Made Some Cut Bait

[Coldtrack]

Going to head up to Drayton and fish the Red 1st week of June. Caught a dozen sucker yesterday, scaled and filleted them, then chunked them in 3/4 to a 1 inch wide by 1 1/2 inch strips, froze them in fresh salmon oil. Think the chunks are to big?

[mn86]

i dont think so. was out chasing flatheads on the mn the other night and seven pound channel inhaled a 10 inch sucker.

[bobbymalone]

I usually make mine a little bigger. Big bait = big fish.

I like to leave the scales on. First off, its easy and you don't make a mess. Second, I think it helps hold the meat together and on the hook. Just gotta take the scale off the hook point if it pops off when you put the hook through.

[pikestabber]

Going to head up to Drayton and fish the Red 1st week of June. Caught a dozen sucker yesterday, scaled and filleted them, then chunked them in 3/4 to a 1 inch wide by 1 1/2 inch strips, froze them in fresh salmon oil. Think the chunks are to big?

For the Red, those are too small, IMO. For cut sucker, my best pieces are often the whole head on suckers of a 1lb or so. Seriously, that's an easy inhale for 10+ pound cat. "The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish" doesn't always hold true, but it's pretty spot on for the Red. Not to say your chunks won't work...thread 2 or 3 on. I like about 8/0 circle hook for the Red and when using cut bait prefer a 2"x4" strip or so... I've done fine with scales on and scales off, but agree scales can help keep the meat on the hook. I don't even cut the fins off anymore as it seems those big cats will eat just about anything when the mood strikes, and a fish fin is no hindrance to them and right behind the fin can actually be a good place to anchor your hook.

[aanderud]

I think the size you have is fine. I've caught some pretty darn big channels on a small bait up there. You don't want to run out! I'd say fresher bait (more re-baits after 15-20 minutes to keep the scent fresh) is more important than larger baits. No need to worry about scales, fins, etc. The fish don't care.

[Coldtrack]

Worked fine but next time I will make them bigger, ones soaked in salmon oil left a slick in the water.