Spent grains and fishing?

In Missouri it is legal to bait fishing holes in most lakes. I've been using old rotten black-eyed peas that I keep in a sealed bucket. Now to get on point, after forgetting to take the trash out after a brew session I awoke to a quite unpleasant smell. As I was taking the trash out I realised that it smelled an awful lot like the peas that I use to bait holes in the summer. So I'm thinking that if I tie a full grain bag of spent grain nastiness to a rock and toss it in the lake the catfish will come running. Thoughts? Anyone ever try this?

Bumpity bump! I know there are some fishermen out there who might have a take on this.

I haven't tried this.

I've used dogfood, grits, and creamed corn mixed w/ red jello. This is supposed to wake up carp & cats. No such luck though. I think the fish were done for the year when I tried this.

I was also using hotdogs soaked in red jello. They were bittin' but I wasn't able to land anything.

Tried chicken livers, again no frick'n luck.

I may have to chum a nasty grain bag on the side of the boat.

I don't see why not....

Although I tried feeding spent grains to my GF's LLamas......They hated them....


Though the catfish may love it...Man fresh catfish...I haven't had great catfish since I left Missouri 4 years ago.....I used to live at Jumpin' Catfish, in Lee's Summit.....plus some really little catfish joint between Raytown and KC....

Jumpin' Catfish is great. (although never been brave enough to try the turkey fries) Nothing better than fresh fried catfish and hushpuppies..... Man I'm freakin hungry!

Schlenkerla said:

I haven't tried this.

I've used dogfood, grits, and creamed corn mixed w/ red jello. This is supposed to wake up carp & cats. No such luck though. I think the fish were done for the year when I tried this.

I was also using hotdogs soaked in red jello. They were bittin' but I wasn't able to land anything.

Tried chicken livers, again no frick'n luck.

I may have to chum a nasty grain bag on the side of the boat.

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I've heard of a lot of stange catfish bait but never red jello. What is the deal with that, I'm gettin the fever. I don't know whats worse for me right now fishing or brewing.

Redweasel said:

Man I'm freakin hungry!

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Yeah...you and me both....

I read that red jello is good for cats. Heard this from a few buddies too. Its the sweet smell that attracts them. Red:Blood???

Get a whole bunch of cheap hot dogs, then chop them up and put them in large pickle or pretzel jar dump a few packs of red jello an fill with water. Its not so nausiating if you're hung-over. If so disposed, you could eat'em. :cross:

Other stink bate might have you doing the breakfast chum over the side.

Done this once, got a bucket of minnows and red jello. It dies them red. Makes them look different to the fishes. Its kind of weird but works good.

Its changing it up that draws fish in my book.

I have used hot dogs before with mixed results. Kinda expensive for bait, but what I usually use is shrimp. For some reason they only seem to like it if it has no pink in it whatsoever. Shad guts seem to work well for me also. I'm going to go nuts if I don't get to the lake soon. Hmmm...brew at the lake? Now I'm in REAL trouble.

I've gotten the cheap dogs for $.99 each (8-12). $2 and two packs of jello that's alot of bait.

My pond out back still frozen.

Just checked my worms from last year. Their good and fat. Been feeding them coffee grounds all winter.

Yeah I'm itch' to get out there too. April is the best on my pond. Tons of Bluegills and Bass.

Sorry should have said the shrimp were expensive for bait. You have a pond on your property? Jealousy ensues! Any blue cats up that way or is it just a southern fish?

The pond out back is mainly BG & Bass. Its about 3 acres of pond completely enclosed by trees. Its about 350' from the curb and about 40' below the street level. Mid Summer its totally secluded. Best thing no fishing license! I can go fish anytime too and I'm all by myself.

It used to have cats but I think they all died out.

Where I'm at its cats/bullheads, crappies, bluegills, bass, and some walleye.

Well, no catfish here in Oregon where I trout fish, but I will say from experience that stocked trout will hit spent grains with vigor. They think they are the Purina trout chow pellets from the hatchery...not that I would ever chum up a fish-thats illegal here

I am sure catfish would be interested in stinky grains...they eat shoes from what my uncle in Kansas tells me.

the waleyes here are off-season now the steelhead are staging for their spawn runs, the cats are still tucked into their winter holes for another month or so

Just checked my worms from last year. Their good and fat. Been feeding them coffee grounds all winter.

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Those worms are gonna be nice and sassy with all that caffeine!

Big10Seaner said:

Those worms are gonna be nice and sassy with all that caffeine!

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Yup - They are extra squirmy from the java jitters.

I had to keep them in the man-fridge. SWMBO would stroke out if they were with the veggies in the crisper in our main kitchen fridge!!!

Schlenkerla said:

I had to keep them in the man-fridge. SWMBO would stroke out if they were with the veggies in the crisper in our main kitchen fridge!!!

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Oh I lost that battle! She did not notice them for about three months, but when she did..... Lets just say not so happy:cross:

Revvy said:

I don't see why not....

Although I tried feeding spent grains to my GF's LLamas......They hated them....


Though the catfish may love it...Man fresh catfish...I haven't had great catfish since I left Missouri 4 years ago.....I used to live at Jumpin' Catfish, in Lee's Summit.....plus some really little catfish joint between Raytown and KC....

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Hahaha. The thought of someone feeding spent grain to llamas... and them hating it........ thats hilarious.

Im starting to get the fishing itch
Fishing at a honey hole swilling home brew...doesn't get any better

Cheers
BeerCanuck

What's your favorite lure? The one that lands the most...

