I have had all I can stand, using stink baits. [censored] gets all over my reels, my rods, my clothes, even in my hair. Stinks up the house or garage, my truck, everything!

Just today, I ended up hooking one of my rod/reels from behind me and casting the whole setup into the lake, because I was using more arm to gently cast so I didn't sling off the J Piggs I had baited up with! Luckily, I didn't have to wade out into the lake to get the rod & reel back, but untangling the whole mess wasted fishing time.

I got some frozen shad from Sportsmans warehouse, and I'm gonna try that, and some nightcrawlers.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune with the stinkbait. I use DK and I drop it straight down so I don't worry about casting it out. I would slow down a bit though if your getting this stuff in your hair. Good luck with the frozen Shad. IMO there is nothing worse than the stink of a frozen shad.

whats up deerguy??? and yes, among other things, slow down. Just dont get any on the hand that you put a dip in with.

i hardly ever use stink bait cause i never catch anything, i've had better luck with night crawlers, getting it on me never bothered me, i just wipe it off on my pants, my wife don't care for that too much though

If your after BIG fish, no loss to do away with it, But for the smaller eaters, It will be your loss. And I have to agree with the former post, A fresh cut gizard shad stinks way worse than DK to me.

I can add that after a day of using shad compared to using DK's. The shad smell will stay on your fingers much longer.

LOL thats why shad work so good compared to everything else.

Depends on the consistency, most dk bait stays on with tough casts. Last night I discovered that I put some frozen shad in one of my empty dk containers...last week. OMG when I opened that plastic canister I swore off shad for a longgggg time lol. Be patient with it and dont give up on it.

I've never had too much problem with making a mess. Try putting a small amount of stink bait on your hook and then hook a minnow around it. It helps keep in all on.

Shad smells worse than stink bait?
I'm heading out this morning, so I have to put this one to the test. If they do, I guess I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire on this one.

I also picked up some raw shrimp, and I'm going to try that this morn as well.

I'm just looking for something less messy to deal with. It's almost impossible for me to get the punch bait off my hooks after I'm done fishing. I've finally started just cutting the hooks off and throwing them away, so I can store my rods inside without stinking up the house.

Man just put some on a cracker and eat some . Than you'll appreciate it just on your hands and your stuff . LOL

Your right about punch bait...it's gets everywhere, but it works. Cut shad is great bait...when it's just caught. Frozen, it turns to mush. I hate to turn loose fresh caught shad at the end of a fishing day..sometimes those rascals are hard to find. Ok, how do you preserve them ? I put a biggie of them out in our fridge in the garage overnight. Don't do it ! Talk about stinking ! No self respecting catfish would go near them. The garbageman was coming that morning, so in the garbage they went. Haven't seen the garbageman in days.
Roger

now you're gonna get shad in your hair

simple truth is that catfishing CAN be messy, it doesnt have to be though.
Take ur time when baiting, i use a stick to pull all the excess punch bait off that goes everywhere when casting.
Slow down when baiting because if u just sling off your bait u gotta do it again anyways, plus bait can start to get expensive after a while

I think this may be the reason that some fishermen who fish for members of the finny tribe other than catfish......turn up their noses at the bait-slinging catfisherman!

There have been reports of catfishermen opening a wide swath through crowds of fishermen...just by strolling along!

Whether this is true or not, I don't know. It's just a "hunch". An educated guess. A stab in the dark at a mysterious puzzle!

Sometimes I get the feeling that fishermen who target a species OTHER than catfish, are held in higher esteem than the liver-lobbing, DK dunking, overall wearing, chum chasing catfisherman.

I could be wrong. Maybe it is just my imagination. Maybe the looks from the "other fishermen" as I hunker down on a dock with a jar full of a secret concoction that I heard about on a catfishing website....is all in my head!

It could be. I just don't know.......!

Then again....maybe I am ............PROUD OF IT!