I have some cornmeal, catnip leaves, skunk, and access to fish and venison parts, and fish oil.

Could i make a paste, rub bait for bobcats with any of this? Or with the adition of any other basic around the house things?
Just as an experiment?

yes.... but i'd use that in a dirthole...

you're throwing them a curveball by using the nip/skunk w/the fish....

they like to rub the skunk.... they like to eat the fish... LOL

i'd keep em seperate personally

Ok...so you would suggest using the skunk/catnip combo for a rub bait?...how could i make this a paste? Or would it be better in a liquid?

OK...Questions!! Did you pick out a rubbed up tree for eye appeal? Or did you make the tree that way?..Also, would that make a pretty good grey fox set if the trap was covered better?

Check your state law about using game animal (venison) parts or meat before you make that lure or bait.

Cornmeal? Don't know about that one, sounds like just a filler. You can grind your fish and add whatever you like and add a little bit of your fish oil to make it pasty. To much catnip will repell cats. Check the archives.

And what was the purpose of removing the snow? To make it look like a cat had already been there?

K what is all that white stuff on the ground? Is your camera okay or do you need to set the color on it? Good pic with all the arrows and call outs.

I was told that if you add water to it you could get a pretty pasty base for a lure. And also that it could thicken liquid lures into paste.

its called snowwwwww... and i may need a break from it this winter.. can you help

regards to your question:
you need to give the cat a nice path to walk... cats are curious... its basically a "rub/walkthrough" setup...

the tree is a cedar tree... i anchored the trap to the tree.. thats what happens to your anchor tree when you catch a cat there... it gets shredded...LOL

that ground is near rock solid... no way to drive a stake or pogo there....

Thanks would that make a good grey-0fox set if you covered the trap?

can't help you on greys.. never caught one...

K-miller, I like that setup.
Do you leave the trap exposed or cover it? Is the food bait in a dirthole or on top? And have you ever tried the urine at the base of your tree, or does it work best on the opposite side of the trail?
Do you use visual appeal, flagging at the set?
I use a very similar set, only put the food lure down a dirthole, gland or other lure for the rub and urine at the base of the tree or stick between the dirthole and the tree. Wondering if I would have better luck splitting them more like you do.

A good combination food, gland/musk lure with a touch of catnip will work either as a rub set lure or down a dirthole from my experience with testing lures. As High Noon pointed out, be careful as excessive catnip odor can actually repel cats, especially large cats. The more musky odors the better, it is said by so-called experts that cats like to rub animal odors on thier fur as a cover scent for hunting and stalking.

p slayer....

i'll dig an over sized dirthole if i can... if not i just scoop out a palm sized chunk of dirt and but the bait down then lay a log or rock over it...then take a small stick and dig under the rock on the trap side to make it look like something dug around the rock a little...

I do not know about the corn meal thing,it has an odor so that would have to be taken into account when mixing with a lure,it will change the odor of your lure.Fish oil with a hint of skunk is a good rub type lure,castor makes it better.The catnip leaves you can grind up as fine as possible and mix with the lure or i have been tincturing them. I have had good results with this,pack a glass jar until it is 3/4 full with catnip 50/50 glycerine vodka completely cover the leaves.wait a couple of weeks then use the liquid.The thing about repelling cats with catnip I believe applies to artificial catnip more than real catnip.It is hard to overpower a lure with real catnip.You can also sprinkle catnip around and mix with leaves dirt ect at the set.

I always thought something similar to this I kept 6-8 house cats for a long time . the fresh green catnip leaves it did,nt seem like there was such a thing as too much . the dried leaves was almost the same way . sometimes a few of them did,nt want anything to do with the imitation oil but real catnip oil it seemed to work alot quicker ( making them stupid ) but just like the green leaves they could,nt seem to get "too much"

Artificial catnip is much stronger than the real thing.Sometimes spearmint oil is sold as artificial catnip oil.It does not have the chemical that gives cats the euphoric feeling that real catnip does.In very minute amounts artificial will add a hint of catnip to a lure but it does not have the same biological effect as the real thing.

Back in my earlier lure making days genuine catnip oil was what was available at an affordable price so I don't believe artificial was even on the market back then. Way back when when my Dad was fledgling lure maker he was warned by professional cat trappers, many were professional Western Mt. Lion trappers in those days that too much (genuine) catnip would repel some cats and that the larger the cat the more likely he was to be repelled by catnip.
I did a little experiment on a house cat one time by putting a few frops of pure distilled catnip oil on a tissue paper and holding it up to the cat's nose. That cat literally jumped 3 feet straight up in the air and when all 4 feet hit the ground scratching grass he was right on out of sight and didn't come back for 2 or 3 days. Asa

Catnip leaves or a tincture of the leaves would be weaker smelling than essential oil. maybe that's the difference? I have never used genuine catnip oil as the leaves are easier and cheaper to get.Asa what you did to that cat would probably be like throwing it into a garbage bag full of catnip and tying it shut,lol,sensory overload.I do believe that the reaction is biological and to much essential oil is simply to much for the cat's senses.I am not disagreeing with Asa,as he is talking essentials,I am not.

On the real oil I usually get it from essential oil dealers instead of trapping suppliers .

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/catnip-essential-oil-p-1641.html

I grow my own catnip for the green fresh type . I put oil on tissue as well but then put the tissue on the floor and just observed how different cats approached it and "worked" it . it almost seems like each cat is different in how they responded .