live bait use in USA

[Joe M]

I fish strickly as sport, I don't eat any fish I catch. I would much rather fool a big bass on a top water bait or swimbait than catch one on a Bluegill. I've used live bait before and it's so easy to catch fish that i dont even enjoy it. Another thing I don't like about it is you tend to gut hook fish with live bait so catch and release is more difficult.

Using live bait is easy? I suppose it is if you are at some pond loaded with starving fish, but you still need to find the fish in a lake or river. Its not as simple as just throwing it out there and reeling in fish. Its also fairly easy to avoid having a fish swallow the bait and hook if you time the hook-set properly. If you let the fish sit there and attempt to eat it for 15 seconds, than yes its hard to catch and release with live bait.

 

[Ryan75]

Illinois - worms, crickets, minnows, crayfish, lol anything....

 

[Calihawk]

Best live bait is rosy reds for Trout
Gold fish for Bass

These are illegal where I am but it is what it is, 90 percent of people I know smoke bud

 

[splintercell H2O]

honestly when i fish for large river catfish i use bluegill for bait but and i use minnows when i fish for crappie

 

[Calihawk]

Yeah I have gone dozens of trips and no fish yet this year. I know ima have to cheat so Im saving a good trip for a good spot. Not wasting my time this time around. Im fishing for my tank and I'll show pics.

Im using Nightcrawlers on one trip to see if I catch, if not then Im using Rosey Reds

I know thats how people catch because I heard them. They speak my dialect so that other people dont know

 

[Yellow_Perch]

i love hooking on some grey minnows or some blues for ice fishing but otherwise in spring-fall its all rapalas!

 

[likestofish]

You ever go saltwater fishing?

 

[mofisher]

i use live bait 75% of the time i basicly use just crayfish minnows and bluegill for the live bait and the other 25% of the time i use jigs spinners crankbaits and jerkbaits

 

[guitardude87]

You ever go saltwater fishing?

my fishing is done primarily in saltwater and live bait is usually what I've had the most success on when fishing for snappers, macks, etc. If I'm shorebound, I tend to stick with baits like live shrimp, crabs, grunts, and slippery d*cks (yes there is a fish with that name..google it lol). Offshore I tend to use live pilchards or threadfin and freeline it for macks, jacks, etc. If I'm fishing bottom I prefer dropping a live grunt, speedo, or blue runner for big grouper and snapper.

 

[likestofish]

my fishing is done primarily in saltwater and live bait is usually what I've had the most success on when fishing for snappers, macks, etc. If I'm shorebound, I tend to stick with baits like live shrimp, crabs, grunts, and slippery d*cks (yes there is a fish with that name..google it lol). Offshore I tend to use live pilchards or threadfin and freeline it for macks, jacks, etc. If I'm fishing bottom I prefer dropping a live grunt, speedo, or blue runner for big grouper and snapper.

Yeah i know what a slippery dick is caught one last summer in pcb. But yeah there are some fish you cant catch on artificials. Such as sheephead i have never heard of one going after a lure.