adding scent/salt to pike bait..

[LacLaBicheNS]

I'm going to be needing a lot of pike bait in the next couple weeks for a pike/burbot fishing trip.

I'm going to be buying some herring, smelt and also cow liver.

I'm going to try to soak it all in a salt brine for a day. Anything else I could add to the brine? I was thinking of buying a bottle of spray scent and dumping the bottle in the brine.

Any tips?

[tonypower]

I tried the yesterday with perch. I had some gulp maggots and dipped real maggots in it... Never worked. Lol i would love some pointers to.

[Red Bullets]

Try adding anise seed oil. You should be able to find it in drugstores or healthfood stores. Some tackle shops carry it too. Anise seed oil will attract everything from all four legged carnivores to freshwater and saltwater fish. You could also inject minnows or meat with it.

For pike fishing I use mackeral you can find in foodstores like safeway. They are a oily silver fish. I use 8 to 14 inch mackeral for bait. Suspend these big baits on 20 lb. test with 2 treble hooks, one stuck in each end, 1 or 2 feet off of bottom.

[LacLaBicheNS]

I was just thinking, if I thaw and soak herrring or mackerel in brine.. would this turn them into mush???

[Cal]

I just throw them in a baggie with table salt and shake well, then just keep them there. I'm not so much trying to add scent as just keep them from freezing solid, and toughen them up so they stay on the hook better.

I usualy thaw them out and try and get them to dry a little befor salting, the first couple times you take them out you will get a minnow juice slurry in the bottom of the bag, I drain this out and put more salt in. Just how I do it.

[Wild&Free]

I just throw them in a baggie with table salt and shake well, then just keep them there. I'm not so much trying to add scent as just keep them from freezing solid, and toughen them up so they stay on the hook better.

I usualy thaw them out and try and get them to dry a little befor salting, the first couple times you take them out you will get a minnow juice slurry in the bottom of the bag, I drain this out and put more salt in. Just how I do it.

Should use coarse salt or Kosher salt, the Iodine in table salt might affect your bait's desirability.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

I'm going to be needing a lot of pike bait in the next couple weeks for a pike/burbot fishing trip.

I'm going to be buying some herring, smelt and also cow liver.

I'm going to try to soak it all in a salt brine for a day. Anything else I could add to the brine? I was thinking of buying a bottle of spray scent and dumping the bottle in the brine.

Any tips?

Your best bet go get a meat injector inject the scent inside but don't brine them they will be mush when you go to use them , sprinkle salt on em . Dry them or dehydrate them , brine makes them really soft almost like bait soup .

[Cal]

Should use coarse salt or Kosher salt, the Iodine in table salt might affect your bait's desirability.

It hasnt so far, I havnt seen any difference between bait that I've salted with table salt and that which I have salted with pickeling salt. But use whatever salt makes you happy, it cant hurt.

[LacLaBicheNS]

thanks.. I'll thaw, drain and salt them...

Any suggestions for the beef liver?? Pretty sure brining this woudl be fine..

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Should use coarse salt or Kosher salt, the Iodine in table salt might affect your bait's desirability.

Pickling salt is by far the best for salting .

[Mike_W]

Your best bet go get a meat injector inject the scent inside but don't brine them they will be mush when you go to use them , sprinkle salt on em . Dry them or dehydrate them , brine makes them really soft almost like bait soup .

A proper brine will NOT soften bait nor turn them into mush brine it designed to toughen bait and make, add shine and to impart additional scent ......if you are just tip up fishing no need to do anything just attach to hook and lower.

Out on the coast a proper brine or salting of bait is an absolute must!!

[HuyFishin]

Your best bet go get a meat injector inject the scent inside but don't brine them they will be mush when you go to use them , sprinkle salt on em . Dry them or dehydrate them , brine makes them really soft almost like bait soup .

I just purchased a bunch of smelts, Gonna try this method on wabamun tomorrow

Thanks!

[fishtank]

Pickling salt is by far the best for salting .
x2

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

A proper brine will NOT soften bait nor turn them into mush brine it designed to toughen bait and make, add shine and to impart additional scent ......if you are just tip up fishing no need to do anything just attach to hook and lower.

Out on the coast a proper brine or salting of bait is an absolute must!!

