amen to that

Okay you guys, I can't believe nobody has mentioned this yet, and it works and I do it all the time with my punch bait when it gets watery due to the heat.

You know that dryer lint that you are supposed to clean out of the wire catch basket on your clothes dryer to keep from catching your dryer on fire.

Yep, just save it up and and keep a zip lock in your tackle box or in the boat, and when you need to thicken up the punch bait just add a little at a time until it's the way you like it.

Keeping the bait cool helps in the summer. Adding cat tail fuzz will also help thicken it up a bit. Using a gallon size bucket of bait makes loading up the hook a lot easier. The smaller pint size containers just don't give you enough room or bait to make it work properly. When fishing with punch bait or dip bait, I'll seldom let a bait sit longer than 5 minutes without checking and rebaiting the hook if it either hasn't caught a fish or gotten a bite. Lots of times the little channel cats will clean the hook off and you never even knew you had a bite.

excellent idea Jimbo. I'm going to try this for sure. I dont have lots of cattail around my place, but dryer lint is in infinite supply!

i use wood spoons to push them down in the bucket. get several in a bag at dollar store. CHEAP!

I use cotton balls torn apart and mixed in, works great!

Thanks guys! I am pushing it down in the jar and packing it in the hook with the pliers. It just doesn't stay on when I cast hard or fish bump it. I will try the cotton or go back to the swamp and get some cat tails. I appreciate the advice.

WestonKH,

I have been using punch bait for over ten years now and have found that above and beyond everything is keeping it cool during the summer months. Some baits stay on the hook better than others when it gets hot and some require more "care" when they get hot.

There is a lot of good advice here on what to do but I wanted to share a few articles with you that I wrote last year that should help you greatly in your quest.

Catfish Punch Bait 101

Keeping Punch Bait Cool In The Heat

How To Thicken Punch Bait With Cattails

if you read those articles you should be pretty dangerous with the stuff, just remember to cool it off before you start messing with it because that alone will do wonders.

I'm glad there are people on this site willing to help! Other forums, people don't help, just want to talk trash and make u feel stupid. Thanks for the help!

I don't like to gum up my pliers with punch bait so I use a weed puller ( one of those two pronged tools)to punch the hook into the bait.

I use the same thing. Mine get a lot more use in the boat than they do in the flower beds.

Yup, I use dryer lint too. Also as Bobby said, I find it easier if using the gallon size container.

They are the stainless surgical plier things and don't get gummed up. They work great!

The dryer lint smell doesn't hurt the bait? Idk about y'all but my woman puts a ton of smell good detergent and the fabric softener on them.

I'd pass on using dryer lint for two reasons. First, because most dryer lint contains cotton fibers. Cotton absorbs lots of water and doesn't hold the bait very well. Second reason would be because of the possible pretty scent that comes from detergent, fabric softeners and dryer sheets.