Baiting Structure

Does anyone bait their structure?

When I was around 15 or so my cousin and I would pickup the christmas trees that were put out by the road after christmas. Tie them to cinder blocks and use them for structure.

We would also tie a cheap can of dog food to the cinder block and punch lots of holes in it. The dog food (or so we would think would happen) would attract lots of minnows in turn attracting bigger crappie.

Those spots we dropped would always produce within a week or so and hold good amounts.

Just wondering if no one else thought of this or is there some law against it or is every one else also doing this and just not mentioning it?

I have heard of people using dog food & they swear it works. I know my dad used to use a can of condensed milk with a small hole in it. He would drop it down in some brush & then fish it about an hour or so later.

We buy dog food in the can by the case for summer and winter fishing. When the fish start to stack up we try to lure the minners to structure where we have caught em. With the price of can dog food going up we have started using these mesh laundry bags with a draw string filled with dry dog food and a brick with black nylon string tied to the bag so we can pull it up and refill as needed. We haven't fished any of these bags of gold yet, just put em out last week. I will report on the success or failure of this tactic. But the can dog food is a maint stay in my boat.

One of the things i have learned by having gamefish in aquariums is they can eat you out of house and home. I dont really buy the idea that one little can of dog/cat food is going to hold or draw fish for any period of time unless they are already nearby. In the ocean we chum with about 3 gallons of ground fish and it really draws what ever fish are nearby but when the chum dissapears the fish move on to forage as normal.

I have heard that cotton seed meal works real well. I am going to take some cottonseed meal and put it in some panty hose and drop it..

Years ago I worked for the National Guard and had access to left overs from the guard drill week-ends. I put almost anything in weighted mesh potato sacks and sunk them at specific spots and let them be for a couple of weeks.

Then, when my mother-in-law came up to fish, I always had a place where she could absolutely slay the crappie and 'gills.

I don't think dry dog food would last very long at all but would work for the short term if not in the main current.

aj

This has worked for me very well. Kullis bait cubes. They're freeze dried baitfish scraps or something like that. You can check it out at Welcome to Kastaway.com
http://www.kastaway.com/Fishing_Products.cfm

I have used pellet type sweet feed for horses , but the catfish usually move in big time.

Guys, I've used canned dog food on brush piles before (and canned cat food -- fish flavor). It is my belief that the "added attraction" doesn't actually draw crappie to the structure.. It draws "small bait fish" and plankton to the structure/attractant and that in turn draws the crappie and other game fish...

i use a five gallon bucket (with lid ) with 1/4 inch holes drilled in it everywhere full of dogfood i know it works

For a long time I have been trying to find cottonseed meal blocks but they are very hard to find these days. I finally decided to try a deer block and that seems to work pretty good. I also throw out cattle range cubes. During the summer I broadcast catfish food off my dock to feed the bluegills. I have shad and golden shinners all around my dock and I am sure the feeding is responsible.

I've had good success with alfalfa cubes ,cream corn and potatoe flakes cheaper the better.

I've heard lots of people using different grains...milo, oats, barley...in a simple weighted burlap sack. The burlap allows the grain to be sensed and they will eventually get through it. As said before will only work for a short time. Putting stuff like any of these mentioned out when you go camping would be a great idea. Put it out a few days before you get to the lake...then hit it!

What are some bait ideas that are longer lasting? Does anyone know how long the bait would last in a burlap sack?

I use the same fish food we use in the ponds for catfish, bluegill, bass, and wipers. It's the Purina Game Fish Food which has a scent attractant that game fish love. We mostly use it because it's what we have and know game fish love as well as bait fish. I only use a fist size for each new spot and it has proven it works right away for bait fish and crappie. It helps while the algae is starting.
LOL

Would the 5 gal. Bucket of dogfood work by itself or do you need the structure to go with it? Thought I might try dropping one in my boat slip.

I think that you wouldn't hold any big fish because of the way they relate to structure. You might get a few fish moving through feeding on the bait fish that your dog food will attract but without something for the big fish to hide in as a ambush point you won't see a lot of reward.
Put a block on a tree or two and tie them half way down the water column and use your dog food.
LOL

Thanks. I'm gonna try it soon as it warms up a little.

