How far in advance can I catch fish for cut bait?

[Mccallister25]

A buddy and myself plan on doin a little catfishing tomorrow evening. Typically we just use chicken livers for bait, but want to try some cut bream tomorrow.

i figured I could go ahead and get a jump on catching the bait tonight, but was wondering if the cut fish should be completely fresh or if it doesn’t really matter?

Any adverse effects to catchin some bream tonight and letting it sit on ice in the cooler until tomorrow afternoon?

[jimmyjoe]

   A guy I worked with would take chicken guts from the butcher, put them in a 3-gallon pickle jar and set that on the back porch for 3 days. Said it was the best catfish bait he ever used. I don't believe keeping bream on ice for 24 hours is gonna do any harm.     jj

[Bluebasser86]

The fresher the better imo. Bluegills aren't hard to catch most places with a small hook and piece of crawler or tiny jig. You could always have a half dozen caught and ready and then trade them out asap when you catch fresh ones. 

[Wacky Zac]

Sometimes you can use some real nasty stuff to catch catfish. What species are you going for? Live bait works really well for flatheads.

 

24 hours on ice would be fine. The catfish dude throws hist bait on ice, and he does just fine.

 

I had success catching a carp, letting it sit in a dark trash bag in the sun for a few days, cutting it up and using that as bait. Later I found out it isnt necessary to have super smelly bait, but it worked.

[jimmyjoe]

   Yes, live or fresh cut bluegill is great bait  ... for flathead and blue cats. And the fresher, with more blood, the better. The people around here mostly go for channels. That is where the stinky stuff comes in. I should have been clearer.    jj

[Black Hawk Basser]

I've found that using a cut bluegill that I've caught the same time that I'm catfishing is most effective.

[JustJames]

Fresh is way better, too bad dead or live bluegilee is illegal to used in CA. I wanna try my hand on Flat head for once.