I've been doing a YouTube video series where I fish using only subscriber picked baits to test them out. So far I've used bread, shrimp, chicken thighs, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, and of course hot dogs. Tomorrow I've testing soap and koolaid soaked hotdogs.
Does anyone else have any store bought, odd, or strange suggestions that they think work?

Catfish love bacon.

Live worms have worked better for me than everything you listed.

Don't forget the Sour Brite Crawlers (gummy worms). Got me a 15-pounder or I wouldn't have believed it.

What a great idea.

I heard pork chops were good bait. I tried them once but never had a bite.

For big blues I have been using cut Mackerel (bought from the Asian Store in Plano), and had quite a bit of success of late. It's messy bloody bait and the big cats seem to enjoy it.

What about jello soaked chicken breast?

Nightcrawlers are for sure a winner, probably everyones first bait as a kid.
I've tried a pork chop once with no success but I have had luck with beef steak.
Gummy worms is a new one I haven't heard before
Yesterday I used koolaid soaked hotdogs and they were absolutely lethal!! Also used a bar of bath soap... and caught 1 so I'll consider that a win.
Plain chicken livers are still the reining champ in this experiment

No joke we caught catfish at Texoma on my buddies left over brisket burnt ends. They liked that pretty good. Also on smoked turkey breast. They like BBQ it seems.

I have tried lots of stuff. Bluegill and gizzard shad are tops. But for store bought stuff nothing comes close to chicken breast. I add the strawberry jello of course but not sure it makes a difference. It DOES seems to work better if the chicken sits in the fridge for a about week after its expiration date... Gets a little more funk they seem to like.

Anything frozen, even shrimp, seems to be a fail for me though. I have tried frozen tilapia, mackerel (that is an OILY fish), and buff and none of it worked. The texture is just off when something is frozen and thawed... the fish dont seem to like it. OR I have been unlucky in my attempts.

End of the day, Shad, bluegill, then chicken in that order. I am sure carp and buff is great too! But I have no personal experience.

Ever thought of maybe soaking something like chicken in different stuff and seeing if that made any difference? Like anise oil, vanilla extract, garlic, coffee grounds, maybe add salt and pepper!?

Gummy worms is a new one I haven't heard before


There was an entire thread on these back in the day. I was convinced it was complete BS but tried it anyway, then came up with that 15 pound blue that thought it was a tarpon. Jumped all over the place around 10:30 at night. By memory, I think I was using the red/orange gummy worm, as if it matters at night.

Shad, mullet, and common carp are my go to cut baits for sure. I'll use live bluegills on occasion, especially if I'm targeting flatheads.
I've tried chicken breast both plain and soaked in jell-o and koolaid, In my experiance it didn't make a difference. They just love chicken i guess.

If you're having trouble getting bait, especially in the winter. There's a seafood place over on Rosedale that sells fresh, not frozen, whole, fileted, and chunked buffalo. They also sell sand bass, however, here in Texas, that's not a legal bait.



http://ftwseafood.com/index.html

Saw your video in the Video Forum on the Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards, and Hot Dogs. Neat video and nicely done.

30 inch choke canyon c&r waterbody record channel cat was caught using the cheese from this convenience store snack

I did have someone else suggest cheese as well. I might have to try that one.
I used a bar of soap last weekend and got 1 catfish with it
It’s been a fun series of videos to make, people are getting a kick out of them.

Ivory Soap

Not kidding, I've seen people catch fish on it.

Has to be Ivory though. Other soaps don't work.

I used Irish spring and got 1 fish and 1 bite. Maybe the Ivory would have worked better but it was too much of a pain in the butt to keep on a hook when you could just use a chicken liver or hot dog instead.