Brine will make them stuff but not like pickling salt , not to mention once to go back in the drink with salt they go back to being soft but won't fall apart like brine . Believe you me I've screwed around with always to keep my bait on a hook longer . Not to mention salting is pretty basic without making different mixtures of brine until you get the right mix . But brineing has its place to .

[harrydude]

What about adding garlic to your bait

[Cal]

What about adding garlic to your bait

I dunno, its probably just me but adding scent is what you do to lures which have no scent or flavor of its own. Natural bait already smells and tastes like, well, natural bait. I dont know how much you're going to improve on that with garlic and anise oil, save that for the twister tails IMO.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

What about adding garlic to your bait

Why not like I said earlier would have to use a meat syringe or something like that to inject it inside .

[harrydude]

Why not like I said earlier would have to use a meat syringe or something like that to inject it inside .

I might have to try that

[anthony5]

One gallon of water, 1-1/4 cup of salt, any kind, one tablespoon of liquid garlic, 8 hours in the fridge, pretty much gets the flavor in. Remove from liquid to dry 1/2 hr, place in container with liberal amounts of salt. Small bait 6" smelts only 6 hrs, 12" herring, mackerel, etc 12 hrs. Been good all year, Pike, Walleye, Ling & Perch, enjoy:sHa_shakeshout:

[Mike_W]

Brine will make them stuff but not like pickling salt , not to mention once to go back in the drink with salt they go back to being soft but won't fall apart like brine . Believe you me I've screwed around with always to keep my bait on a hook longer . Not to mention salting is pretty basic without making different mixtures of brine until you get the right mix . But brineing has its place to .

I prefer straight pickeling salt over brine but brine won't turn your bait to "mush"

[omega50]

I'm going to be needing a lot of pike bait in the next couple weeks for a pike/burbot fishing trip.

I'm going to be buying some herring, smelt and also cow liver.

I'm going to try to soak it all in a salt brine for a day. Anything else I could add to the brine? I was thinking of buying a bottle of spray scent and dumping the bottle in the brine.

Any tips?

Salt brine should be at full saturation- meaning no more salt will dissolve in it- even then it will make the bait mushy unless you add good concentrations of sugar. Sugar strengthens fiber.
That is why fruit is canned in syrup- so it does not mush out.
Think of the firm texture of Candied Salmon- due to the sugar.

As far as burbot bait- I like to get a cheap can of fish flavored cat food and dump the contents into a heavy ziplock. Then keep adding small quantities of flour and knead it through the bag until you get a nice dough ball consistency.
Bury a small treble in a dough ball and let it roll on the very bottom.

[Mutter87]

I got a bottle of Anise seed oil, will be rubbing it on my Milkfish tomorrow, that and my stink bait, I am sure to catch Pike and Burbot haha

[Red Bullets]

I got a bottle of Anise seed oil, will be rubbing it on my Milkfish tomorrow, that and my stink bait, I am sure to catch Pike and Burbot haha

Hey Mutter,
Did you try the anise seed oil?

[the pilot cock]

What about adding garlic to your bait

I tried that last weekend because someone had posted that pike and burbot, like Ukrainian women are all attracted to the smell of garlic. So i went out with 2 buddies all of us armed with cameras. I was the only one using the garlic secret weapon. The fish would swim in, take the long way around my bait as though repelled by it, then check out the other guys bait. Not much was actually biting, but it was pretty clear that my garlic Smelts and herring weren't quite the advantage i thought they'd be.

[Mutter87]

Hey Mutter,
Did you try the anise seed oil?

Yes, the success so far has been pretty minimal.

[neekrivers]

I have tried the Anise Oil last weekend, smells like black licorice, I caught fish, but not sure if that was the reason why. Trying it again this weekend and see how it goes. heading to wab tomorrow

[lippy]

A little off topic but a good tip ...I always used borax to preserve and toughen eggs,minnows,smelts etc...keeps bait fresh a long time in the freezer and it won't freezer burn..Once caught a trout out of Crawling Valley kept it smotherd in Borax in a plastic garbage bag until it got to a taxidermists the next day....it never lost any colour and was as nice as when it left the water

[Moefoe]

Rumor has it the big girl Wayne picked up last week came from a heavily salted and died blue herring...:thinking-006:

[Eddy62]

Rumor has it the big girl Wayne picked up last week came from a heavily salted and died blue herring...:thinking-006:

that was a nice pike wayne grabbed:sHa_shakeshout: