Hey all have another question for you! Ya I know I am just full of questions…
This time it’s about Cut bait…
I have quite a bit of Carp meat in my freezers and I hoped to use it as cut bait and especially on catfish but I had a few questions.
How much should I use to get best results in your opinion? I know there is a 1 inch square restriction on the size but I was curious if you would say less is more like I hear many say.
Would you Suggest dragging it along the bottom or floating it weightless under a bobber? Any little bit of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance- Marine
(And a Special thanksto the wise man I pmed this too)
**First of all, you do not need to worry about the 1" rule except at Pineview. **
I am attaching some pics to show how I prepare carp meat. Basically, I fillet and skin the carp…and then slice out the rib bones. No need to leave the skin because the meat is tough enough to stay on the hook and the skin is difficult to hook and to remove from the hook after using.
I cross cut the fillets into strips about 1/2" or so wide. Then I freeze 4 or 5 of those strips in a small bag, with just enough water to keep out all air and prevent freezer burn. I seldom use a whole strip because I get fewer hooksets if the fish is just carrying the bait around in its mouth. I cut the bigger strips into two or three pieces and get a high percentage of hookups.
When the cats are in shallower water and in the reeds, fishing below a bobber is sometimes the most effective method of presenting carp meat. But, if you are covering a large area looking for them…or anchored or fishing from a bank…simply soaking it on the bottom may be best.
I usually drag a piece of carp meat around behind my tube…without any weight on the line. I leave the bail open on my reel and when a fish picks up the bait I let it run a ways before closing the bail and setting the hook. Some days the fish are more aggressive and gulp the bait down. Other days they play with it…picking it up and dropping it…and you need to time it right to set the hook.
First of all, you do not need to worry about the 1" rule except at Pineview. [/b] ]
and Newton. Them Musky waters…
Nice pix. But wha - you don’t trim out the dark strip? [angelic]
. . . actually bet it carries more “fishy” scent and blood anyway.
Now I just gotta figure out how to catch the danged Carp! Son hooked one up off a dock, and it took him for a ride. They are a lot more perceptive and elusive than one first thinks - with the way the flop and wallow. But they’re actually highly alert to shore movement, and when the decide to - boats. When they do take off - they’ve got somewhere to go!
Guess I gotta go pick up a lil’ Barbie pole.
So TD - what do the Kitties get onto now that the weather’s cooling? As the Crappie come into harbor - do the Kitties move out to midlakes from their warm summer shallows? I’m sure it depends on which lake, or stream, but just as far as targetting them this time of year - I don’t hear much talk of bringing up cats through the ice.
I know this is always the answer people get, but ask Tubedude about his hardtop catfishing trips out to UL. Lets just say they can and do get caught during the winter. If fish don’t eat they die…so are the walleye extinct? Because they won’t eat any of my lures![:p]
Nope. Don’t trim out the dark strip. Also do not rinse the fillets at all. Leave all the blood and flavor. Only a very small amount of water in the freezer bag. The more natural scent and flavor the better.
The cats in Willard can be found almost anywhere around the lake. Some head for the deeper holes. Others wander back into the harbors to feed on the leftovers from the other fishies that hang out there. Many will be in the same places they are during the summer…except for right in the rocks. Almost always at least 10 feet deep. Last year the magic depth was 13 feet just before iceup and quite a few cats were caught through the ice at about the same depth.
Channel cats slow down in cold water but they are active and feed all winter. Attached are a couple of pics from a January trip on Utah Lake last year. But I used to catch plenty of cats inside the north marina through the ice on Willard. Just don’t fish it as much anymore. Used to be only one of the two or three places open to ice fishing. Utah finally joined the rest of the civilized world and opened almost all of the waters to ice fishing.
I also hit Willard from the float tube as early as it is fishable each year…usually sometime in February at the south marina. Always catch grundles of kitties in the iceout water.
First of all, you do not need to worry about the 1" rule except at Pineview. ** ]
and Newton. Them Musky waters…
..and Johnson. Also, you can’t have more than 1 piece of bait on the hook.
Tubedud – why don’t you leave the skin on your fillets? I leave the skin on. The bait stays on much better with the skin. In fact, some days you can go a whole day using a single piece of bait.
Also – those pics you put up, holy crap!! Remember, this is BAIT! This stuff is NOT going on your dinner table. The Dude makes carp look like it’s gourmet fillets! (removing the rib cage? Why? It’s bait!)
anyway – I’m sure that Dude’s post was a very helpful article for the person that asked the question. Nice job dude.
Tubedud – why don’t you leave the skin on your fillets? I leave the skin on. The bait stays on much better with the skin. In fact, some days you can go a whole day using a single piece of bait.
Also – those pics you put up, holy crap!! Remember, this is BAIT! This stuff is NOT going on your dinner table. The Dude makes carp look like it’s gourmet fillets! (removing the rib cage? Why? It’s bait!)
**I DO leave the skin on perch meat and white bass meat. But carp meat is so firm that it virtually never comes off the hook unless I peel it off. And I NEVER use a piece of carp meat for more than one fish. I even change it out if I have been dragging it around a while and have not gotten a bite. I may poke a few holes in it with a knife (to release more scent) and drag it a bit longer, but once it has been throughly munched by a kitty I serve up a new slice. I maintain a good supply of carp meat and don’t have to ration it carefully. I catch a lot more fish by keeping the bait fresh and flavorful. **
I use smaller hooks than a lot of cataholics. I generally use size 4 or size 2 hooks and pin the bait through one end of the carp meat…with the hook point exposed. This allows the bait to “articulate” and makes for better hooksets. I don’t miss many, and a high percentage get the hook right in the corner of the mouth.
