Here is a link to a thread with whole bunch of ideas...some of which I am going to try. http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57945 Good luck. I love fishing for channels with livers myself.
I have two: First you can wrap them in Panty hose before placing them on the hook............OR..........you can microwave them only slightly and they will toughen up some. Be very careful though with the time they are in there.
You should do this in a garage or a closed room in a basement. Take some newspaper spread out you livers sprinkle them with garlic salt, put another layer of livers lay on top of the first layer. Sprinkle again. After a couple layers let them just set for a few days. The will get dry, stay on the hook, then rehydrate in the water. It may take a week or so for them to dry well, then put them in zip lock bags. The panty hose method is just messy and didn't really work for me, but drying them worked well and they last awhile too. Good luck
I always buy mine fresh never frozen. Then I drain all the excess fluid off and keep them cool. Hook them on making sure to go through the fat and the grissle type stuff as much as possible and hook them as many times as you can. Then toss lightly and be sure not to whip your pole. Stay close by and watch the pole intently. The bite usually comes quickly and a quick jerk is then needed. If you dont catch him them.....you might need to re-bate. I have caught 100's of cats this way. I've also spent a small fortune on chicken livers.:smile2:
two things that will help a lot. keep them cold while you are fishing. keep in ice chest. can't stress that enough. second cut them with a knife instead of pinching them in two. i think those two things are most important when using chicken livers. if not the tissue starts breaking down and you end up with mush.
Barry, welcome to the BOC/SOC :cool2:, best catfishing site on the web! Be sure to check out the library, a lot of good info in there. To toughen up those livers cure them in the sun. Go to the grocery store and buy 4 to 6 tubs of fresh chicken liver(depending on how many cats you are planning on feeding.) Buy at least two bottles of garlic powder and 2 boxes of salt. On a hot sunny day start early and place the chicken livers on aluminum foil in direct sun light. Coat the livers heavily with the garlic powder and salt and leave them to bake in the sun for about 4 hours. The tops will start to dry and the edges will start to turn a different shade of brown. Now flip them over and coat the other side heavily with garlic powder and salt and as stated you can't put to much salt. Let them bake in the sun another 4 hours and they will be ready. Place them in gallon freezer bags until you are ready to use them. When you are ready to go fishing take as many of them out of the bag as you think your cat will eat and throw them out. Now grab your shad net and go catch some fresh shad and go fishing:wink::smile2:. Sorry guy's I couldn't resist, they really do work pretty good for channel cats.
As another poster said, just use a single hook and make sure you put the hook through the "toughest" part of the liver and try to not break the record for casting distance. A nice side arm lob will get the job done. I have used livers this way for many years and never have had a problem. Also, use split shot sinkers and along with the weight of the liver should give you enough weight to get the line out and on the bottom.
I take the livers and freeze them in small ice trays. They are easy to tie tight in panty hose then and they stay on the hook forever. Usually have to take the knife to cut them off why I'm through fishing.
All of these are great liver ideas and I may have to experiment with some myself. I don't really use them much, but sometimes, deserate times call for desperate measures.
I put my liver in my Jerky dehydrator. Drain em , salt em and dry em out. ; )~ I strain out the blood into another container and save it. Next I like to 1/2 all the liver because its easier to put on the hook and you have a choice on what size bait you want, you can always put on more. I put my cut liver on the dehydrator trays, then I garlic salt them if desired. Let them dry as much as you want. My theory is to just dry the outside some. I only want the outside layer to be tough enough to help hold the hook on. When its done to my liking I put it back into the blood container it came in. You have no dehydrator... ? why not, lol...just kidding....I'm love eating jerky, everyone should try making their own. Anyway, just turn your oven on the lowest setting possible and place your liver trays inside while leaving to door cracked open. Every so often turn the trays around and rotate the trays up and down so they dry even. Outside drying works fine but slower, it attracts bugs and cats....but it does work fine. Hope this little trick helps you out ; ) -Jim-
When I used chicken livers, I would use onion bag mesh to hold them on the hook--almost as good as nothing at all! I always fished fresh livers, never cured. I have since switched to Magic Bait. It is a lot less messy, stays on the hook forever, I can troll it without worry, and it has been no less effective in catching catfish as far as I can tell. What's best is that it stays in my tackle box, ready to go when I am!
