# Hotdogs for bait?



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I was having a discussion about catfish baits yesterday. Hotdogs came up. I remember seeing a thread not too long ago here (but I can't find it) on how cooked hotdogs work better than raw ones. But how do you cook them? Grill, boil, panfry, on a stick or a George foreman grill maybe?


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## IGbullshark (Aug 10, 2012)

I used to use raw hotdogs all the time for fishing. I caught mostly bluegill and catfish but I once caught a Muskie with a hotdog too haha. That thing put up a huge fight.


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## todd61 (Nov 22, 2009)

We used to use hotdogs made from chicken not beef. Cut them to the size you want then leave them out in the sun for a few days. It helps to toughen them up and makes them stink a little bit. Never heard of cooking them though.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

todd61 said:


> We used to use hotdogs made from chicken not beef. Cut them to the size you want then leave them out in the sun for a few days. It helps to toughen them up and makes them stink a little bit. Never heard of cooking them though.


I have a very good friend who fishes for catfish most of the time. He does something similar, with one difference. He buys cheapo hot dogs made from "meat" pokes a hole in the package and leaves the package in the bed of his truck for a day or two. When he goes fishing he cuts the dogs as needed.

He claims, and it makes a bit of sense to me, that by waiting to cut them, you've got the stinky dog, but it's spilling those juices into the water on the first cast. He said if you slice them first, they stink more, but they're less effective because the truly stinky stuff is in the container you put the cut dogs into.

I only catch catfish by accident, but if I were going to start, I'd try my friend's method based solely on the pics I've seen of his catches.

ez- the only advantage I could see in cooking them first would be that they are firmer and stay on the hook better, and the best way to keep them firm is to keep the casing from cracking. For that reason, I would think a boiled dog would work best.


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## Curtis937 (Sep 17, 2010)

That's funny hot dogs work really well at small ponds with cookout areas where ppl would be cooking out and tossing hot dogs in the water when there done and from my experience if u wanna cook them first its best to toss them on the grill for a bit but raw seems to work better hood channel bait

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## cwcarper (Apr 5, 2004)

Hot dogs were my top bait for catching farm pond channel cats as a kid. I thought they worked much better cooked than raw. I liked to cook mine in the microwave to the point where they would start to swell and split. I tried lots of other baits but the hot dogs always did best. They didn't seem to work as well in the lakes and rivers on "wild" fish, but still would catch a few.


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Growing up I fished hot dogs all the time. Ballpark cheese ones were my go to hot dog. I caught bass and catfish in ponds on them like crazy.


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## IGbullshark (Aug 10, 2012)

i would have to agree with everyone. now that i think about it i caught a ton of fish with hotdogs but for the most part they were in ponds. i almost never caught anything on hotdogs when i was in a regular body of water


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## 7thcorpsFA (Mar 6, 2010)

A dork I work with was using nightcrawlers to try for cats while the rest of us were tearing up the bass on wacky worms. He was bitching out load about not doing any good while we were having a blast. I had brought some cheesie metts to cook later. I cut him a few chunks of it to try. Within 5 minutes he was pulling in channels right and left. His drunk a## was jumpin with joy! This was at a farm pond, but we use them in the river too. Spam also works well.


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## Liquidsmoke (Aug 4, 2012)

My buddy swears to using hot metts. 

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## nooffseason (Nov 15, 2008)

Ok first off, hot dogs you buy are never raw, right? You mean you're just heating them up, maybe to crisp the skin to stay on the hook better? Otherwise there's no difference in cooked dogs, they're already cooked out of the package. 

Used to use hot dogs and canned corn all the time for bluegills when I was a kid. Caught fish all day.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

ezbite said:


> I was having a discussion about catfish baits yesterday. Hotdogs came up. I remember seeing a thread not too long ago here (but I can't find it) on how cooked hotdogs work better than raw ones. But how do you cook them? Grill, boil, panfry, on a stick or a George foreman grill maybe?


that would make sense as they are greasier when cooked

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## BFG (Mar 29, 2006)

I used to eat frozen hot dogs when I was a kid. Not sure why, but I did.


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## 419deerhunter (Mar 23, 2011)

Chunk up hotdogs up and put in a large sealable jar add crushed garlic a packet off cherry or strawberry koolaid and cover with water mix well and put lid on let soak for a couple days


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