For Bass & Bluegills I like to use the DIY Small Spinner Clips (ones like a safety pin w/ a gold or silver spoon) On the bottom I attach an 1/8th or 1/16th oz jig head and 1/4~1/3 of a worm fed onto the hook like jig head bait.

Works great! - They are cheap, you can afford to loose them, and they are almost weedless. Some times I'll attach minnows.

:rockin:

2" Berkley power minnows for both crappie and bass. Buzzbaits in high summer. I'm lazy though and use a lot of live bait. Worms and minnows.

I'd be willing to bet the really soured (cheesy) spent grains will pull them in like crazy. It is illegal here to chum. I love to go Catfishing though. The trick with worms is to gob them on.

If you want the huge size Cats you should provide something like a live small Sunny. Weight it down to the bottom and rig it so that it can swim about 10" or so off the bottom.

zoebisch01 said:

It is illegal here to chum.

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IMHO as well it should be...if you can't catch right em on your own, you should go to a pay-pond or a fish market

We hit them in the river and a few local lakes all night long on chicken livers.

Yeah, I think the itch has really got me too and I'm probably taking tomorrow off of work to go to the cooling lake which just opened for fishing. From reading reports it seems the bass fishing has started off with a bang! Just an idea, when people start catching fish we should post a few pics on here.

Chumming is legal in Iowa. They actually sell Chum at Wal-mart.

I wonder if hanging a grain bag over the side is chumming. I always thought of it as dumping food over the side to attract fish. You still have to use normal baiting & fishing methods to catch anything.

I don't think chumming is necessarily cheating. I mean you can catch more fish that way but you do have to actually catch them. I clean all the keepers I can up to the daily limit, so I don't see much wrong with it.

Experiment was a complete success!:rockin: I gave my old used up grains to a fella I work with and he baited a hole. Came back the next morning and caught his limit of Wipers (strange mix of striper and white bass) within a few hours!:rockin: Said they were hitting both rods at the same time! Man, I got to get out and do some fishing soon!!!

I usually dump out the trub pile on my garden area....this has got me thinking

And for my favorite fishing rig its got to be a pickerel rig;


Works great once you find a hot spot

Cheers
BeerCanuck

I'll be trying this shortly myself!!

I like to try catching minnows in my minnow trap a few hours before I start fishing. I use bread, crackers, dog food, I might have to try a grain sack too. :rockin:

I can also broad cast spread the grains with a handheld spreader right from the shoreline....

When I was young, my dad and I did a LOT of river catfishing (Minnesota River). We tried every bait known to man, and also did a bit of baiting. We used a 5 gallon pail, small holes drilled in it, tied to a cinder block and full of animal guts (Dad owned a butcher shop).

Best baits we ever used were:

Chicken livers on a treble hook (best for Channel Cats)

Live chubs.. big ones (Best for Flat heads)

I guess this is a different kind of chumming with spent grains.

EdWort said:

I guess this is a different kind of chumming with spent grains.

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If that were my back yard that lantern would HAVE to get replaced with a set of crosshairs.

Do a Google search for "Soured Grain". I tried it with Milo and it smells about like vomit. Works like a champ!! Basically you put the grain(Milo,Wheat,Corn) in a bucket, soak it, cover it, and let it ferment for a week or more. l will be trying this with my spent grains over the summer. Thanks for posting, I would have never put the two together.

Chumming is illegal here too. But it's got me thinking. I wonder if you put some in a mesh bag if you could use it for crab traps? I'll have to try it. That is if I ever move back to the coast. (Damn I miss fishing on the coast).

PeteOz77 said:

Best baits we ever used were:

Chicken livers on a treble hook (best for Channel Cats)

Live chubs.. big ones (Best for Flat heads)

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+1 on the chicken livers. I haven't fished cats in quite some time, but when I did they LOVED chicken livers.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Chumming is illegal here too. But it's got me thinking. I wonder if you put some in a mesh bag if you could use it for crab traps? I'll have to try it. That is if I ever move back to the coast. (Damn I miss fishing on the coast).

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I don't see why it wouldn't be illegal if the grain is all stored inside the trap. It'd probably keep together better if the grain was all frozen, then put into the trap. I think next time I go to the coast to go crabbing I'll do the same thing.

Ooompa Loompa said:

+1 on the chicken livers. I haven't fished cats in quite some time, but when I did they LOVED chicken livers.

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BIG +1 on the chicken livers. I let some chicken livers age in the fridge for about two weeks and get real nasty. The channel cats tore it up !

Redweasel said:

I've heard of a lot of stange catfish bait but never red jello. What is the deal with that, I'm gettin the fever. I don't know whats worse for me right now fishing or brewing.

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From what I remember from Oceanography 101 red gets filtered out only a few feet below the surface. That's why the new red fishing lines are so popular is because they are basically invisible underwater. -As I understand it.

MULE said:

BIG +1 on the chicken livers. I let some chicken livers age in the fridge for about two weeks and get real nasty. The channel cats tore it up !

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"real nasty" doesn't do your livers justice. They were turning green, and smelled like rancid a$$. When he pulled a cat from the water, I was dry heaving from the smell of the liver still stuck in the fish's mouth.

cronxitawney said:

"real nasty" doesn't do your livers justice. They were turning green, and smelled like rancid a$$. When he pulled a cat from the water, I was dry heaving from the smell of the liver still stuck in the fish's mouth.

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Catfishin' with stinkbait is not for those who are hung-over or have a weak constitution.

I still maintain going w/ red strawberry jello soaked hotdogs for catin'