Fishing a new lake is an experience in how to compete. Not competing with other fisherman, but competing with with the local food supply. I knew Catfish, Trout, and a hybrid fish named a Tiger Muskie were present, it seemed possible that Carp were around as food for the Tiger Muskie. I was wrong, there were no Carp to be found.

What there were in amazing numbers were Shad. These looked like thin silver and bronze Goldfish, but as I have never seen Shad before, I imagine they were a local variety. Thousands and thousands of minnows from an inch to perhaps three inches along the shallow shores of the lake.

Because I had some time to think about what to bring for bait to the lake, I took whole kernel corn, chicken liver, some hamburger meat mix, and a dough ball recipe I have made up that appeals to Carp here locally. I thought that even if there were no Carp, I was prepared for Trout, and Catfish. The Tiger Muskie were catch and release, and I did not want to spend money on the wire leaders, spoons, and lures to be able hook and land these toothy fish.

What I did not prepare for were the Shad. I knew when I saw bigger fish in the shallows, herding and charging the swarms of minnows that it was going to be a tough day fishing. It is very hard to entice fish to take your artificial bait when they have an endless supply of minnows to feed upon.

I fished shallows, and deeper water. While moving about I watched what baits different fisherman were using. I felt more confident, that if I caught even one fish, I would be one fish ahead of them. Like many people who want to fish, but do not think about fishing, they had wares from local stores. In their arsenal were jars of Norman’s never fail catfish bait, Steve’s smells like manure but still catches fish, and Marvin’s dead pickled minnows.

Store bought fish bait is about the same as buying a car. The car you buy is unique until you drive it off the lot. Then you realize that every third car is exactly like yours. Store baits are the same way, even chicken liver to some extent. On lakes with heavy fishing pressure, whatever you buy off the shelf gives off a, “Danger Will Robinson” alert as soon as it hits the water.

My hamburger meat mix, and chicken livers were ignored by everything except the Crayfish. I knew Crayfish were present, but I had no idea they were so numerous. This indeed was making a Carp fishing trip hard, being there were no Carp, literally tons of minnows, and aggressive Crayfish.

All I had left was my dough bait. I knew it should be attractive to Trout because it is corn based, but probably so does almost every off the shelf Trout bait. I did not think crayfish would care for it, but I was not sure. That left me with using dough bait hoping to entice a Catfish or two.

Putting a dough ball on a bare hook was working but not too well. I was not sure if I was losing my dough ball to the flooded bushes and grasses or Crayfish, but I was losing dough quickly. One of the things people do in this situation is put something hard on their hook first and mold their other bait around it.

I tried putting corn on first, but the dough was firm and crushed the corn. Next were some corn pops I carried along just in case. They worked, but did not seem to provide any inspiration for the fish. Maybe corn was a danger signal too. I had some chocolate puffs too, and they were the magic I needed though I am not sure why. I caught the only two fish of the day, both catfish, one about four pounds and the second about eight pounds. Very healthy, fat and well fed.

In every lake or pond you fish there are certain flavors fish can not resist. I think it is more a nutrition thing than good taste, because I have found I catch less but bigger fish using tailored dough ball ingredients. If you think and experiment, I believe it is likely that you can easily develop you own killer bait for use where you fish. Throw what local fisherman tell you out the window, unless they have the fish to back up their statements. Every fish needs something they have to search out. When you provide that food, whether or not it is a natural bait, you are on your way to catching fish while others fail to get a bite.