Bait making "101?"

Hey everyone, hope all of you are well!
Question, is there somewhere I can find a beginner's source, online or a book, explaining the basics of making baits and/or lures?
Something that explains the different types of ingredients used for preservation, etc?
The more I read threads, the more confused I get.
Thanks!

I'd start with Russ Carmen's lure and bait making book. Best one I've found so far.

All 3 Nick Wyshinski's books--yes there is some overlap but I got good info from all 3
Kellen Kaatz book
Carmans books
Johnny Thorpes book
you were supposed to ask for them from loved ones for Christmas presents.....didn't you get that memo?

Not rocket science if you know what works well with what and for what,

Agreed, most of the information on the net is the same thing you will get from these books, but with posters own little "tweaks" to a formula. Formulas read just the same.. taint for X add X add 1/4 X to a qt, age for two months/2 weeks shake well etc. If you purchase books, read some trapper forums.. and the answer to your question on "basic" is already there.


The books don't tell you how to get texture, consistency, retain moisture to keep your bait working and preventing them from breaking down/shutting down in warm, hot and cold temps. That is all done by trial and error. IMO..the ingredients used are preference because as stated it isn't rocket science to make bait that will on a consistent basis pull in animals. IMO...It's keeping the bait together once you have the "formula" that is the "trick".. I guess one can say.

Thanks for the replies guys, I truly appreciate it!

Not unlike many fields of profession or areas of interest lure/bait making has a learning curve if it is done on your own to learn to do it consistently and effectively. This also includes some field testing to evaluate your material(s). It is enjoyable but it can be time consuming unless you just make something and just use it during trapping season. Then you find out right away if it works well for you or not. Or back to the drawing board.

Just making a simple bait or lure for your own use can be challenging, enjoyable and rewarding when you get good results. Or frustrating when it isn't quite what you expected. I think most will find over time that good trapping skill helps to improve the productivity of your lure or bait making skills. I wonder what that relationship could be?

Many various things can be thrown together for what I refer to as a reasonably productive stink. if it works well for you that is great. Many old timers did just that with basic available meats, herbs, spices and glands that they collected,

With the several bait solutions available commercially today they sure have made the bait making challenges much easier.

I always encourage trappers to get more involved with lure and bait making. I think in todays society we are seeing much more of this and I am encouraged and quite happy to see this happening.

It was a great experience for me that came from dabbling with lure and bait making years ago that got me interested and finally developed into a rewarding profession over my lifetime. It took a large part of my adult life to learn my trade on my own but it was a decision I have never regretted.

I agree lure and bait making isn't rocket science for some simple and basic concoctions. However, there is lots of experimenting and learning what you can do and what you shouldn't do again. Lots of trial / error. There is considerable chemistry involved in commercial work and some is involved in basic consumer lure and bait making as you will find. That is just speaking from my background .. If you haven't learned this yet you are just getting started. LOL

When you need to build 50 + products every year you better know your game and how to do it as consistently as possible each time. That can be a challenge for even a seasoned professional at times to be on your game each and every batch. Organic and biodegradable products are much different and inconsistent to work with at times and they can vary a little to a lot every batch that you make every year.

It presents its challenges no doubt.

How to prepare, collect or acquire all of your ingredients for inventory to build all the products when they are needed is a considerable job in itself. The formulation blending process is the easier and most enjoyable part of the job. That even needs monitoring as it is being done.

I agree some simple things can be thrown together with little thought at times and become satisfactory in their function after some time in working your method out over time. Or you could have put some stuff in a jar or bucket to forget about it and when you did dig it up or open the container it wasn't what you expected. LOL

I doubt anyone who has an opinion has been real successful in their attempts at lure and bait making until they have had considerable trail and error involved along the way to reach an acceptable product for their own use.

For me, I'm wanting to get a more basic (and thorough) understanding of this from the ground up, because I don't know a whole lot about it, and I do find it interesting. I could go online, yes, and look up what all of these terms mean, what some of the basic ingredients are, etc. but having it all presented in a book format just seems to make sense (to me) . I don't have any plans to go into in-depth bait or lure making, but understanding the basics is something that I think is important. :-)

Good luck.

