Any kind of chicken will work. Soak it in dead red spray. Shrimp works well too. If the channels are really feeding they'll hit almost anything. Corn, hotdogs, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, shrimp, chicken, tilapia, etc...

Honestly, I would focus more on finding the fish rather than what bait to use. Doesn't matter what bait you've got on the hook if there's nothing there to eat it.


P.S. Not sure if there's a walmart anywhere around you but they sell worms which always work very well. They'll stay alive for a very long time in your fridge if you want to stock up. Even longer if you feed em some veggie scraps.

An old-timer once told me that his go-to bait for channel cats is the cheapest hot dog wieners he could find. He said that he would take a big bubble gum jar (like you can get at Sams Club) and cut the wieners into 1” chunks. He told me that he would get a jar of minced garlic and pour it, oil and all, over the wiener chunks. He said you can leave this mixture in the garage a day or two to ‘ripen’, and then keep it in the fridge (if the wife says it’s OK).

He said it’s way better than stink bait because it stays on the hook better and you can wash the garlic smell off easier than you can the stink bait. I have never tried the recipe myself, but as OP requested, I’m sure you can find the ingredients at just about any neighborhood grocery.

Worth a try.

JR

The cheap red wieners covered in garlic have worked for me in the past..