question on baits and lures

[premoj]

Hello all
I have a question about bait/ lures. I was told, if you but fish meat in a jar will salt, and let it sit for a long time, the liquid on top is a great lure. My question is can you use other types of red meat, to yield the same results.

[Bogmaster]

 Fish oil is a very good attractant--the liquid that raises to the top. Salt is not used --as it is a presevative,and will keep the fish from breaking down. You will find it is easier and quicker to buy your fish oil, rather than make it.
 Meat can be trated in the above way,but if you do not stop the decompostion process--you will also end up with a very rotten stinking mess.
 Be advised--putting either meat or fish in a jar and putting a lid on it--will result in the jars exploding--because of the gas build up.Lids must be vented to allow the gases to escape.Flies must also be taken into consideration--if they lay eggs, the resulting maggots will do away with your bait and ,or, oil.
 This is also not something you want to undertake,around your house or an area that has neighbors.
 Tom

[wormbobskey]

Bogmasters right. Don't use any salt or preservitive at all. If you put any kind of preservitive in with the flesh bait you will only end up with the same product you started with only in a "fixed" state, meaning it won't break down. Fresh bait is good in the early season, but you need something with a little bite once the cold weather moves in. To make a good fish oil you need a good oily type of fish such as carp or suckers. Cut the fish up into managable pieces removing the entrails and place in a large glass jar or jug with cheese cloth or some sort of material to keep the flies out, but that lets the gases escape. I have used 5 gallon buckets with lids with a hose attached to the top and put in water. The gases bubble up through the water, but flies can't get in to lay eggs in the bait and ruin it. Place in the sun in a safe place where pets can't reach it but that it gets a good amount of sunlight and let it set for a couple of months. It is best to do this as soon as spring has sprung or early summer. The longer the flesh has to simmer the more oil you will get. After a while you will see the oil on top of the flesh. I use a turkey baster to remove the oil. I put it into a clean quart jar. This is your fish oil. It takes a while to get enough oil to last through the season, which is why I gave up trying to make fish oil and just buy it. Plus it keeps the wife happy that I don't have anything laying around stinking up the house or yard. Fortunately for me the trap shed it on the down wind side of the house so she doesn't know what I have cooking down there.
Meat such as deer or cow can be made into very good bait as well, but it needs to be done in a totally different manner. I like to have a slight taint to my bait so I let it set outside for a couple of days in warm weather. I don't want something that will gag a maggot, just something that will grab a K-9's attension. Once its reached that level I stop the rotting process with a number of different products such as salt, sodium benzocoate or borax.  Than I add whatever other ingrediants I want to doctor up the bait a little. Castor, fish oil even beaver saq oil make great additives to bait that really fires up a predator curiosity. There are a lot of good forums and books on the subject. Just look around.

[premoj]

Thanks for the info, it helps alot. when abouts should this process be started, how long should the meet sit out for, so it will be ready for the next season?

[wormbobskey]

You can pretty much start the process anytime you want, but to get a good taint on your meat bait you need warm tempratures same with the fish. The warmth helps break down the flesh. The longer you leave the meat out in the warm weather the louder it will get. In other words the longer it rots the more it will stink. Once you reach a certain point the meat will cause a totally different response in the critters. A mild taint (3 or 4 days) will bring them in with food on their minds where as a really rotten meat will cause a rolling response. In hot weather 3 or 4 days should be all thats needed to get the meat where you want it. It should than be stopped with a preservative, which will usually take a couple of days to take effect. The bait should be stirred seveal times over the next couple of days to make sure the preservative has reached all of the bait. Most preservatives come in powder form and can be mixed in warm water to allow them to soak the bait faster than if left in the powder form. If you start the bait/fish in the spring it should be ready within a couple of months, so yes it will be ready by trapping season. When I make bait I like to add different things to help bring in the critters and sometimes these extra ingrediants sometimes need several months to permiate the bait. I have some baits that are 3 or 4 years old and I still catch critters with it. Worm