How do you "cut" your cut bait?

[JEFFRODAMIS]

sometimes i just tear shad in two

[TennesseeJugger]

I am just curious how everyone cuts up their bait. I usually cut the head and tail off a shad or chub and fish with center part. I will also put the shad head on a line. Never have caught anything but gar off the chub head. I don't know why cats don't seam to like them. Is this the way everyone does it or do some of you fillet them and use the sides?

You can pick more then one answer.

With a knife....I know I know but I could not resist! LOL

[steveturner024]

I selected all of them. I start by cutting off the tail and discarding it. I then cut the shad into 1-2 inch sections. Then I use 1-6 pieces just depending on how big the shad is. If that doesn't work I use one of the other options.

[timmyjane]

seems everyone has their own way. mine depends on how big the bait is.

[Papa64]

Heres how I cut my shad

This is the way I do it too. pics didn't transfer but I do moine like Flat does, head, gut, gut and tail four pieces if they are big enough.

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[hct236]

As others have mentioned, I like the head of a small bluegill with the gut pocket attached. I think it might be the eyes that attracts cats. Sometimes I will split the head lengthwise between the eyes. So I can have 2 baits each with an eye and part of the gut pocket attached. Usually toss the tails because they are not very bloody and seems I catch a lot of turtles on the tails.
If they are very small, i just fish the whole thing.

[Jeremy Sheffey]

did anyone state that they cut their bait with a knife or am i to late for that joke....haha

[playin4funami]

whatever I bite off is the bait





JK

gills I cut at a 45 degree angle fron the top of there head to near the anal opening just barely cutting into the gut pocket,the I hook it up and hit the bait with a small club,to get the juices flowing then toss it out

shad up to 4 inches get used whole,over that I just cut from top to bottom of the fish fror strips about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide for channel cats, bigger chunks or whole for blues and flatties up to 12 inches long

chubs I only use whole and live, never had very good luck on dead chubs

bigger baits like carp and drum etc, get filleted and cut into steaks about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide unless it is flattie bait then carp etc, up to 3 or 4 lbs may be used whole

my motto is go big or go home when it comes to a monster safari, of course channels are different, but I use big baits for them too, ones the little fish under 5 to 8 lbs can't eat well, I catch alot of 20 to 30 lb channels on whole gills. small bait is for catching eaters

[callahanbigcats]

When cutting up large gizzard shad I like to de-scale the shad first, then make a cut right behind the gills and cut the skin off the fillet all the way to the tail. Then cut the tail off. This leaves the head and gut pocket attatched plus let all the oils and blood easily leave the fish. It is very important to keep your bait fresh and rebait every hour if possible. If your struggling to catch bait, I have seen monster blue cats caught on a Blue Cat fillet. Wouldnt beleive it but we struggled catching bait one day, My friend said lets use one of these fillets off of one of these small blue cats and we had a 33lb blue in the boat in less than 10 minutes. Everyone please let me know how this combo works for you....thanks Mitchel

[Madtownangler]

I chunk the shiners up and keep the heads and tails for last when I run out of the good chunks. I don't carry ice with me when I'm fishing, so I also save the heads to put on the hook when the bait gets soft. It keeps the pieces from flying off.