Does anyone have a good way of keeping chicken livers on the hook when fishing? It seems that I throw more liver into the water than I keep on the hook.

you can wrap some sewing thread around them...the scent will still get out but the bait will stay on better. Also a chicken gizzard will stay on the hook really well.

what I found is that I defrost the livers and cut them into 1-2inch strips. refreeze until the night before. use small trebles wrapping the liver around the barbs w/o tearing the liver. tearing softens the the outer skin which is why they won't stay on the hook. also, keep the livers on ice. the warmer they get, the more mushy they get.

chicken gizzard are definitely firmer and stay on the hook better , but they don't seem to have the scent (blood) as livers.....

I keep reading about chicken hearts, but I can't find them at the local grocery??! I am looking forward to finding some and see'n how they work.

beef liver also works pretty good and has better hook stay'n power. defrost/slice/refreeze as mentioned above.

I cant remember who told me how to do this but it works,been doing it for years.Get a tub of fresh livers and drain the blood out of them.Put a layer of salt in the bottom of coffee can then a layer of livers,layer salt,livers....use lots of salt.Keep in the fridge overnite and they will stay on a hook.If I dont use them all I freeze the can until the next trip.Good Luck--al

It may sound silly but I've used panty hose. Cut small squares and wrap over liver and tread hook thru. A little bit of a pain getting off hook, but better than loosing your bait every time you cast or not knowing if you have bait on or not. That's my 2 cents worth.

If your hell bent on fishing with chicken livers cut them with sharp kitchen scissors, what makes them mushy is cutting them with a knife and breaking the membranes.

Liver hooks will help also.

Turkey livers are much tougher than chicken livers and will stay on the hook better.

I tried the method of 'curing' the livers by putting salt into the cup with them, and it didn't work very well for me. A slightly different method involves putting the livers on a smooth, slightly tilted board (outside); adding garlic powder; then coating with salt. On a good hot day, 1/2 a day on each side will 'cure' them; on cooler days, you'll probably need a full day on each side. They get very leathery, and will stay on a single hook even with the hardest cast.
Yes, a dehydrator should work, but I don't have any first hand experience using one, so I can't say for certain.

Generally, these 'cured' livers seem to outfish fresh livers for me, but occasionally, cats won't touch the 'cured' liver, but will tear up fresh. Just goes to show, NOTHING works all the time, every time.

Save the liver......As Julia Child (SNL) used to say !
Never tried the panty hose.....GREAT IDEA !

If you are planning on using livers you can try the following:

Get yourself the best snap swivel you can find. I usually hate those things...a big fish can tear one up but if your average eating size channel or blue won't bust a good one. get a treble hook and instead of trying to worm the liver onto the hook shove the shank and eye straight up into the liver and out the other side and then snap it back into the swivel.

Hey Mr Wiggles..... that's a damn good method!! cut the livers in 2in squares and shove the shank right thru the center!! have a second treble baited and waiting to replace..... awesome!!!
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What I have found that works best for me is...fresh livers, never frozen. Chilled but not frozen. I keep them on ice even while fishing. I pour the blood off and add a bottle of red food coloring.

hook the liver only twice and wrap with brown (not white ) thread starting on the eye working down to the bait and bringing back up to the top, no need to tie

Thanks to all who had input, I tried the panty hose idea and found it works well, Thanks again

I found an other way to keep them on hooks, Use lantern mantels..easy to tie

I use chicken hearts and they do really well with staying on the hook and I use them on trot lines as well as rod and reel.

I live near a few chicken processing places and I get them from a grocer that keeps 5# box's on the frozen food section.