How do you "cut" your cut bait?

[stinkbaitman]

i use all parts either fillet or steak them and use the head and tail or just make variuos cuts in the body and use it whole.

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[kickflip484]

When you guys say "gut pocket," does that mean you use the head and the guts. I guess i'm just not for sure what your talking about. I picture would be great if anyone had one.

[AZflats]

Here is the set up I use to catch my 53 inch flathead in 2006.. Simple, but effective.. I think the trick with using a carp head is hooking it from the back in.
~A

* I like the idea of stepping on it first.. That should help create a little extra scent.

[weinerdog]

I use all of the above and have had luck with everyone. I prefer to use fillets cut into strips though.

[KSKatter]

I cut the head and tail off, fillet one side, then use the middle section

[Ghosth]

Mostly I fillet vertical strips off the back halfway down the side. I can see if you have shad or can legally use bluegill. That a head & gut pocket could be very good.

Both of those not options where I fish, so I try to scale down to what I can reasonably expect to catch. Crawlers and dip bait seems to work well for eaters. So normally I take a 1" wide 3" long fillet for bigger cats.

Last 2 trips I've been adding a twist of pipecleaner to the shank of my hook and rubbing in Sonnys dip bait. Or putting a small tube above the cut bait.

[ccat]

If I am using small shad, especially ones that have been frozen, I will just make a cut from the center of the body down through the gut. Hook it just behind the eyes and curl it around toward the tail and re-hook it. That slit through the middle downward lets scent out.
hope this helps.
ccat

[kat king]

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.

i cut off the head and use the body with the tail or i cut the tail off and use the tail on seperate hook depending on the size of bait..:big_smile:

[fishnvince]

I chunk mine. I uses pretty much large Gizzard shad and chunk it into 2 to 3 inch pieces. I also discard the tail section.

[KentuckyCatfish]

It seems to me that whenever I use the mid section of a shad, i usually catch more fish. However the fish are not normally all that large. It seems with shad I have relatively good luck with the head and mid section with the tail cut off. Skip jacks heads work great with blues. Whole bluegill for the flatties, and any small cut bait for the channels. For me, the best results have always come from large baitfish heads and large pieces of midsection with the top fin and bottom fins cut off.