Yes!!! Anybody can catch a fish on live bait!!! That’s one of the biggest reasons why using live bait is against the rules in a Bass Fishing Tournament! Besides it’s lame!!! I was a Pro Bass Fisherman for years back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. I had a nice Bass boat, a bunch of really great sponsors who gave me money, a ton of free lures (anything I needed before the next tournament, and other things such as rods, reels, hooks etc. I also wrote fishing articles for several different nation wide magazines and frequently gave seminars at large shows held inside sports stadiums and other large buildings depending on the city. But to this day I still never touch live bait! It takes a seasoned and long time fisherman to find the fish, what they were eating at the time and find their patterns which either stay the same but usually changed at least two-three times a day and sometimes more!!! But you quickly begin to learn when you are constantly on the water like I was. I might be doing a three or four day tournament with Bass Masters to turn around two days later and fish another two or three day tournament with SuperBass and other large tournaments with up to two hundred fishermen or more. Then when I had a short break before my next large tournament circuit I would often fish smaller club tournaments that only had between 20 -60 people on the lake my next large tournament would be on a few days after the small club tournaments which would give me plenty of time to pre-fish the lake while doing a smaller tournament for two days or so. Then I would keep my motel room and would go out after the smaller tournament was done and keep marching special areas and fishing without hooks to avoid spooking the fish and ruining the area for myself before the much larger and more important tournaments. After each day I would weigh my catch up on a large stage, and sometimes they give you a short interview if you did well and get a bunch of photos and cameras for Bass Masters to play on television and this is when my sponsors would get a lot of attention because of my uniform given to me by different sponsors and you usually have to pay for someone to add the patches of your other sponsors onto the different uniforms so each sponsor is represented to anyone who sees it such as the large crowds of people that would often spend a few days watching the action. Also people watching tv see your uniform with all of your sponsors and this is good to marketing and selling their products which is why they give you the opportunity for a sponsorship in the first place but they have a very limited number of Professionals they can sponsor each year. But I did a good job of representing mine which is why they always held a spot for me as one of their Pros each year. Personally I represented Culprit Soft Plastics and even made a few designs of my own that sold very well, Terminator Spinnerbaits was another of my biggest sponsors along with Triton Boats until I eventually was offered a better deal from Ranger Bass Boats that I still take out when I ago fishing. I had a great sponsorship through Gamakatsu Hooks along with Storm Lures! The Storm Chug Bug was my go to bait. In the morning or during the afternoon especially if it was cloudy or large cove covered in shadow, sometimes even in the sun and during the evening trying to catch on more bid bass to cull a smaller one just before weigh in. And sometimes when the bite was really tough. I could always get a huge reaction out of giant Largemouth Bass when I needed it! Every fisherman, especially tournament fishermen has one of two secret go to lures that gives them that extra edge of confidence and especially that last BIG Bass that you really needed! I have several special lures that you have the perfect way to use them. Who needs live bait as far as I’m concerned, it’s just for the kids!
