I am looking to make a ground/chunky coon bait out of fish. I was thinking of using smelt or minnows, mashing them up or grinding them, and mixing in some Sodium Benzoate as an anti-freeze to make a paste. I plan on using the bait in the back of cubbies or in pocket sets, not in dog proofs.

So my question is, would this work as a bait? And if it would, is there any "additives" that I could put in to it to spice it up a bit?

Thank You

You have manyyyy options when it comes to ingredients. For raccoon bait and this is jmo, don't over complicate fish. Sure anise,honey, molasses and other sweet odors are attractive but fat would be an ingredient I made sure I had in the bait. Depending on the origin from the fat, that odor alone will slam raccoon and a lot of them. Just my opinion it's more beneficial to add things that they instinctively seek out during the seasons.

Fats are a plus in all predator baits.