I usually start this around this time of year. Mixing it up now and giving the containers a good shake every few days and this will be ready to use by December 1st when I start setting.

All ingredients from my local dollar general store. Not much $ in this and it makes a decent supply of very good bait.

- fish flavored dry cat food (I buy cheapest bag on the shelf)
- jar of molasses
- bottle of liquid smoke

You can change the ingredients up for different smells of course. The list of possible other ingredients is endless, coon like lots of different flavors and odors. Variations I’ve used were adding a can or two of mashed up sardines in oil, or maybe shaking in a box of dry strawberry or cherry jello mix. Lots of possibilities. LOTS of possibilities. Be creative.
Dry cat food alone by itself works too but I like to really spice it up a bit with some added strong flavors and odors. Dry cat food alone doesn’t have a lot of odor. This mix has a very strong odor and on a cool foggy night this stuff really works well. This combo has served me well around here.

This size bag of dry cat food and these ingredients make about 1.5 gallons of DP bait and I can make it up in large empty containers with lids. I literally dump all of this into the two containers and then just give them a good shake to mix. That’s right all of it. First few days it’s a gooey and strong smoky mix but over time the dry cat food soaks everything up and becomes more easy to work with. The containers should be shaken every few days right up until day you start setting. I start my batches now so the cat food has time to really soak everything up and then is fairly dry and easy to work with pouring into DPs when I’m setting. When it’s finally ready I do transfer the bait into more portable and pourable in containers like 1/2 gallon size plastic milk jugs or maybe clean larger Gatorade bottles, something like that I can pour into the DP openings easily and quickly in the field.

Anyway, pics…

Looks like a easy and cheap bait, might just try some this
year.
Thanks for posting!

spoonbill oil and dry cat food works great. just mix it up and use. dont need much oil

especially if you grind the kibble to powder

Looks good. I'm getting all my stuff organized and set up this weekend, just tuned up a dozen new duke 1 1/2 double jaws yesterday, gonna boil and wax tomorrow when it's cool out, and was looking to mix up some bait today. Do you use the whole bottle of liquid smoke? It seems like, in the past, when I've used just a few splashes in a batch of cat food, it smelled way too smokey.

Most anything will catch coons fish,bacon,sweet feed,cat food .

I dump everything in. Probably overkill but I don’t seem to need to buy and use other stuff like coon lure or squirt of anything else at sets. This stuff seems to have enough appeal without having to reach in the setting bag for anything else.
Might be strong smelling to me but I’m not the one with my hand in the cookie jar when I’m checking sets. I don’t fill my traps up to brim either I fill to level with the trigger. The small handful of bait in the DP needs to have enough appeal to make them reach in for some goodies.
I guess you could add a little or a lot. I dump it all in and just how I do it.
Hope that helps.
Jim

i use maybe a tablespoon full. just under the trigger

Danny, I was just down in Kansas this afternoon. I can be in marysville from my front door in about an hour. I was out of yuengling and have to go to Kansas to buy it, don’t have it in Nebraska yet.
Stopped at a barbecue place there for lunch. Nice little road trip.
Jim

I do the same thing but I also make one with oil and a bunch of cheap kool-aid gets the ones that have a sweet tooth

floating catfish food from tractor supply with the liquid smoke is what i use.