# Who uses Zote Soap?



## wareagle1979

I hear people talking about catching catfish on Zote soap but i never do. I use the pink kind, cut in small squares; is this how everyone else does it? Is there a special time of year or water condtion that it works best in? I really like using it but I never seem to catch any fish using it, any help would be great.:headknock


----------



## HAIRCUTTER

Try adding some scent to it (oil of anise,garlic juice,shad oil ).
R.E.B.


----------



## capn

It is probably my least favorite bait, but I have caught fish on it before. Doesn't work very well in areas with current and is not a bait that will catch fish fast. More of a trotline bait than a jugline bait.


----------



## Sunbeam

Back last century when I was a 12 yr old kid I ran trot lines in Lake Worth with my brother and commercial fishing uncle. He only used P&G laundry soap in big white bars. Always bought it at the same store so their turn over made for fresh stock.
He cut it in 3/8 squares and fished it on trot lines with 1/0 hand sharpened hooks. Caught lots of channels. But I think there were only channels and Ops in the lake.
BTW No minimum hook law then. He had 500 to 600 hooks per line. With three or four lines it would take all morning to run them. The hook law was sorely needed.


----------



## gordaflatsstalker

We were testing the zote soap one day on a trotline in a small rice canal. The it was there overnight and when we went to check it the next day there was nothing on it. We dropped it back down in the water and said we'd go get some crawfish and bait it the next day. When we went to bait it the next day we were expecting there to be no fish. When we pulled the line up there was a fish on nearly every hook. Not just catfish but carp, turtles, a bowfin. The line had 50 hooks and we had nearly 30 catfish off that line. It works. The pink works better than the white.


----------



## johnmyjohn

Couple of years back my buddy and I desided to try some on our yearly fishing trip on the Trinity up around the Locks area. Due to the current I desided to melt some in a small pot, which worked but had to be done slowly as not to burn it. Then I took some cotton balls and cut them up and soaked them in the goo. It smelled clean in the garage because I used my coleman to do the business of heat and didn't want to take a chance in the kitchen. After I made about 50 small baits with just soap I added a box of strawberry banana jellow mix and made a few more. We used throw lines, and r&r off and on for two days and didn't get a bite or a fish on our throw lines. The cotton did the trick though, we had bait on the hook all the time this way. Maybe the fish had more to eat and didn't have to settle for soap but I know of several people who kill them on the lakes with it.


----------



## Mr. Whiskers

I tried it and was not impressed at all.


----------



## goatchze

We use Zote soap and do pretty well on it. If you can get it while it's still soft (just like people, it gets brittle with age...LOL) it stays on the hook FOREVER. So it's an excellent bait if you've got lots of time.

I've mostly used it with drop lines and juglines in a 20 acre lake off the Navasota river. The lake's packed full of everything from the river, but I've only caught catfish with Zote. With other baits I end up with turtles and all kinds of stuff. 

That's partly why I always use it. Seems like you'll either get a catfish or nothing.


----------



## Red3Fish

*Zote soap*

I fish with a buddy on Lake Palestine. He has a 90 yr old neighbor, that leaves a couple of trotlines in the water nearly year round, and all he baits them with is zote soap. He lives right on the lake, and runs them every day. He catches quite a few catfish over time, and a few big ones...but I wouldn't say it was a premium catfish bait.

The main advantage of it for him, is it stays on the hooks for a long time, and the turtles and trash fish mostly leave it alone. When your 90 yrs old, and run a trotline by yourself, not having to rebait every hook every day is a big advantage! LOL

We tried it a time or two, and yeah, it works, but shad or chicken hearts works better. On a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being the best....I would give it about a 3 or a 4, in fish attraction and catching ability.

In an emergency, just plain old .99 cent a pack weinies work pretty well!! LOL And while kind of soft, they stay on the hook better than I thought they would.

Later
R3F


----------



## KIKO

I have used Zote since I was a kid . It works on trotlines and limb lines, but have never caught anything on R & R. I have caught nothing but catfish on lines.

Dad says my grandfather used to use a mexican soap called mariposa that was similar to zote but was better bait. It was softer and had a lot more smell. I've tried looking for it everytime I go to the border, but haven't foud it.

Here is the website to zote. http://www.zote.com.mx/english/other_uses.htm


----------



## Whistling Dixie

*Might make your boat cleaner!*

Wareagle,
When you get through running your jugs you can use what's left over to wash your boat, dog and children. Where else could you possibly find such a multi-purpose product? Seriously though I've still got 20 pounds of chicken hearts if you need some.:cheers:


----------



## AguaMala

Down here in Mexico on business trip. Ran across this Zote display at the store.


----------



## Redtailcharters.com

When we lived in East Texas and ran trot lines a lot we used Zote on shallow flats in areas without strong current from the Sabine River on Toledo Bend. We used 1/0 hooks and were very successful catching channel cats. We used bigger baits and bigger hooks in deep water or in the river.


----------

