Bait tips.

Hello everyone.

I have recently gotten back into fishing after not picking up a rod for a number of years. I have access to a local park with a large fishing pond where you can keep what you catch. I have been going out one or two evenings for the past few weeks and seeing what I can get. I have had a little luck mostly at dark.

I am looking to see if anyone has similar experience on small bodies of water and can recommend a bait to try. I have tried shrimp, chicken hearts, and worms. The only luck I have had is on the chicken hearts. I'm not a big fan of stinkbaits because I used them a lot as a kid and never had much success. Of course, that was a long time ago and they may have come a long way in the intervening years.

Any ideas?

Try some dough or punch bait on a treble hook under a cork. Or minnows...

I used to use Catfish Charley Blood Bait back when I fished for channel cats, but there are a number of baits that'll work that won't smell as bad.

Catfish Charley is what I remember using as a kid. Never caught a single thing on it. My grandfather always used bait shrimp and sprayed a little WD40 on them.

It's hard to beat catalpa worms if you have access to any.

Live bait from the body of water you're fishing is usually the best.

give me a shout i can hook you up

Here is a tip a lot of people don't think of but makes a huge difference. Make sure your hands don't have any chemicals on them that are going to rub off on your bait and turn off a catfish from biting. For example don't pump gas before going fishing.

catch some gizzard shad and fish the gut-pocket...it will tell ya whats in the water....& I agree with Mark I wear disposable gloves when cutting bait and putting it on the hook no human scent...

or put on sunscreen