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Originally Posted by RIVERRATT

i use a five gallon bucket (with lid ) with 1/4 inch holes drilled in it everywhere full of dogfood i know it works

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WOULD IT LAST A FEW DAYS, A WEEK, A COUPLE OF WEEKS?? I GUESS WHAT I AM SAYING IS IF I PUT A 5 GALLON BUCKET IN THE WEEKEND WOULD IT STILL BE HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE THE NEXT WEEKEND? OR WOULD IT WORK BETTER IF IT WAS PUT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS EARLY? LIKE WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY BEFORE FISHING ON SATURDAY?

A bail of Timothy hay, sunken with weight and given a couple days will draw minnows very well for quite a long time. Or, take a bail, break it into 5 or 6 sections, and sink those in a larger area....takes a couple days to draw.

BF5 - I would suggest that you sink the bucket on Thursday and fish it on Saturday. The dog food will swell quickly and start attracting minnows, but it will also attract catfish and carp. The carp and cats will bump the bucket and suck on the holes. They will empty it in a matter of 1-2 days depending on the amount of food. People do not realize that a school of carp will REALLY work a bucket of chum over in short order. I have used a 4" PVC chum pot that I made and filled with soured soybeans. The pot was empty the next day. So what ever you do think short term or have the time to keep rebaiting the bucket. I would suggest you sink it on Friday night and fish it on Sat morning and rehit it during the day.

Will it attract gar? We have a lot of gar especially back up the creek channels in the still water. I think they're a lot of our problem - scaring off the crappie. They'll also get on my lines while trolling. Make a tangled mess of things. As one old fisherman once told me, they ain't good for nothin' except clubbing in the head with a boat paddle. I've actually seen a few guys out on the water stalking them that way.

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Originally Posted by Jefferylong

Will it attract gar? We have a lot of gar especially back up the creek channels in the still water. I think they're a lot of our problem - scaring off the crappie. They'll also get on my lines while trolling. Make a tangled mess of things. As one old fisherman once told me, they ain't good for nothin' except clubbing in the head with a boat paddle. I've actually seen a few guys out on the water stalking them that way.

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Gar eat fish and such, not attracted by feed. But the minnows will draw them like other predators.
Have you ever eaten Gar fillets? Don't knock em till you try some.;)

Hey Nimrod, those are some super slabs in your gallery! Where exactly is the lake you fish?

Haven't eaten Gar. Prefer Crappie. Did meet couple gar fisherman once who said they were great.

hey macon how exzctly would you sink hay
i got to think about that because i got 2 chirstmas trees right now
and kno of a couple other i could pick up
maybe poodle cut em and tie the hay to the actual tree in the cuts???

one man where i fish takes a 5 gallon bucket of wheat with him, when he gets done fishing that brushpile. He will use a folgers coffee can and fill it with wheat from the bucket and dumped it over the top of brushpile,just before he picks up his buoy maker. That it helps hold fish all year long

Will sinking hay draw in catfish and carp also or just baitfish?

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Originally Posted by SpeckWick

Hey Nimrod, those are some super slabs in your gallery! Where exactly is the lake you fish?

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South of Russellville about 30 miles and north of Hot Springs about 40 miles. We are in the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas.:D

http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTEx...193682&zoom=13

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Originally Posted by crappie_dan

Will sinking hay draw in catfish and carp also or just baitfish?

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Think about it , if it draws baitfish the predators will follow.;)

Wouldn't you think that just having good structure that would draw in the minnows for cover and food from the algae and such...I know I've sunk limbs and within hours had lots of small fry hiding in it.....I really don't think putting out something like dogfood would be very helpful for crappie, I think they are there or they are not...how long would it take to bring in the minnows first...then the predator fish that follow....i'm not sitting in one spot for long if I'm not catchin

If you filet your fish keep the remains and grind it up with one of those hand operated grinders and sink it in a mesh bag or take a 3 inch pvc and drill holes in it and hang it off your dock work great and you get rid of the remains at the same time.