I just read your comment in the Channel Cat photo thread.
MOST guys up here in MN haven't used much stink bait, including myself.
I've used Sonny's Super Sticky and a couple other brands (that I don't remember because they didn't seem to work any better than Sonny's)
With the water temps in the 80's up here, now is the time for stink baits and I was hoping you could shed some light on the different brands and their effectiveness.
We have some guys out of Everts that buy it by the 5 gallon pail and that's all they use. Personally, I like it for a searching tool. No bites in 10 - 15 minutes and I'm off to a new spot.
Anyone else use stink baits regularly? Make sure you post a link to the companies website too!
I think stinks area often over looked in our neck of the woods because they are thought of as a little fish catcher.
Quote: I think stinks area often over looked in our neck of the woods because they are thought of as a little fish catcher.
Guys at Everts this last week had channels in the 14 - 17 lb rangs every day... all on stink bait. Stink bait might catch small cats but the big ones don't seem too opposed to the stuff based on what I've seen over the past 10 years from the channel cat crowd that frequents Everts.
-------------------- James Holst - In-Depth Outdoors TV Host IDA Guides Guide Service
Ph. 507-271-0362
My buddy JAKOB and I used tons of Sonnys last year. We made balls out of it and threw them on trebble hooks. We also used a different kind, the name escapes me now. It was the dip bait that you put in the tubes. We always seemed to do pretty well. We landed plenty of 8 to 10 pound channels on the stuff. We tried it earlier this season with no luck, looks like I'll be giving it a try next time out!
If you're going to use that horrible stuff, you should try out these rigs. They hold an incredible amount of that stinky goo. The guy sent me some samples once and they were impressive.
Ahh the Looper hook. Recommended by the owner of Sonny's.
He was going to send a couple to me too...but I think he forgot.
That's what I'm talking about James. These guys come from hundreds of mile away with using...mainly Sonny's and catch a ton of channels.
Ok RyanK...I have to ask...how does a person make "balls" out of Sonny's and be let back into the house? Freeze it maybe?
I got a kick out of Bob Moore a couple summers ago. He asked the question..."why when customers come into my shop, turn the cover off of the Sonny's, get a good wiff and say WOW that's some bad smelling stuff...they always open it one more time and smell again".
Personally, I kinda like the smell of "cheesy vomit".
Quote: If you're going to use that horrible stuff, you should try out these rigs. They hold an incredible amount of that stinky goo. The guy sent me some samples once and they were impressive.
-------------------- "We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are always there for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you." -Jeff Warner
my list of favorite dip baits is short and not-so-sweet:
1 - hoss's hawg bait
2 - sonny's super sticky
hope i didnt insult your best friend (sonny) there brian, but i have gradually shifted my preference to hoss. i was a sonnys man for years but tried hoss when it came out a few years back. its produced locally in a small town near peoria.
i still usually have a jar of sonnys in the boat and there are days it catches more.
as for stink bait only catching little fish, well, when we are fishing with dip bait we are looking for action and/or some fish for a fry. plus the SO (significant other) doesnt have the patience to walleye fish. cut bait or shad is better if you are looking for really big fish, but we consistently catch 2 to 10 pounders on stink bait. just anchor up above a wing dam or brush pile or on a channel edge and letter 'er fly.
if no hits in 15 minutes or so, move. theres been times we only move a boat length or two in or out on the winger and start hammering them.
i like the looks of those loopers. we use tube worms - surgical tubing with holes punched in it with a treble on the end. holds lots more cheese than the ribbed worms.
a good story goes with the pix here of the "small" fish i posted on the cat forum. we were set up on a channel edge for about 5 minutes when the 6 pounder on the left smacked a cheese worm baited with hoss. a couple of reel cranks later, the 5 pounder on the right hammered my other pole rigged with sonnys. my buddy got to reel him in.
btw, brian, did you ever use that jar of hoss i gave you last summer?
heres the link to hoss' web site. their bait has been getting a lot of local press lately (http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/
article/dipbait_sweep_makes_friends/) as the bait for some tournament winners.
http://members.aol.com/hawgbait/
I talked with the owner of Sonny's once on the phone...seemed like a straight shooter.
He told me if he was in a tourney, he would use cutbait...but for numbers Stink.
Quote: brian, did you ever use that jar of hoss i gave you last summer?
That was YOU!
I'll be honest, I used it once...then because I wasn't fishing for channels last year, I gave it to a cat guy to try...and now I can't recall who he was.
Now I'll have to try that again...along with a secret recipe that I recieved via email...encoded.
I was being sarcastic. Those are some fine kitties. I hope to post a pic after this weekend of a small Sonny's kitty. I've been hammered by weather, high water, wind, but this week the weather pattern has become what I look for for big cats on the lake and they love the stuff (sonny's). I catch 5 to 1 when I use equal numbers of cut rigs and stinky rigs and few fish are under 5lbs. Last May prespawn I had cut, a crawler, and a sonnys out. I caught fish on all of them but the 3 biggest took Sonny's and all I could get on cutters where little yearlings so it cuts both ways.
Here's a couple small ones all taken on the Super Sticky. I don't care for the looper. The line is only 20lb test. A big cat here will take you to the woodshed. I use 30lb big cat Mono for my hook and tube. I make my own. some of the tubes I have or more than 10 years old.
Quote: One good thing about stinkbait is that you can leave it out in the sun for days and it does not smell any worse
Those are some piggie cats! When are we going to have a mendota gathering again?
+1 on the Mendota Gathering!
-------------------- "We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are always there for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you." -Jeff Warner
A spool of 30lb big cat, some small stout mustad trebles or circles if you prefer. I tie a palomar to the hook and leave 15 inches of line. Pull the line through the tube going through some of the holes near the bottom pull the line until the hook snugs up with the bottom. Then I tie a loop in the end for easy change on a swivel. Pretty common to mangle a hook. I rarely deep hook but when I do, I cut the line and leave it. I can take the loop off the swivel and keep the tube for another day. I can switch to a new one in a few seconds without turning on a light. That looper thing is a good idea but I need to change hooks often.
The bite has been tough this year due to floods and no wake and bad weather. If anyone would like to come and fish and you are a regular here shoot me a PM. The last time we tried to have this get together, everyone bailed but Mudshark. If you don't have good calm weather here it is tough to fish so hard to plan weeks ahead.
it still stinks out there, which is good. lots of channels on the wing dams saturday on p18. not much size, though, but it didnt take long to catch a good mess of eaters for a fish fry yesterday. and the winner was ... sonny's by a big margin over hoss on this day.
Briank, why do you wait till the water temp is so high to use the stink bait? We always used it as soon as the ice left the river. Down here that could be anywhere from jan. thru feb. Just take a sunflower heater or something similar set on low heat with a pan of water and set the container of stinkbait in the water just long enough to make it easy to stir. Stick your worm in it(catfish worm that is), and coat it good. When the bait gets into the cold air or water, it will stiffen and stay on the worm just fine and the fish WILL find it.
Quote: Stick your worm in it(catfish worm that is), and coat it good. When the bait gets into the cold air or water, it will stiffen and stay on the worm just fine and the fish WILL find it.
Herb...Thank you for clarifying that! The cartoon bubble in my head created an image of Brian K that I will not soon forget.
I saw him a few years ago on Mille Lacs heating up some stink bait in a baggie in boiling water. I forget what kind he called it...something like..."Breakfast".
IlliWalli- nows a good time for Stink Bait
Re: IlliWalli- nows a good time for Stink Bait
