Live Bait Or Artificial?

[Kayser]

For anything but bass in lakes and trout, I prefer live bait. Because if I'm not after those two, I'm probably out for dinner, and I don't think I've found anything better than a minnow, a nightcrawler, or a small jig tipped with a wax worm to get a bunch of crappie, catfish, or bluegill (or suckers, or anything, really...) And as long as you are decent on detecting the strikes with panfish, they will never swallow the hook. And I haven't gut hooked a single catfish since I switched to circle hooks while fishing for them.

Oh, and I'll have to try that finger thing, I've got mine in the fridge and have been wondering what to do with it. Does the formaldehyde make a difference?

Rob