Early in season, first few days, my homemade bait work well, cold snap, back work an not able check traps till afternoon. , Got warmer, homemade bait worthless, I hope buy commercial trapline supply dry bait, I have used marshmellows with some success in warm spell in December in very good select hot coon areas. Where it only esst set, under bridge where lot rocks. Or soft sand, not easy make a pocket set, depend how many dps u run, the bought bait , can get pricey, I like bait mine heavy , as field mice well make short work bait in some places. Bait nearly gone by end day, from field mice, same in some water pockets. Water rats clean out bait , over nite

Get a bag of regular size marshmallows. Put some of them in a zip lock bag with a little flour and some powdered sugar or a packet of grape or strawberry drink mix and give them a good shake. This will give them a good odor and flavor, and keep them from getting sticky. One under the trigger works well. If you want to double down or have a change-up, get some pelletized fish food or even shelled corn, put in a jar with screw on lid and add a FEW drops of butterscotch, peppermint or licorice (anise oil) flavoring. You can get small bottles of these for cheap at the grocery store, and a little goes a long way. Put lid on, give a good shake to mix well, let set a couple of days to let the odor sink in, and put about a heaping teaspoon full in the trap after setting and anchoring it. Can be used alone or with the flavored marshmallows. I’ve never used commercial bait and catch lots of coons for customers around deer feeders that already have corn or protein pellets in them by using these inexpensive home made D-P baits. They work well for me where ever coons travel, and are inexpensive to make. Best tip I can give is to not hit them with all of it at once. Changing baits after a few catches when you know there are some left in the area that won’t work the set usually takes care of refusals. Woods rats and field mice do steal bait sometimes, but the odor stays in the trap for a while after the bait is gone. Try dropping a marble and a few drops of syrup in the trap when having bait theft problems.
Good luck!

Early in season. That stuff works good, it warmer down south, up north here, later on, u might want go with different bait, dps are mostly a very early season thing for me

Early in season. That stuff works good, it warmer down south, up north here, later on, u might want go with different bait, dps are mostly a very early season thing for me , I do use white styrofoam paper cups in wet weather over top trap, if not rain, I leave uncover

KISS method = Frisky’s Seafood Sensations Cat Food + Liquid and/or Dry Feed Molasses + Milk Replacer

4 gallons of cat food
8 oz of liquid feed molasses
1 cup dry feed molasses (optional)
1/4 cup milk replacer (optional)

*Buy Quality Catfood Like Frisky’s Seafood Sensations

Optional Lure: use 4 oz bottle w/ flip top...add 1-2 drops inside dp on top of dp bait

2 oz liquid feed molasses
1 oz persimmon
1 oz Blackies Night Bandit (must warm bottle w/ hot water to liquify lure to allow it to be poured into bottle w/ flip top)

Optional Dp Trap Cover: 8 oz styrofoam cup (used w/ Duke, Z-Trap Style Dp’s)

Anything . They are called trash pandas for a reason ..................................

Yep, it's FAR more important to put the trap where they will walk into it, versus what you put in it. And I mean walk INTO it, not by it, not past it, INTO it. Put it right in their tracks.

I can take you to where I trap which will humble you quick on that notion. Lots of coons with more natural food than they need.

Also something to remember: no matter what you use for bait, it has to be something that tastes good and the coons will want to eat. If it's bitter or tastes bad they won't stick around long enough to be caught.

Is that persimmon oil?

Does pepermint or butterscotch food flavor taste good when mix with shell corn ? Not sure if bitter food flavor taste or not?sounds like idea.