nothing. At 1st I only noticed the 3/4 drive ratchet he had in his hand then he said this will get em to biting n pulled out some type of can that appeared to be dog food but he went to another pocket not far from me n poked some holes in it then I heard the big splash. But I moved to a different section n realized I had some crackers in my truck so I threw some out n the lil fish was tearing em up but I never noticed any bass well except for the 2 or 3" ones. But I was wondering if I was to do the same thing with Spam if it would aattract the lil fish just not sure how the "jelly" would keep it from draining.
Champlin Net Company in Jonesville has soybean cakes, Cotton seed cakes, and some super duper cheese, corn, and soy bean compressed logs. The Fish Net Company LLC has the same stuff too.
Cotton seed meal cakes work good but best thing I have found is to sink a bale of pure alfalfa hay......it will last all year.
In regard to going natural, a friend who caught tons of white perch on Black Lake and Saline Lake near Clarence told me that his secret was to make sunken tops out of sweet gum saplings in the early spring when the leaves are just starting to form. He claimed the leaves attracted the grass shrimp. Like others have said, he put out dozens of tops because there's a lot of hit and miss in hitting the right spot.
All that stuff does, imo, is draw catfish and I don't care for them. Big cats
will really mess up the crappie fishing
I use cotton seed meal in a cheese cloth bag. Get the cheese cloth that is a tube shape. Tie a knot in it fill with meal tie another knot. tie a string on a knot with a 1/2 brick. place in a gal. ziplock bag. Catch a few in a top drop a bag come back later and check it out I have had these work for two weeks or more.
So, some of you are throwing metal dog food cans into the lake with no way to retrieve them?? No wonder I have so much trash wash up on my bank!
I have done the dog food thing for cats also, but I screw a small eyelet into the can and tie a string to it with a bottle on the end so when I am done fishing, or the can is empty, I can pull the can back up and dispose of it.
Very good point bassadict69.