The whole method I use for fishing carp meat is part of the reason for the “fancy” fillet job. I serve up only prime fillet…not prime ribs. My theory is that when fish chomp down on soft tasty fish meat they are more likely to hold on to it. A mouth full of heavy carp ribs slows down the acceptance process. True, catfish are not known for having delicate dining habits but sometimes they are more selective than others. I HAVE had far more “pop and drops” on bony bait than on “TD tenderized” tidbits.
I am sure there are folks (like yourself) who scoff at my “foo foo” bait preparation. But those who join me on the water usually witness how much better it works over a full day of fishing. The only time I EVER get outfished on kittyfish is by TubeBabe…usually using the same gourmet carp strips.
Well thanks TubeDude after reading your answer I drove out to Farmington Pond just for a bit of morning fun. Turned out to be a good move. Caught my personal largest Catfish out of a pond and it was on carp bait prepared like you have shown.
As usual you were right on and I finally got my catfish for the season. No joke that guy has been avoiding me all summer and fall and I finally stopped aiming for them till today. Thanks TD
I don’t fish any of the lakes with size restrictions so I just cut my bait in about a inch to a inch and a half strips. I then try to cut the strips into as many pieces about the same size as the strip was. I leave the skin on as it holds on to the hook really well. Some days I remove the bones others I don’t. Freeze in a little water to cut down on freezer burn and they are ready to go.
As far as cut bait, minnows - catching minnows - guess I’m still a bit puzzled on the regs.
There are certain “baitfish” that can be caught and used as minnows. Chubs, carp, - but not shad?
Some other fish can be used as cut-bait: carp (nicely filleted - maybe a sprinkle of some TD’s pepper mix), suckers in some places - not in others, white-bass, perch, - but you can’t use trout or bass minnows or meat? Do I have that right/confused? Likely.
I know some waters have their own flavor of peculiarity, the musky and minimal chop-size. But I guess I don’t understand all the philosophy behind it all. More to learn.
The simplest answer is that you cannot use any “protected” or regulated species as bait…unless specific exemptions are spelled out in the regulations. Carp, chubs, shiners, fathead minnows and a few others are not protected and may be taken by the methods spelled out in the annual proclamation. This includes traps, nets, etc…and bows, spears or other means for carp.
Other species…such as perch and white bass…are protected species and subject to regulations. But, in some waters it is permitted to use them for bait because they are so prolific and because they are a forage species as well as “game fish”. As a general rule, you can use them for bait in any water they are found naturally…but with restrictions…such as the 1 sq. inch rule on muskie waters. There are also some exclusions on yellow perch, such as not being able to use them in Bear Lake even though perch are a listed species for that lake.
Utah suckers (species) can be harvested wherever you find them and used in just about any waters except Utah Lake…where you can’t possess any suckers in any form. The June Sucker thing.
I still can’t understand the ban on the use of shad in any water except Lake Powell…even dead ones. Another Utah anomaly…like not being able to fish for carp with corn…in non-trout waters. Whenever you ask a DWR person about those things you get a lot of eye rolling and stammering about various studies and reasons why it can’t be done. None of which seems to apply to any other states in the country. We do a lot of things funny in Utah.
Is Wyoming a state now? Oh yeah…the state of Confusion…right next to the state of Hysteria (Utah).
I realize I am being a bit harsh on good 'ol Utah. I have fished a whole lot of other states and they all have their laws that make you scratch your head and say “Hmmmmm”.
I don’t know how anybody gets in any fishing in California. So many variations in the rules on different waters you spend all your time reading and not fishing.
In all fairness, we really do not have it bad here. In fact we got it pretty good. Of all the places I have plunked down and bought a fishing license Utah offers more diverse fishing and more GOOD fishing than just about any other state in the country. And all that has been put together and managed by a hardworking group of folks (DWR) who are probably the most poorly paid and underappreciated fisheries management people in our entire nation.
Still…a few hinky things on the regulations that make good targets for friendly snarkiness.
I release most of the fish I catch, except for carp. Anyone have a good fast method for killin carp. I hate to just leave it on shore to suffer and die but dislike the repeated blunt force trauma method.
I remember hearing something about how saltwater fishing captains pour alcohol on the gills to quickly kill the fish. Probably not a bad way to kill a fish that is to nasty or to dangerous to handle. On the negative side it is a horrible waste of perfectly good booze… it wont happen on my watch.[;)] [fishin]
You could always just cut the gills and bleed them out. That can be pretty messy sometimes.
saltwater fishing captains pour alcohol on the gills
No no no - waste of good booze, or even bad booze. Pour the alcohol on (in) the fisherman, you may not catch fish, but you’ll catch a buzz!
and then - yeah - slit the gills is quick, but be set for a mess.
Depending on the size you can “brain” a fish without the blunt force bashing, which doesn’t always put them right down (some catfish just don’t wanna quit!) - and nomatter how stupid you may think a fish is, you stop their CNS, and you stop the flop.
I release most of the fish I catch, except for carp. Anyone have a good fast method for killin carp. I hate to just leave it on shore to suffer and die but dislike the repeated blunt force trauma method.
The fastest and most humane way to dispatch any fish is with a whack on the noggin. But that is not always the most soul-satisfying…especially when it comes to carpkind.
Here is a collection of pics of some of the ways I have “recycled” carp. Of course they were not always completely lifeless when I “released them unharmed”. But it can be safely assumed that there was a high mortality rate.
Warning: Graphic pics to follow. Carp were definitely harmed in the making of these pictures.
Funniest pic names to actual pics ever. Maybe, or more than likely i’m a little disturbed. The released unharmed pic had me rolling. I have never seen carp insides, couldn’t believe how many eggs were in there! Its no wonder they go can take over water so fast.
**First of all, you do not need to worry about the 1" rule except at Pineview. **