Soap Bait(odd soap question)

[vance71975]

I am making "Soap Bait" for a catfish fishing trip this weekend, and i want the soap to be soft and mold-able, without using KOH, i want to do Sodium Hydroxide. How would i go about that? Up the water amount? Lower the lye? do a Very High Superfat around 25-50%?

I want it to be about the consistency of a thick Dough Or glue paste(like the glue sticks), I also have taken a bunch of rotted Garlic(dont ask lol) And a Container of Chicken Livers and the blood in the container and ran it through a blender, i plan to add that at trace, the goal is a Soap that will stick well on dough hooks and slowly Dissolve releasing blood and liver paste into the water to attract the catfish.


The Oil i am using is 9lbs of Mixed fat drippings such as Bacon fat,fat from Hamburger,etc. I want it to set up, but i want it to stay soft enough that i can scoop out lil balls of it and put them on a dough hook(its a 3 prong hook with a spring on the shaft to hold dough baits on for those who dont know)

Any ideas anyone? Maybe you had a failed batch that came out too soft that i could repeat what you did?(like you guys ever have a failed batch lol)

 

[Genny]

I'd think upping the water and superfatting big time would make it soft.

Hopefully the lye's fully neutralized in enough time for you to do it this weekend.

 

[vance71975]

I'd think upping the water and superfatting big time would make it soft.

Hopefully the lye's fully neutralized in enough time for you to do it this weekend.

Ill give that a try, prolly 25% superfat and up the water. I dont want it like Liquid soft, but i dont want it rock hard either lol.

 

[vance71975]

I'd think upping the water and superfatting big time would make it soft.

Hopefully the lye's fully neutralized in enough time for you to do it this weekend.

well i think 25% superfat and upping the water mainly with the blended chicken livers at trace really did the trick, so far it looks like it is gonna set up perfect.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[ToniD]

This does not answer the question you asked, but soap is not good to use in waterways. I am not real sure I am remembering the details correctly, but I believe the surface tension of the water is broken, and so the fish cannot breath since their gill action relies on surface tension. 15 parts per million will kill fish, and 2 parts per million will kill fish eggs. I'd suggest you skip the soap and use the chicken livers. Maybe wrapped in bacon with a marinade of rotten garlic.

 

[vance71975]

This does not answer the question you asked, but soap is not good to use in waterways. I am not real sure I am remembering the details correctly, but I believe the surface tension of the water is broken, and so the fish cannot breath since their gill action relies on surface tension. 15 parts per million will kill fish, and 2 parts per million will kill fish eggs. I'd suggest you skip the soap and use the chicken livers. Maybe wrapped in bacon with a marinade of rotten garlic.

Catfish soap bait is rather common, you are talking an incredibly small amount of soap in a rather large and fast moving river. Less than 1oz per hook, it would take many many many lbs of soap bait to cause a problem in this river(about 40-60 foot wide) i would guess to hit the PPM you listed it would take well over 10,000 lbs of soap all at once, in ONE slow moving spot in the river, if not more. Trust me when i say my 1/2 oz of soap bait on a dough bait hook is not gonna have any impact on the ecosystem, in this river, PLUS hand made soap is biodegradable. There is a Power plant that draws 650 million gallons of water from a narrow intake channel that connects to Maumee Bay every day, this river is The 130 miles long, so take a guess at how many BILLIONS of Gallons of water is in it, now figure how many tons of soap would be needed to raise just 1 billion gallons of still water(and this isn't still water, this is a fairly fast moving river) to 2 PPM, and you will see that the amount used in fishing is so miniscule that it will have no effect at all on the river. I do think about the impact on the river, and i can say without a doubt that there will be NO impact from using Soap bait.

 

[Kleine Teufel]

Hmm. Hard question... I know my high OO soaps are nice and soft, Enough that with a small amount of water, it turns to a nice gloop. I'd try maybe spritzing it and allowing water to slowly soak in until it's just workable. Too much, and it'll come off the hook. Not enough, and you might have issues with either getting it on the hook, or the hook actually piercing the fish. Maybe even do some HP soap and molding it onto the hook, then as it hardens, you have pre-baited hooks?

 

[Bmbyx]

This is just a wild guess, but the recipe for play-dough calls for Cream of Tartar (for elasticity). Now, I have never used Cream of Tartar in soap, but this is just a thought.

 

[vance71975]

This is just a wild guess, but the recipe for play-dough calls for Cream of Tartar (for elasticity). Now, I have never used Cream of Tartar in soap, but this is just a thought.

Good thought!

 

[vance71975]

Hmm. Hard question... I know my high OO soaps are nice and soft, Enough that with a small amount of water, it turns to a nice gloop. I'd try maybe spritzing it and allowing water to slowly soak in until it's just workable. Too much, and it'll come off the hook. Not enough, and you might have issues with either getting it on the hook, or the hook actually piercing the fish. Maybe even do some HP soap and molding it onto the hook, then as it hardens, you have pre-baited hooks?

I have thought about buying up some bulk dough bait hooks and doing just this with an ice cube tray as a mold.

 

[Guest]

Wow, what an idea! How did it work out?

 

[Lindy]

If you want it to remain pliable try using both lyes on a 2:5 KOH:NAoH. This will give you a soft soap. Use full water and lots of soft oils.

 

[vance71975]

Wow, what an idea! How did it work out?

the 25% superfat and upping the water worked well, it reeks like no tomorrow but i pulled a bunch of 5 to 25lb catfish on it. Works great.

 

[vance71975]

If you want it to remain pliable try using both lyes on a 2:5 KOH:NAoH. This will give you a soft soap. Use full water and lots of soft oils.

I will try that on the next batch, i made up WAY more than i needed, it will prolly last me a couple years but thanks for the idea!