# Mackerel as catfish bait?



## JimmyMac

Has anyone ever tried using mackerel as cut bait for cats? 

Was wondering around jungle jims today (big international supermarket in Fairfield), looking at some of the HUGE variety of fish they sell. They had some mackerel laying out on ice and I thought to myself, that looks like good bait... 

Not sure how it would do, as it would obviously be foreign food, but I mean its not like chicken livers come floating down the river every day either. 

Also, what about cut/live trout? I don't catch them myself, but they sell them at Jungle Jims to, (live and on ice). They also sell live bluegill, channel cat, perch and a few others, but if I've used all that for bait already, just curious.


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## fredg53

Never tried macks as bait but i would hesitate on buying any bait when you can go out and catch a ton of bait gills, shad with a net etc. that are free jsut my opinion I would rather save the money and spend it on tackle or a boat but I am cheap that way


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## JimmyMac

Well catching bait has never been much of a problem, just tempted to try something exotic, lol. I caught my biggest flathead on a big tadpole, one that was almost a frog, still had a tail though... Caught a 16lb channel cat on a big slimy porch slug. I know the obvious choice is to find the main food source in that body of water and use it, but I get a kick out of trying weird stuff sometimes.


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## dinkbuster1

y'know i thought the same thing when i seen that mackeral at jungle jims! bet it would work, its pretty foul and stinky stuff. next time i am down that way fishing i may stop in and buy a small amount to try. heck, look at chicken breast, it outfishes shad sometimes when i use them on the same trip. if you try the Mack let us know how it works!


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## SeanStone

I first heard of Mackeral for catfish bait in a book I read. It was written in the early 80's, "How to fish natrual baits" the authors name was Byron Dalrymple. He spoke of using it because he knew a friend who owned a store that would give him the fish after it went bad. He then used it as bait. He also mentioned that people near the oceans fish with mackeral for cats as well because it was easy to get. It has oily and firm flesh, so I don't see why it wouldn't work.


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## PolymerStew

Mackerel should work as catfish bait. I haven't found it any more effective than cut shad or bluegill when I've used it, but I've only tried it a few times. 

According to the In-Fisherman "Critical Concepts: Catfish Presentation- River Strategies" book, mackerel is the most popular cut bait in southern California for channel, blue, and white cats (p. 80). Apparently the only cut baits allowed on most waters there are dead saltwater baits. It seems like in that case it's the bait of choice because the native baitfish (shad, suckers, etc) can only be used live. 

One problem they mention is mackerel tends to fly off the hook easily when casting because of the soft meat .


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## Doctor

I used it for years back in the 90's and yes got it from Jungle Jims, works good just like Skipjack just a lot leaner meat wize than a Skipjack, I have used it as a back-up for Skipjack it used to be a .75 a Mackrel what is it now?

Doc


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## catfish_hunter

Check out the new in fisherman. there is an article talking about some different baits. Pretty sure mackeral was mentioned in there.


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## fishdealer04

Any oily fish will work well for catfish bait. Catfish are not shy with what they eat as most people know- everyone has read the articles of catching them on all kinds of grocery store foods as well as dog food, dough baits and even soap.

Trout is another good bait- ecspecially if you are fishing a lake where trout are stocked. The catfish get used to eating the trout.


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## JimmyMac

Went today and picked some up, $3.99 a pound. I got a pound and a half, which ended up being 3, 10+" fish. Can't wait to give it a try. 


BTW: Who in the world eats this stuff? I got it fresh off the ice and I swear it could gag a maggot on a gut wagon.


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## flippy7141

mackeral is a killer bait for cats. we would usually catch them back in cali and immediatly head to the lakes to use them fresh. When theyre that fresh they bleed like hell


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## flippy7141

JimmyMac said:


> Went today and picked some up, $3.99 a pound. I got a pound and a half, which ended up being 3, 10+" fish. Can't wait to give it a try.
> 
> 
> BTW: Who in the world eats this stuff? I got it fresh off the ice and I swear it could gag a maggot on a gut wagon.


lol yeah those mackerals smell bad but tons of people still eat them, i personally have never ate one or would ever want to


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## fishdealer04

flippy7141 said:


> lol yeah those mackerals smell bad but tons of people still eat them, i personally have never ate one or would ever want to


It all depends on what kind of mackeral it is. I catch Spanish Mackeral and King Mackeral when I go to Florida and they are delicious!


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## JimmyMac

fishdealer04 said:


> It all depends on what kind of mackeral it is. I catch Spanish Mackeral and King Mackeral when I go to Florida and they are delicious!


The ones I got were labeled "Boston Mackerel", they had the Spanish ones right next to em, the Spanish cost a wee bit more though. All I know is mine smell TERRIBLE! I got them out of the freezer today, after they froze overnight, because my wife wanted to see them. All it took was for me to slide the paper out of the bag before I stunk up the entire kitchen, had to spray fabreeze.


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## fredg53

Ok I am gonna quit being so cheap gotta give these a try


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## flippy7141

fishdealer04 said:


> It all depends on what kind of mackeral it is. I catch Spanish Mackeral and King Mackeral when I go to Florida and they are delicious!


guess i shouldve specified but the ones im talking about are the normal pacific mackeral. http://www.pierfishing.com/fish_of_the_month/mackerel.html


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