I have some left-over cut mullet from the coast that I was considering using for catfish bait. has anyone ever tried anything like that? any experience on whether or not it will work?

I guess I'm sure anything will work if the fish are hungry enough.

I've heard of people catching catfish on cut mackerel before. wasn't sure if anyone else had any experience with that. I plan on getting some perch and such too. figure you can usually never have too much bait though.

Get it in front of active feeders and see what happens..can't go wrong with good ol fresh chopped gills for blue cats though..rarely ever reel in an empty baited hooks like when fishing with shad. Good luck!

Don't do it. Mackerel is considered a game fish in Texas, and you are not allowed to use it for bait. Some guys were fortunate enough to get just a warning from the game warden about that earlier this year. They got it at the Asian supermarket, so it didn't even cross their minds. Wouldn't have mine either.

I also like using crawdads. You can buy freshwater drum from the market for cut bait too. I really wanted to use mackerel as it is really oily, but read the same article and someone on TFF sent me a big warning.

good to know about the mackerel. I too had heard some folks buying them at the markets and using them. I had not heard about anyone getting in trouble with it. makes sense though.

perch or carp would be my preferred by a long shot. or shad too if its fresh. I havent' set any lines in a while though. not sure what sort of bait i'll be able to scare up. just seeing what my other options are if the perch catching does yield as much as I'd hoped.

I asked a Game Warden about Asian MKT fish for bait. Said not if it's a Game Fish- even if Farm Raised and Sold in store.

The best bait is always what the fish are used to eating. Try and get your bait from the body of water you are fishing. I like to take a light-action spinning rod baited with red worms and catch a bluegill or small drum for cut bait. Thrownets, and minner traps (if legal), are also useful.

I've not had luck with mullet.....skip jack is good, but cut shad or perch is better.