guys for years in the trapping industry the fish oil was home made, it was just too expensive to buy from a supply store, in the old days when it first hit the market it was in the area of 10.00 an ounce and a half, we made ours for trapping fox and coon and even skunks, it is a very simple process and one anyone can do. all you need is rough fish (carp, bullheads, shad,herring, and the like) a 5 gal. bucket, cheese cloth or very fine screen.

Cut the fish in chunks, (best done inside as you will see later) then drop them in the bucket, cover TIGHTLY with cheese cloth or screen, ( the thing here is to keep ALL bugs out you don't want any flies or bugs in the mix as they will cause spoilage) set the bucket in the sun for a few days, you will see a foam or froth come up on the top. this is natural and is exactaly what you want to happen. when the foam appears it is time to stir the mix, take the screen off and mix well. make sure no flies or bugs get in the mix. recover with the screen and let set again. the foam will rebuild and then die off. when the foam dissapates then you are left with pure fish oil on the top of your mush. skim this off with a spoon and seal it in a GLASS container with a tight lid. this will keep for a month or two as is and for up to 6 months in the fridge. the key is to keep all the critters out so it does not spoil. this way the oil is not eaten by the bacteria from the bugs leaving their droppings and flies laying eggs in it. if you keep all the critters out then you will have the finest bait attractant there is.

also the higher the temps and the rougher the fish the faster the process. carp will only take three or four days where gills will take over a week. the fish should be native to you so don't go to the store and buy a few pounds of fish and try this the process they use on store bought fish will not alow the oil to come up in the bucket.

well i for one can get carp by the truck load so i am going to give this a try this spring.