Fishbites in Freshwater

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zenmic OP

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I know that Fishbites are a saltwater bait, but I am curious if anyone has used them in a freshwater environment, and if they have had success? I ended up with a couple of packs of them over a trip to the Galveston area for a day drip. I am not sure when I will have another opportunity to make it back down there. Regardless, I wonder if I cut nibble size bits of them and put them on a hook would they catch sunfish and other. If so, then I could use them in place of live worms for my son and his friends when then want to do some summer bait and wait fishing between tossing rocks in the creeks around my neighborhood. I figured they might be okay as catfish bait; especially on jug-lines. Finally, I wonder how well they would do at Lake Texoma and the Denison dam spillway for stripers.

Advice, opinions, comments?

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Holzer

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In reference to catching stripers at Texoma, I wouldn’t plan on catching any.
If it doesn’t look like a lively or fresh cut shad, I don’t think that the striped fish will go for it.

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Osbornfishing

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Rayzor

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Never used them in freshwater but have had a LOT of luck using them in saltwater.

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FlyFX

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I too have used them in salt with good results and had leftovers when we returned home, used them on my home lake with success and agree with Osborne on technique

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Jimbo

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I’ve used them cut into 1″ pieces and placed one on a treble hook using punch bait.
Whether they worked or not I can’t say for sure, but I have caught catfish using them.
Using the fishbites added to the hook along with the punch bait, you have something that smells with the scent of the punch bait still on the hook until you decide to reel it in and freshen it back up.
You could do the same if you baited your hook with any cut bait or cut shad. They may nibble off the shad but the fish bites are hard for them to pull off the hook.

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zenmic OP

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Thanks for the advice. It give me confidence to give them a try in freshwater. I figure sunfish will nibble just about anything, so little bits on a small hook under a bobber should work. If they do not work as raw bait on a hook, I guess I could use them as a bait keeper to keep the live bait on the hook a little longer. I wonder if it would improve the chances on jigs? I did not have any luck with just a jig or a jig with a live minnow the last time I was out at Denison dam.

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Fish Chaser

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Minnows don’t work below Denison Dam, not even the huge ones you buy for $1.50 ea. I bought them several times for friends of mine and they never caught anything. But when the friends’ wife asked the guide boats for shad they gladly gave her some and she caught stripers on live shad.

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snookered

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keep your fish bites in the freezer and they will last forever and not turn brown or get gooey…
snookered