This channel catfish is a perfect example of using three- to four-day-old cut-bait that was
packed in ice. On this day, older bait was preferred over that prepared just a day before.
Why Aged Cut-Baits May Catch More Catfish
by Brad Durick
Bait is the biggest challenge for catfish anglers, but is live bait always best?
When it comes to catfish bait, fresh is always best, they say. Anglers go to the ends of the earth to keep bait alive and kicking to the point that there is an entire industry built around keeping bait fresh. But, while fresh bait is great, is it really the absolute best? Here are a few ideas and observations that say otherwise.
As a catfish guide in the North, I purchase a lot of my bait and store it to ensure we get bait between deliveries to the bait shop. It is critical that the baitfish stay alive and healthy. When managing tanks, there will always be a few dead ones to be dealt with that died for some reason or another.
I would always grab the few dead suckers out of the tank in the morning. These were iced down and used before I dipped into my bait bucket for fresh live suckers. Many days, I would start the day out hot, catching fish and having happy guests. Generally, about noon, my dead suckers would run out, and the bite would fall off. I always thought this related to time of day until one day when I had a fish kill that left me with several days’ worth of dead bait to deal with.
What I quickly figured out was that there was no mid-day lull. In fact, the catfish were reacting better to the dead bait than they did to the fresh cut. Since figuring this out, I have experimented with what happens, why this works and if it works best some times and not others.
What Happens to Bait When it Dies?
When you cut into a live fish, you get a pool of blood on the cutting board. Because the vessels are still open when the bait hits the water, they emit an instant scent trail. This is good for catching nearby fish, but it also washes out faster, meaning a shorter scent trail for possibly sluggish fish to find.
After a baitfish dies, its blood thickens and gets absorbed into the meat. This is part of the decomposition process. When using a bait that has been dead 12 to 18 hours, most of the blood has been absorbed, and it keeps sending out a mostly fresh bait scent. This scent lasts much longer because it takes more time for the water to wash it out of the bait.
I have experimented with dead bait packed in ice up to six days. I find that three days is about the limit for successful use of these baits, and I prefer bait to be dead 18 to 36 hours for maximum catch rates.
Frozen Baits? Well, Sometimes
Bait Prep
Intentionally killing bait does have some science to it. I try to kill only what I will need for the next guide trip, plus a little extra. Most of the time, this is eight to 10 mid-sized suckers per day. Take them from the tank and put them in a Ziploc bag, then try to get as much air and water out of the bag as you can. Pack them in a cooler so they are surrounded by ice on all sides, and make the bag as flat as you can to ensure all fish are in the ice. Always rotate oldest stock to newest to eliminate as much waste as possible. When dealing with lots of bait, you may even want to label the bags with time stamps.
Nobody ever wants to throw good bait away. Sometimes there is no option but to freeze unneeded bait to have it for a later trip. But freezing changes everything in bait. The blood vessels break, and the texture of the meat changes. Catfish seem to know when bait has been frozen and many times will ignore it. I try to avoid using frozen bait whenever possible, except in early spring when catfish are feeding on the dead from the long winter and when the water temperature exceeds 80 degrees.
Again, somewhat by accident, I figured out that when the water temperature reaches a sustained 80 degrees, the bait preference changes from fresher baits to frozen baits. I have experimented with this for more than a decade, and it holds true. When the water temps get into the low to middle 80s and above, the water washes scent from fresh baits almost instantly. Even fresh dead won’t last as long because the hot water will dissolve the scents quicker. When putting a frozen bait on your hook, it takes a moment for the bait to thaw, sending a longer scent trail to the catfish.
When I say frozen bait, I mean frozen. Let it thaw only enough to get a knife through to allow hook placement, and try to keep unused bait as frozen as you can because, once thawed, it is ruined. Also, keep in mind that water this hot still washes frozen bait out fairly quickly and, since it was frozen, the flesh becomes soft, meaning you should consider changing bait more often than you normally would.
Next time you are getting ready to go fishing, keep these thoughts in the back of your head. Sometimes fresh isn’t best, sometimes frozen is, and sometimes just simply paying attention to small details in your bait can help you put a few more fish in the boat.
(Captain Brad Durick is a nationally recognized catfish guide on the Red River of the North, seminar speaker and author of the books Cracking the Channel Catfish Code and Advanced Catfishing Made Easy. For more information go to www.redrivercatfish.com.)
