What is more attractive to coons, sweet baits like marshmallows, syrup, molasses, etc. or fishy smelling baits like sardines, cat food, fish food pellets, etc. ? This goes for trailing scents too. Just curious to hear your thoughts based on your experience. -Thanks

I think it depends on the area you're trapping. If they are on their way to look for fish, then of course fish. Are they near corn fields? Then give them what they are looking for. Near fruit trees then give them something sweet. Although coon will usually not pass up a free meal of anything why not feed them things they expect to find or what's on their minds anyhow. And this time of year any fox or coyote gland lure will catch the big bores looking for a mate. Some guys swear by dog food sprayed with fox urine this time of year.
I have some old homemade raspberry jam I am going to try on top of some DP's next year. around grape vine areas I know of, Plus a few places I know berrys might still be around. I have an apple tree that comes ripe before any other tree I have.(Yellow Transparent) I think. Anyhow when they are ripe the coon stripe it bear within 3 nights. I have seen 4 coon in that tree at a time. I may try to get those apples next fall and make apple sauce to try as bait around apple orchards next fall.
I know more info than you were asking for for, but I hope I was helpful anyhow.

If you want just coons use sweet baits in your DPs say like molasses covered dry cat food. Using any thing with fish in it will bring you all the other animals, you do not want in your traps.

Coon pile on the tracks in the mud along the rivers and creeks looking for fruit trees??

I use either molasses corn or smokey fish catfood with a marshmallow on the trigger. I trap mostly creek bottoms and the coons dont really seem to have a preference.

Coons will eat what ever they come acrossed first ,,,,,, he is not choosy ,,, I always had good luck with cheap dry cat food plus it's an easy clean up

I too, have had good luck with sea food flavored cat food. I use either smokey fish or anise trailing scents; putting a little on the bait and some on a near by tree. I have used a marshmellow on the trigger, but not sure it made a difference outside of giving them something they have to work at getting out. If trapping near houses with cats, then use sweet baits and scents.

Both sweet and fishy odors and food materials have their value for coon. Throw in the gland lures with those preferred odors during the breeding season and you can catch coon all winter until they den due to cold or deep snow. Then you must wait for the warming trends for them to move again.

Different seasons of the year coons will have varying diets simply due to natures available food stuffs and crop yields. It sure makes a difference in where they are and what they find available for preferred food sources.

Our coon work the row crops/fields first then back and forth to the streams then into the hardwoods for wild cherries and grapes. Lots of coon are found around hay and silage storage in agricultural areas all the time.

Find the food and shelter areas and you will find coon.

Back in the day I was running an early November canoe line for 'coon. A coon path showed fresh tracks so I made a set and baited it with muskrat as I had a fresh one in the boat. I checked the trap several time and noticed more tracks but no catch. I had a sucker in the boat that I found dead somewhere along the creek. It had been there awhile an was starting to stink. I pulled the rat and baited with the fish (sucker) & got the 'coon the same night. My normal bait was a chunk of carp, but in PA I didn't want to have a muskrat in the canoe in early November. Fish worked well for 'coon & sweet stuff tended to catch rats as well as 'coon.

Both Sweet and Fishy, my best raccoon bait is sticky sweet with a fish base.

Lots of people think you need some super smelling out of this world odor to call in these animals. We run raccoon traps year round and find a few nice key balanced "heavy" odors take coon like clock work.


Using cams I've watched coon walk right by chunks of oily fish to hit on a lure with a blend of odors that were sweet and musky. Then vice versa...did they walk by the lure first or the fish etc. Coons are opportunistic animals I wouldn't beat ya self up over one or the other. You will have a thousand different answers. Variety in a lure and bait is key for us. Contrary to what many people think on how "loud" an odor should be, you don't have to smell it from the next county over. Hundreds of coons are taken on a single chunk style of fish do you really need a bait or lure that strong? Or should people focus on ..are there numbers in coon population in the area to evaluate one or the other? That is why we test by using hundreds of test sites, because you need a baseline. To really get what you are looking for, make or buy something and test them yourself. That way you have tested the theory first hand and will then be to able base your assumption on physical evidence rather then "add ABCDEF and G". Lots of times you will find that all those extra added ingredients aren't necessary. Coons will eat almost anything.

I always like to use fish or muskrat to pick up an occasional mink.

I have caught my share of coon with ground fish and sweetcorn oil but can't say it worked any better than straight fish.

sweet 75% of the time.