By now many of you have tried the world renowned, highly classified, super secret and awesomely effective bacon bait, only described in about 18 places on this website. Are you ready to take your game to the next level? Do you want to leave the competition in the dust? If so, stand by for . . . .[drum roll] . . . Bacon Bait 2.0!!!!!!
Please keep this a secret and don't tell anyone about it, much less how to make it. Serious.
Take a gallon of Bacon Bait 1.0 (the original formula for those unfamiliar with tech talk).
Now add about 2 quarts of fruit base. I make mine by boiling chokecherries and ripe plumbs for about an hour with sugar added at about 4 pounds per gallon of fruit. Add enough water to cover the fruit and sugar and let boil for an hour. I mash the fruit during this process to release all the juices and pulp. When done, let cool, and strain with something in the order of 1/4" to 1/3" squares. The idea is that you want to strain out all the pits but keep as much of the pulp flesh as you can. I store this about a week to 10 days at room temperature until it starts to ferment just a bit. The fermenting smell is what tells a hungry predator that ripe fruit, loaded with sugar, is available -- just the kind of high calorie food one needs to put on weight for the coming winter. When it has fermented (watch for mold and kill it with methyl paraben if needed), and then add it to your Bacon Bait 1.0.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2023/10/full-25559-191123-fruit_base.jpg)
Now add a quart of cultured eggs. I made mine about 3 years ago when eggs were cheap (in fact, mine were free because I asked a local supermarket if they had any outdated eggs they would be throwing away) so this is a little dry. If you don't know how to make cultured eggs, look up any of Bob Jameson's wonderful posts on the topic, or better yet, just order it from him and you know it will be done right.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2023/10/full-25559-191124-cultured_eggs.jpg)
Mix everything together, and add a little glycerin if you plan to use it relatively soon. This finished product has a fairly short shelf life before things dry out, go rancid or mold (depending on your location/humidity/temperature, etc.) so you can freeze until ready for use. If you're going to freeze it, do so now; if you plan to use it right away, go ahead add your glycerin now.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2023/10/full-25559-191125-finished_product.jpg)
There you have it. Bacon Bait 2.0. Not for sale within 500 miles of . . . oh, come to think of it, not for sale period. At least not by me.
Postscript:
I've been in the trapping game for over half a century and feel I know trappers pretty well. I know there will be many who will feel an innate need to respond to this post. I also have a pretty good idea what most of you will say. So in order to avoid you overtaxing your brain or your keyboard, I have already provided sample responses below. All you have to do is respond with the number that best describes the clever, witty, informative response you were contemplating.
Sample Responses:
1. I am already loyal to Brand X lure or bait and wouldn't think of using anything, new, novel, different or (pfff) home made. I currently trap all the predators I need to using Brand X and wouldn't dare use anything else. (Great. Move on . . . uh, if you're so happy with Brand X lure or bait, what are you doing surfing the lure and bait formulator's thread anyway?)
2. If I used that stuff here in my area, I'd catch too many non-target animals (because my current lure or bait doesn't attract any non-targets so I don't want to mess with my current success). OK, stay in touch.
3. Why are you using human food materials like bacon and lard anyway? That stuff is better put to use as part of my low calorie, low fat, low cholesterol diet which keeps me in my present peak physical condition. (You got me there. You might want to check out the Recipes and cooking thread elsewhere on this website to display your culinary exploits. In the meantime, see you in the next Olympics).
4. Let me make a totally non-responsive, random, off-topic comment about whatever it was that you were discussing in this thread. Duke is better than Ford or Chevy ice cream blah blah blah blah blah.
5. Hmmmm. This might actually work, but have you tried using Abyssinian ferret glands soaked for a year in hydralazine bethomethylactose to improve your formula? (No, I have not but please do so and report on your results. I've caught literally more than a thousand predators on the original bacon bait and yet people who have never even tried it are willing to suggest their own personal tweeks to the formula from a dozen states away. Try the original for a couple thousand sets and then report back on your results.)
6. Why are you EVEN THINKING of trapping canines in this depressed fur market? (Uh, you got me there. Don't judge me.)
7. All of the above.