I rarely fish for catfish and even more rarely fish with dough bait. But I was fishing with a friend yesterday at a small pond using an "over the counter" dough bait but it was very crumbly and I had a difficult time getting it to set well on the hook.

Any suggestions on how to get such a dough bait to better stay on the hook?

Can you soak it in something before fishing that will help?

P.S. Didn't catch anything but had several nibbles.

Plain ole water would do it. Even better would be a fish attractant like Dead Red. I used to make doughbait with cottonseed meal, and had problems with it flying off the hook when I cast. Cotton fibers helped with that, and shredded cattails are also good. (not housecats, but the plant)

House cat sounds good to me.

Get ahold of Stubby77 and get his bait (it's fresh) instead.

Temperature has a huge impact on the consistency of dough and punch baits--can't say about dip baits though. Warming the dough-ball, with your hands, before sticking it on the hook may be all that's needed. In cooler temps, even Stubby's needed a warming just before putting on the hook.

IMHO Bagster's comments are spot-on.

I tried house cat, once. Really didn't like it when I threw her in the water.

Agree with Ed-eddy, get some Stubbys. Easy, clean, works.

I did take some of the loose fur of our "long hair" cat and make a crappie jig out of it. Haven't fished with it yet.

you can use vegetable oil if it is really dry.

Gonna try the "recipe" I found online of hotdog, jello, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Sounds crazy enough to work.