Posts Tagged ‘Live Bait Fishing’

Catching Bait

September 29th, 2010 by admin | 3 Comments | Filed in Fishing Techniques

Some Methods for Catching Bait

While bait choices often come down to personal preference,  there are many types of fishing that lend themselves far better to live bait than to top water plugs or heavy diamond jigs. The secret to success with live bait fishing is an understanding of where to find the right live bait for your needs. It is also important to know when frozen bait is sufficient and where live bait will do you more good.

In addition to the costly equipment that you already use for fishing, you can spend a small fortune purchasing live bait. In many cases, the only place to purchase it is a local bait and tackle shop. The problem then becomes is getting the live bait to your favorite fishing hole. Often by the time you arrive, your bait is listless from being so stressed out. In many cases, this can result in the bait not being able to be used immediately in which case you will have to catch your bait yourself.

Striped bass fishermen in the northeast have long known that their preferred diet consists mainly of menhaden. Known locally as “bunker”, these baitfish are plentiful in bait shops, but they are also fairly easy to catch with a snagging hook or a cast net.  The best part of this is that they can easily remain totally active and alive for several hours in a live well and are practically guaranteed to produce far superior results over frozen or dead bait (or lures).  While bunker are typically best fresh, leftovers can also be frozen and used during later trips, in the event that you’re unable to find fresh bait.

For those who enjoy fluke fishing, you’ve probably already discovered that Catching Bait fresh wins hands down over frozen or dead bait, or in fact over artificial bait. In fact, almost any angler will tell you that the opportunity to fish with live bait gives them an advantage over their fellow fisherman who have resorted to frozen bait or plugs. Fortunately for these anglers, fluke enjoy mummichogs (more commonly called mummies).  They’re easy to locate in river mouths, shallow estuaries and creeks along saltwater shores.  In fact, if you are fishing near a marina, you can easily use a minnow trap to get more mummies than you can use.  Simply drop the trap into an area where they are schooling with canned cat food in it and before you know it you’ll have hundreds of mummies.

Blackfish season in the Northeast means that many fishermen will be looking for green crabs. While they are easy to find in most bait shops, they tend to be rather expensive. The predicament comes in that blackfish are great at stealing this bait off the hook. Most anglers have discovered that in the long run, they will be far better off financially if they purchase a cheap crab trap. Rocks, jetties, docs, marinas and creeks are hiding spots for green crabs and Asian crabs. They swarm there in the thousands. It is not difficult to catch them, simply throw a filleted fish carcass into your trap and before you know it, you can fill a 5 gallon bucket.

If you are looking to save money on your fishing, catching bait will save you that money. Combine the savings features along with the thrill of the catch, and you may soon discover that you enjoy catching  bait as much as your game fish.
When you are out saltwater fishing it is important to make sure you have the right supplies. Some of the most popular brands include Shimano Reels, Penn Saltwater Reels, and Daiwa Reels.

Next session give Catching Bait a try, You might enjoy it.


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Great Tips For Live Bait Fishing

June 2nd, 2010 by admin | 2 Comments | Filed in Fishing Techniques

Live bait fishing is very natural. Whether it is worms, minnows, frogs, crickets, shrimp, or shad, fish are accustomed to seeing these species in their natural surroundings. Live bait fishing can be very effective and lead to attracting and catching more fish. In order to be successful, though, the angler should be familiar with how to effectively select, hook, and fish with different kinds of live bait. In this article, we will discuss basic techniques for selecting, hooking, and fishing with live bait in order to optimize one’s fishing experience.

Figure 19

Selecting the right type of live bait depends on the particular species of fish the angler is targeting. Any kind of live bait will catch some kind of fish. But, if you are targeting largemouth bass, minnows, crickets, worms and frogs are all very effective. For trout fishing, worms and minnows are more effective. If the goal is to catch really big fish, then choose larger size live baits, since larger baits will attract bigger fish.

Probably even more important than selecting the bait and fish you will be targeting, is properly hooking the bait. The goal is to keep the bait alive while on the hook as long as possible and allowing the bait to act as naturally as possible. The best place to hook a frog is in the leg. This will enable the frog to act normally and keep the frog alive a lot longer than hooking it in the lips. The only downfall to this is that the fish will have to swallow the entire frog in order to be able to set the hook effectively. Hook crickets up and under the middle of the body of the cricket. Minnows can be hooked in the upper back, the tail and the lips, depending on how you plan to fish with it. If you’re fishing on the bottom with a sinker, hook the minnow in the upper back. This will allow the minnow to swim naturally. Try to avoid hooking it in the spine since that will paralyze the minnow. If you’re using the minnow without a weight or float, hook it in the tail so that it can swim naturally and freely, thus attracting big fish. If you plan to cast the minnow repeatedly, it is best to hook the minnow in the lips, going up and in the middle of the lips. Never hook the minnow in the eye. You want the minnow to see the fish strike so that it gets excited which will ensure the fish strikes fast and hard. Minnows and shad should always be handled with wet hands. Minnows and shad have a slimy layer on the outside of their body that has an inviting scent to predators. Handling them with dry hands will remove that slimy covering.

When Live bait fishing, it is important that the bait act as naturally as possible and the bait is used in its natural surroundings. For example, frogs are mostly found around lakes near lily pads, so the most effective area to use a frog is near a patch of lily pads, not the open water. If you’re casting live bait, try to minimize the impact of the bait by not casting it too much. Cast the bait as lightly as possible or even underhand. It is always best to use the freshest bait, but sometimes keeping bait alive can be difficult. Bait that is dead can still be used as a last resort, though. Even though the bait is dead, try to work your rod to get the bait to mimic the live version. For example, if you are using a dead minnow, twitch your rod to jerk the minnow often so it resembles a live minnow.

Live bait fishing can be very effective, exciting and rewarding. Before you set out on your next fishing excursion, just keeping in mind these few tips on how to select, hook and fish with various types of live bait can really optimize your fishing experience.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_L


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