Evaluate: Pautzke’s Excessive Octane Hearth Dye

On the earth of crappie fishing, good is rarely sufficient. Crappie anglers are at all times making an attempt to realize the higher hand in terms of catching extra fish. I had the chance to check out a product that might doubtlessly give crappie anglers who use shiners a bolder possibility when coping with stained to murky water. It’s referred to as Excessive Octane Hearth Dye and it’s made by Pautzke. It may be utilized in recent or saltwater and the choices are countless in terms of what it’s used on. The web site mentioned it may be added to dad bait, synthetic bait, and reside bait together with shrimp, bream, and sardines.

I ordered 6 bottles that had been 4 oz. every and headed to a pal’s store at the back of his home to offer the fireplace dye a attempt. The directions name for utilizing one bottle in 16 oz. of water. We minimize out the underside of a milk jug to make use of due to the dye having the potential to stain. There have been two different containers that we used for the blue dye and the pink dye.

We added an aerator stone to the containers to be sure that the shiners stayed alive for the prescribed 20 minutes. After including the dye to the cut-out milk jug, we waited 20 minutes and scooped out just a few minnows.

The primary coloration we examined was the shiners that had been smoking within the inexperienced container.

After scooping just a few minnows out of the inexperienced dye we examined them. Whereas they did have a inexperienced sheen to them, they had been nowhere close to what we anticipated so we determined to double up on the initially prescribed 20 minutes of soak time. After checking the shiners once more they had been a little bit bit extra colourful however nonetheless less than par so we determined to double the dosage and add all the water right into a bait bucket and place it within the boat in order that the shiners would have the ability to soak through the journey. Since we solely had one bait bucket we had been pressured to depart behind the blue and pink shiners behind soaking within the store. We figured it wouldn’t be an issue for the reason that air conditioner was on and the water was being pirated with a pump.

After loading up the boat, we headed to the Pearl River Navigational Canal in Pearl River, LA. The canal has a novel historical past and is loaded with man-made options. The canal was initially designed to make it simpler for ships to switch items from Bogalusa, La. to the West Pearl River. The 20-mile, machine-dug channel comes full with dams, sand pits and even a shallow waterfall that flows over a sill at its northernmost part close to the city of Bogalusa.

After getting out on the water I scooped up a minnow out of the bucket. Bingo! That is what I used to be searching for! The shiner was a vibrant chartreuse coloration. We fished nearly all of the day with the shiners and caught over 20 crappie utilizing the minnows beneath a cork. The shiners had been additionally used tight-lining and not using a cork which labored as effectively however inferior to beneath a cork. (I believe the fish had been shallow this present day and to cork allowed for a extra shallow presentation).  Whereas we had been utilizing the dyed shiners the colour stayed intact and didn’t fade away. They had been lively and didn’t present any indicators of being affected by the dye. Whereas the water we had been fishing was clear and there was no want for utilizing the brilliant inexperienced coloration dye I can undoubtedly see it being of use when concentrating on crappie in murky water the place the added brightness would come into play. Additionally whereas the dye did work I like to recommend a soaking time of not less than 2 hours in case you are searching for a strong daring inexperienced coloration in your shiners.

Upon returning to the store, we examined the minnows that had been soaking within the blue and pink dye. I scooped out the blue shiners and sadly found that they didn’t take in the dye just like the shiners that had been soaked in inexperienced did. I made a scoop into the container with the pink dye and the outcomes had been the identical. The minnows soaked up sufficient coloration to be noticeable however the coloration got here out splotchy and uneven.  The dye did handle to paint their fins effectively which had a pleasant impact within the daylight so that could be one thing that you’re searching for. Throughout the check we didn’t have any downside with protecting the bait fish alive nevertheless I’ll warn that we did use an aerator. I don’t assume these fish would final lengthy with out the water being aerated.

Ultimately, if you happen to’re searching for an alternative choice for fishing with reside bait, Pautzke’s Excessive Octane Hearth Dye is the answer for bland, drab shiners. However keep in mind…triple the soak time!

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award successful out of doors journalist that resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly out of doors column for the Slidell Unbiased Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s LouisianaNorthshore.com and Louisiana Northshore Discover Journal. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Outside Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery.