Live Bait

[bfishn]

"Good things come to those who bait"

I have a confession. I'm a live bait fisherman. I'm not ashamed.

First, the kid in me just loves catching bait. From 'crawlers & crickets & crawdads, to gizzards and kittens chubs. By hand, trap, net, whatever. I'm partial to rod-n-reel collection of sunfish or creek chubs.

Then the rush of adrenaline when a bigun buries the rod and runs. Slip bobbers and balloons are a blast too. When you're drifting 2-4 8-10" lively baits with their "eat me" sirens blaring, anything can happen.

With the welcome exception from the Truman gang, there's been very little discussion or even mention of rod-n-reel live bait fishing. If you've been hiding in the closet, it's time to come out.

Or is live bait to go the way of other traditions deemed socially unacceptable?

[Bird Watcher]

I'll never give up my live shad.

I enjoy catching fish on a lot of different baits and there are definitely times that artificial baits will out produce live bait. Lately, I've been catching just as many or more on Jigging spoons as I have on live shad, but that's not going to make me start leaving the bait tank at home.

I hear the veiled disdain in my fishing buddies voice when I tell them that I caught them on shad, that's ok. I've never got off on the method used to catch big fish. I just like catching them. Big, Rod bending, drag screaming, line crunching, big fish. Day in, day out, for me that will be on 5-8" live shad.

And anyone who says using live bait is easy, I welcome them to come catch shad with me some day. For the most part, I enjoy the challenge of catching bait just as much as I do catching the game fish.

[Feathers and Fins]

Born and Breed on the Salt and that means "LIVE BAIT"! Its good for chum its good for catching it can be flown on a kite or skipped on the top and at the end of the day if all else fails you still have dinner swimming in the live well.

Catching it is as much an art as catching the fish. Knowing the difference between a bite or just the bait getting lively or knowing when its time to change it are all part of the fun. Anyone can put a minnow on a hook but it takes a true masterbaiter to know how to handle it.

[bfishn]

Ditto. Yeah, catching and keeping premium bait is a lot of effort. I've little doubt that's the cause of the fall from grace.

[bfishn]

Eating the bait is occasionally an option. Back when I fished BV for cats I used giant live 'dads I caught right there. Many times I was tempted to just take the 'dads home, but when I could turn a few 'dads into some big cats the efficiency ratio won out.

[Buzz]

Live bait is the gateway drug of fishing!!!!

I'm sure that 99% of all fishermen started off fishing live bait, whether it was night crawlers or minnows. It's how I got my kids and grandkids into fishing. After they were old enough they transitioned over to artificial bait. For catfish and crappie I would go to the effort of catching and using live bait, but that's about it. I don't begrudge anyone for using live bait either.

[Bird Watcher]

I tell you what, I honestly get pumped up when I've been throwing my big net for about an hour with nothing to show for it and finally I get it over a school of good ones and the entire net turns silver and starts thumping the line. That means it's go time!

[Mitch f]

So do any of you losers, use Hellgrammites anymore? I've been debating about making a hellgrammite lure. I haven't seen any in a while, but people have told be they are as good as it gets for the streams.

[Bird Watcher]

So do any of you losers, use Hellgrammites anymore? I've been debating about making a hellgrammite lure. I haven't seen any in a while, but people have told be they are as good as it gets for the streams.

No, but I did have the adult version (Dobson fly) on my boat cover the other morning. There's a little marshy pond in the woods beside the house. I can only guess it came from there. Talk about a giant bug.

[bfishn]

I haven't seen a hellgramite in at least 20 years.

Up in north Missouri on the Grand River, you can find (if you're lucky) what we called green river worms for lack of better identification. You only found them in layers of dead leaves that had been covered by flood mud on the shore. When you dug into some, you could smell them. Once you handled them you couldn't get the smell off for days. Halfway in size between a red wiggler and a crawler, a milky, grey/green. I've never seen one last more than a couple minutes without getting eaten, and everything in the river ate them.

Added

The only thing I've found around here with nearly that universal appeal is catalpa worms.