Hi,
I have a serious bait problem! I've been mixing up baits all summer and I haven't had many problems. The first one I made smelled fine up until just snow and now it's suddenly gone rancid! I mean smelling so horrid that "all flies drop dead." That do y'all think went wrong? All it contained was rabbit meat, water, SB and Reuwsaat's Bait Solution. I had one other one do the same thing only I buried it for a while and it got a sort of tainted / sweet smell. Should I do the same thing?
Thanks,
AuthorTrapper.

That tainted sweet smell is a good smell in my neck of the woods. As far as the other not turning out like you wanted don’t cuss it until you’ve tested it !

I should mention that if your testing produces a rolling affect, your on the right track. Just make sure you put it in a hole deep enough that they are caught before they can get it out of the hole !

heres where the trails cams I suggested you let a loved one buy you for your birthday or Christmas would come in handy.

you could also rake away leaves then put in a hole and see what tracks or fur are left behind

What went wrong?...…..not enough SB possibly

I have to agree with the above two posts. Don't be afraid to try things, even when you think they've gone wrong, you may be surprised at the results.

Trail cams are something I haven't used. I'm still looking at tracks in dirt patterns and how much my dirt holes get dug out when testing lures, but actually being able to see an animal's response would be so much better. I guess It's time that I got out of the stone age. LOL

Especially if your in an area like mine where even after a monsoon you can't find a track because of the way our ground is unless your on a creek bank with sand.

I know I'm late to the party but.... I know you guys said don't be afraid to try something, I have some crawfish that I ground up and made a paste with. 2 batches 1- freshly preserved (catfish bait) 1- tainted for maybe too long.... kind has gray color and not so crawfish smell. I read something on Tman awhile ago that if it smells like hot trash it is trash. Well it's almost there. Any advise?

I have same issue with some shrimp

those crawdads will and do work at that stage but go deep! I put mine in a turtle shell that's pinned down they want it but cant without getting pinched! author did you by chance use chlorinated water?

crawdads / crawfish has a low oil content, as does shrimp, that being the cause for so much failure in using them, movement of live craw fish would be better at a trap set, early season, Coon, Mink, like live bait to feel or attack, much better, with Odor spike near to assist.

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Ha, ha, not a chance!

No sir!

author its hard to say without seeing and smelling it first hand. so many things can make a batch change. Bacteria grows and dies at different rates. From different situations. Your first batch was buried the second wasn't? That's where id start.