[Razor1138]

Everyone at some point hits a wall and says "Screw it, I'll try __________. Nothing else is working...why not."

Personally I've used: beef jerky (caught a slot flounder) and some fatback (caught a spot). Now granted it was off a dock at Isle of Palms and not from the beach/surf.

But what are some of the weird / wacky baits have you used that actually worked?

Just trying to pass some time.opcorn:

 

[Razor1138]

40 views and no replies, guess I'm the only one that's weird.

 

[ncdead]

Homemade straw rigs for Spanish macks. They seem to work better when casting from water level rather than from the pier. I've had good luck using them on the rock jetty at radio island in MHC. Two or three feet of thirty pound leader line, about a half ounce of split shots, half a straw and a treble hook. Easy to make, cheap and effective.

 

[SloppyTilapia]

I ran out of bread balls when fishing for bream one day and just picked some white flowers, rolled up the petals into little balls and they worked just fine. Also have tried the Irish Spring for catfish, but never had any luck with this bait.

 

[Razor1138]

I've also tried Dasuquin soft chews (for dogs) on a treble for catfish, got nibbles but no hookups.

 

[mepps3]

I used French fries to catch channel cats once. Just an experiment while eating my dinner.

 

[BubbaHoTep]

removed part of the stripper pole at the end of Springmaid Pier and caught some blues

seriously, a piece of white towel for jumping mullet

great thread, until someone says pine cone or says they used Ben Franklins to catch crabs

 

[Mumbo_Pungo]

Saw a video of a guy catching a large mouth bass with a piece of licorice candy. If you think about it looks just like a big red worm.

 

[ncdead]

I rigged up an absurd contraption to throw to big bass. It was an offshore trolling lure that was better suited for marlin or REALLY big dolphin. One of those foot long rubber skirted trolling baits. Actually had a few blow ups on it but never caught one. Got to keep yourself entertained though.

 

[HawthorneTR]

I have a couple neat things I tried that actually worked. I ran out of bait Bass fishing when I was a kid and was chewing watermelon bubblegum. Put it on a hook, and threw it out, an caught one of the largest bass of that summer.
Another time I was fishing in the pamlico sound for flounder and ran out of bait, so I tied a bunch of gold hooks on one rig and jigged it around, low and behold, flounder!

Regards!

 

[oldguy]

I ran out of bait in the surf one fall at Hilton Head, blues were biting like crazy, having fun. Went to a nearby food store and bought some cheap Talapia. Used some small wire found in my tool box, wrapped around hook shanks to stab into the soft meat. Bite increased and larger fish. I took my grandson (8) to a creek at a public kiddie playground in Winston-Salem and he wore out small shellcrackers and carp with a kernel of corn on his Spiderman fishing rod. When I was kid (10), I experimented with some bright copper wire strips hammered out flat on an anvil in my Dad's shop. Wrapped around my line just above my hook and caught plenty of pinfish off a boat dock at Carolina Beach. And, gotta share this - found an octopus some years ago in a mayonnaise jar while scuba diving near the Coast Guard dock at Wrightsville Beach. Copper wire, corn, Talapia and mayonnaise - well there you have it !!

 

[bluefish1928]

white perch on plain bronze baitholder hook

 

[The Skink]

drilled a hole in a couple of Co2 cannisters used for a BB gun and threaded a wire through it with a treble hook. tore up some blues and Tunny in it. was casting off the south jetty. worked great and casted a mile

 

[ez2cdave]

drilled a hole in a couple of Co2 cannisters used for a BB gun and threaded a wire through it with a treble hook. tore up some blues and Tunny in it. was casting off the south jetty. worked great and casted a mile

That's an interesting idea !

How long did they last ?

 

[firstcatch]

Seabass on Fried Chicken.

 

[Razor1138]

It's nice to see what a little bit of ingenuity can produce. Great stories!

 

[The Skink]

i still have some, i think. They never rusted. just had to replace the hooks. If you hammer them semi-flat they have a great action on retrieve

That's an interesting idea !

How long did they last ?

 

[Pin rigr]

tootsie rolls and those new cliff bars for carp almost had my rod snap when a fish took on the tootsie roll don't know what it was but it took off like grease lightning

 

[carbine100]

Hotdogs were my go-to bait for catfish growing up.

 

[ncdead]

Used those funky white grubs you find under rotten logs when we were kids......catfish candy.