Does anyone use or have luck with any store bought stink bait? If so what brand?

What kind of water a you fishing in? To me stink baits will catch cats, but if you want to catch the big ones you need something different.

The Tazman

Live sunfish and chubs catch some big cats,just make sure there legal...

I agree with Cball and Taz the big 'uns like live or cut bait. I have had better luck with nightcrawlers and chicken livers than stink bait.


Dan Blair

My best luck on big cats came from taking a nine inch long bluegill, cutting behind the gill plate straight down to the spine. Then, just make a fillet, leave the skin on and everything their, just take that rough cut fillet, hook it on, cast it out and let it sit near the bottom of a big river, you are sure to catch some NICE cats, and some turtles too hahaha.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
"Hunting is not a sport, it is a passion, it is a WAY OF LIFE"

you will have some luck with store bought baits, but there is no way to recreate live bait. if you're not catching anything with gizzards, liver, nightcrawlers, cut or live baitfish, deer heart, etc., then there are no fish. simple as that. i'm not saying that storeboughts are bad, there are things that I like about them, like that they are easy to get in a pinch, and easy to store.

If given the right opportunity, will a buck follow the trail of a store bought doe urine, or the real thing?

i heard all that are really interested in that stuff is channel cats...im a beef liver guy myself...was chicken but i cant get it to leave the shore!..ive seen a few channels caught on stink bait...but nothin big..

mauser06

I have had the best luck with cut herring.
Shrimp from the grocery store (raw) is also good.

The largest cats are caught on live bait, you need to check your local regs in regards to what kind of live fish you can use for bait. If you are fishing in an area that the biggest cats are only 4-5 pounds a 2-3 inch shiner will work fine, just rig him up off a sinker giving him about a foot of free line. Now if you are talking about cats in the 10 pounds and up range you want to start thinking bluegill or the like, the larger the bait the larger the cat. Remember if you know there are 40 and 50 pound cats and you want one that size you need a big bait, you will not catch a lot of fish, but what you catch will be big.

The Tazman

The best in my opinion is skipjack guts, especially if they have shad in their stomach. You can fillet it and use the fillets too, but the guts are better.