You will get the basics from Russ Carmen's book

Asking for the in depth knowledge and hands on repetitive experience needed with formulation work in good detail is equivalent to a PHD/Doctorate degree. Even with considerable research you must apply that knowledge with the needed materials to exercise your experiments in development.

Many years of practical application and learning the active reactions of various ingredients and so many things that you need to know of their functions and the time required for them to emerge through a product for effect is significant.

Not to mention the amounts needed of each to create the desired effect of adding specific ingredients. Not many will be able to handle the cost and expense involved with dabbling in lure making even just a little. Then acquiring top quality uncut ingredients to give you consistent reliable results every time it is used or acquiring and making some of your own materials if you have the chemistry background to do so.

Be prepared for a lifetime of challenges and learning to just understand the basics enough to continue your education. I have done this daily since the mid 60's and I am still learning some things along the way thru specific lab work and by accident.

When this happens to me, I call it devine intervention -

Dang Bob that last post about makes me want to give up. Lol

I feel like I keep Bob in business buying his ingredients to tinker with, lol. I kidding, I think I’ve purchased almost every lure making ingredient he offers and I’ve definitely purchased every trapping lure and bait he makes. I live just messing around in the garage and trying to come up with a good lure. I’ve definitely wasted 100’s of dollars screwing up and making crap that would cause an animal to run away into the next county. BUT, by reading tons of books, asking lots of questions and learning from my mistakes, I’ve finally made a few that actually smell like a good purchased lure, AND they are catching me fur! It literally took me over a year to come up with something that I feel is a “decent” lure.

I'm truly not interested in getting into bait and lure making, I just want to understand the "ingredients" and "terms" used most often. The most effort I'll probably ever put into making bait is bacon bait. Thanks again for your suggestions, I'm ordering couple of the books mentioned.

There are many folks out there who are capable of producing bait equal to or superior to "commercial" products, lots do it already. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

No doubt there are some good baits being made that may not be in the commercial main stream trapping industry per se. The basic point is any good product I am sure has had some vested time and expense in developing them. Then again some simple things used on good locations as I stated previous will catch animals.

Seth I would never discourage anyone from lure or bait making. I can only tell you from my lifetime experiences how it unfolded over the years for me. I may not have used the right words at times but I was honest in my case. I didn't candy coat things as I would not be truthful to you saying things that would eventually come true for you in time.

If I didn't have another income at the time to help finance my lure making interests I wouldn't have been able to do what I did back then that is for sure.

In my years coming into the business there wasn't much if any sharing of details of how to do things. Much the same as it was with learning how to trap. You learned most things on your own. Where I lived on a small farm we didn't have anyone around me in my younger years in the country that had my interests to mentor me.

Mom and dad knew I was on a different path from a very young age. They were right look at me now. LOL When we took rides to town, to church or on our family vacation I would make dad turn around and go back down the road we just came on to smell that skunk odor in the air once again. Trapping birds and small rodents and putting things in jars to make some sort of stink for trapping. I had some success but it wouldn't pay for much at the time.

Developing one or two products will have its expenses in working up those lures or baits in a small scale. Compound that over the years with developing dozens of products and you can see how the cost to develop each product can require considerable time and expense for each individual one.

I suppose that is the point that may have gotten lost or misinterpreted in the conversation when speaking about the potential expense for personal use product development vs building and operating a commercial product line.

Disclaimer:

Lure / Bait making and general formulation work can be addicting to some as I have found. So be careful what you wish for.

Bob
I appreciate and enjoy whenever you share your vast knowledge and experiences. There is always some true wisdom to be taken from it. The more I play around with this stuff the more valuable those pieces of knowledge become to me. I unfortunately was kidding about giving up at it, I did better with a few of my formulations than I hoped and caught some animals so im probably hooked for life.