Fishing Guides Using Live Bait

[fishinwrench]

Several controlled studies have been done by Doug Hannon, Berkley, and Glen Lau that concluded the plastic worm was the #1 bait that bass had the hardest time being conditioned to avoid.

Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and action-tail jigs have an acoustic footprint (combined with other noises) that bass can easily recognize and be conditioned to avoid, Glen Lau even believed they could pass that trait down to their offspring.

In contrast, baits like a zara spook, fluke, stingray grub on a darter head, ect. (IOW baits that "slice through the water") were taken repeatedly more often by the same fish.

A struggling shiner on a hook below a balloon rig could probably condition some Florida bass, but I doubt it would prevent the same fish from eating a "free swimming" shiner that is NOT tied down and struggling.

With that thought in mind.....How long before resident NFOW trout stop chasing/biting those big streamers that have become the vogue thing to throw?

I've been noticing for quite awhile (when the water in the creeks are clear enough to easily see fish) that they are less spooked by a slowly idling outboard than they are a trolling motor. They will swim right along beside the boat when your idling along with the outboard, but they'll bolt when the trolling motor gets within 20 feet of them.

[Feathers and Fins]

I fished Big O and many of the Kissimmee chain of Lakes and found them as difficult to catch on live bait as any other lake. The Big O had some very bead year and those fish became congregated in spots making them a lot easier to locate and wonder if the author of that article mentioned that fact? Many people think of shiner fishing on O with balloons as that is what many shows were showing so people could be entertained for by the visual aspect on TV.

Truth be told many guys who were using shiners would tail hook them and pitch them toward the cover but maintain pressure on the line to hold the shiner up high struggling on surface. Doing that kept the hook and heavy line above water or nearly above it hiding the presence of the hook and line. Those bass would strike with such ferociousness it would amaze you. But even more devastating was a pencil popper tossed so that you could pop it a couple times then feed line back out so it drifted back in to the edge of the weeds ( shiners just didn't do well tail hooked for long ) but a popper wasn't alive so it wasn't an issue.

The other thing im curious about in the article was if the author was talking about the main lake or was he really talking about the tributaries. For instance Taylor creek was and still is a phenomenal bass canal as is the St Lucie and Loxahatchee. Guys with air boats fished these with no issues at all. The famed Stick Marsh and Farm Pond 13 I would think would have been more impacted Than the Big O but they were not. Sounds like an author who didn't like live bait angling possibly?

I will say this if someone asked me where to go for Big Bass and Numbers in Florida it would be "THREE LAKES" no questions no doubts yet very seldom talked about. And I would say have top water baits and 14 to 18 inch worms to mimic the young watersnakes. Dam now im missing FL.

[bfishn]

For a little perspective, a bass' eyeball is bigger than its' brain.

[Old plug]

Bfishin------i do not think brain has much to do with it I believe but smell sure does.

wrench------Yeah I agree about the plastic worms 1000 percent. Plus they are so very versatile. The angler fish knows that also. He has the original shakey head worm in his mouth. He never seems to get skunked either.

You know what i think that trolling motor thing is. The high electrical winning of the prop. Plus you got to wonder if there is not some sort of electrical impulse or such stuff that can be emitted by a troller.

Mitch------ Your the scientific guy. How about you conduct a little study and see if a troller emits something and break it down to hillbilly language that some of us can understand.

[bfishn]

I'm not gonna believe in, admit to, or complain about being outsmarted by a fish until...

...I get out of my truck at the grocery store and there's a slab of hot, smoky ribs swingin' on a string.

... a plate of nachos mysteriously appears at the bedside when I'm spawning.

... all the roadside billboards say "Eat at Joe's Crab Shack".

... "I was kidnapped by a Catfish, but I got away". headlines on Google News and trends on Twitter.

[Mitch f]

Or something appears in your closet that reads "My brother just went to KFC and all I got was this lousy T shirt"

[fishinwrench]

... a plate of nachos mysteriously appears at the bedside when I'm spawning.

Ha! Yep the honeymoon is over when that happens.