I did a search and couldn't find any results.
I have several gallons of preserved ground fish,muskrat and beaver. What would you use to thicken it? It is pretty runny right now.

What you need is something to absorb the moisture. Either something of neutral nature or of food odor value. Dried cheap oatmeal will work for the most part in moisture absorption. Give it time to work before adding too much. It takes a little time to work, several hours to over night. Stir in well for good contact.

Thank you, sir.

There is a product you can get at any pharmacy or even Walmart called "Thicket." Apparently there are some folks that have a condition which prevents them from drinking fluid so you add this stuff to it and it becomes thick. It's very neutral and doesn't have an odor. Like Bob wisely said, add a little bit, mix well, and then let it sit a day or two before determining whether you need to add more. Fish meal is also a good additive to thicken a bait and adds an attractive odor. If you haven't added all the "extras" to your meat base, you can simply pour off the fluid before adding your other ingredients.

Lazarus: Thank you for the help.

I use oats to suck up the fish oil in coon bait

I've seen some recipes call for flour or cornstarch.

Powdered egg yolks work great. Its a natural food ingredient and it also has some emulsifying qualities due to the lecithin in the yolks.

Thanks everyone for your help. I've got enough ground bait to try each suggestion to see what works best for me..

I love Trapperman for this reason! Ask a question and you get very knowledgeable men freely giving "industry secrets" to help us all out. Thanks guys!

Paul, can you buy powdered egg yolk?

Yes sir, plenty of places sell it. Here's one - https://bulkfoods.com/egg-powder/egg-yolk-powder.html

Did I read that right 75.00 for s& h

I don't know. This isn't where I get mine, it was one that popped up when I googled powdered egg yolks.

Thanks.
Never heard of that before.

The starches work well when thickening. Corn starch, potato starch.
However they stiffen up the colder it gets. After you find your thickness you like put some in a freezer and see if your blend plays well with cold conditions.
Won't matter too much for your own personal use but if you are selling it to trappers who operate in the cold you need to know what they are experiencing.

Use dehydrated sheep liver. It absorbs 2 times it's amount added. Use it in bait or lures that are food lures.

If you can find it, powdered chicken livers work well also. I have used that in the past with good results.

How much would the powered chicken or sheep liver, change the flavor of (example) ground fish? Right now, I'm using Bob's suggestion of using oatmeal, while waiting on my order of other ingredients to arrive.

My thinking food is food to a critter, so it doesn't make any difference.

From testing of ingredients and bases every ingredient makes a noticeable difference when it comes to coyotes. I've if seen SB and glycerin consistently affect there preference