Weirdest Bait?

[matenbait]

bacon or bubble gum

[jrhjr]

Pilchard rings...couldn't believe it the first time I saw it, but it works (i think they're illegal now)
Basically a series of light wire rings around 1" in diameter, hooked together like a chain. A length of red yarn is woven through top to bottom and a weight is attached to keep the "chain" vertical. You hook this to a line and hang it over the side of a pier. Pilchards strike at the red yarn and gill net themselves in the loops. Different size rings catch different size bait.

[Hardhed]

This may have been mentioned before, but once I read about a guy who caught a catfish on his own tonsil, which he had removed. Cheap bait.

[Circled Hooks]

cherries for catfish
plain gold hooks jigged for herring
live mice as topwater for largemouth bass
CH

[college fund]

Buddy of mine and I had been in hatteras fishing for the weekend. On the way home we stopped by Buckroe Pier because we had a yearly permit. It was about 10 pm We took our heavy surf casting rod out with us and had no bait. No body on the pier was catching anything, no bait around. I saw a dried out 6 in blue fish that looked like he had been stepped a Dozen times. Had a hard time getting him to stay on hook. Cast out and laid down to go to sleep. Woke up to reel screaming and caught 40 lb cobia. Only cobia I have heard of being caught at night.

[Deskins]

Not me, but my buddy carried a can of navy beans on the boat because he needed more bait... He's a Army Ranger, retired... Special... LOL... we were at the Kiptopeke at the concrete ships, he put 2 beans on his hook and damn if he didn't catch a croaker...

[Zigh]

Clear Gummy Bears for Spadefish; have tried and it worked. They use live baby ducks with a hook rubber banded to a leg up in Canada for Muskie and Black Bass... That's pretty twisted...

[POLECAT]

Sea trout (tide runners) on green, red, yellow and orange Bell pepper strips from our salad, 1/2 oz. jig head.
They did not care too much for radish.

[bob burghauser]

The silver wrapper from wrigleys juicy fruit gum