I tried to enter a comment but the site won’t let me. But it will let me start a new topic. So I’ll update my comments here.
The EBay fish meal arrived. I can’t fault EBay, but the product is lean on pure fish meal and heavy on crushed fish bones. There is NO fish odor, which is the quality gardeners want. This is not what I wanted but will live with it for now. Renno’s lures and baits out of Mifflinton (sp?) Pennsylvania has a much better product. His catalog arrived just after I ordered from EBay. I know for a fact Leroy Renno’s product is better because I’ve had it before. Lesson learned: wait for the good stuff!
This summer I’ll experiment a bit with different fish meal bait recipes. Fishing is fun but a fish meal paste, smeared on a stick/corncob on a fish stick is easier in my mind than grinding fish or having enough heads to put on fish sticks. It should be legal without having to cover it with grass or a coffee filter too. Smeared on a bridge abutment or wood piling would be fine during season. As the weather gets colder, a little glycerine would help keep it from freezing.
My basic recipe is fish meal, fish oil and something sweet. Set in a muddy puddle should show the tracks if anything is interested. If the test stick is gone with minimal tracks, I’ll also take that as a sign of interest. Fake deep and narrow pocket sets baited with this mixture should get wallowed out.
As far as getting cheap, easy to obtain fish based bait, it’s hard to beat Jack Mack. A 16-oz can is about $4 and it’s usable right from the store. Eight cans is $32 and it’s hard to find a prepared fish bait that’s any cheaper.
This summer is going to be interesting. I may end up a total failure with my testing. Or not. Time and sample baits will tell.
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