Bill D-
I do not use the bags you can buy. Tried them a couple times and fresh bait outfished it 25-1... literally.
I would go to a local lake and cast net some shad when you wanna set lines. Put directly on ice with a heavy dosh of kosher salt.
I do not fish exclusively for big cats with cut bait. I actually love live bait for the big blues and flatheads....but I wouldn't want to risk putting a live shad in my pond so I've make sure they were dead.
I make a trip every winter down to TN to stock up on skipjack. Usually fill a chest deep freeze full. But we go through a ton of work to keep them 'potent'. Soaking in a salt brine, icing, draining water, then spending a fortune vacuum sealing.
I will say that you need fresh shad/skipjack that have not been just laying in water. Drain that water and keep them on ice! It leaks the oils and blood out and they become really ineffective, really fast. People thing cats are bottom feeders but the big ones are very efficient predators. Have caught 50 pound blues cats on live bait drifting it 5 feet below the boat in 50 FOW. Seem them bust shad on the surface just like a big striper too. My number one suggestion is to get some really fresh shad and use those. I think you will be surprised by how much the catch rate will go up.
