Easy Cleanup Bait
What is wrong with this picture?
Not a thing, according to Keith Sutton who was Executive Director of the Future Fisherman Foundation, (which creates and assists a variety of programs for hands-on fishing experiences for children) and author of several books on fishing for catfish.
Although soap may not make many bait type lists, Mr. Sutton said that using soap for catfish bait has been used “for decades with great success.”
“Old timers on the rivers I fished as a youngster often baited trotlines with chunks cut from bars of Ivory soap,” he wrote.
I even watched Jeremy Wade use soap for bait in an episode of “River Monsters.”
And not just Ivory works. Mike and Jacinda Kachner have had great luck with Irish Spring. They said it worked just about as well as grasshoppers for catfish. It slowly dissolves and the scent can travel and attract from great distances. Might make you think twice before bathing in the lake or river?
When asked about this, a contact for Proctor and Gamble shared that they often hear of unusual applications for their products. However, understandably, they only recommend using the soap for its designed purpose.
Just something to consider if one runs out of bait and starts looking around for something else to impale on a hook. While waiting for a bite, I guess you could even try your hand at sculpting.
Plus, when you also consider that many catfish trips may include such baits as chicken livers, cut shad, or the aptly named “stink bait,” there is some appeal to not taking on these odors.
Instead, perhaps one could return home smelling as fresh as, well, a catfish rolled in daisies.
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Andy Whitcomb
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.