Fishing With Dead Bait?

[scubasteve3]

Anyone ever fish with dead bait for bass? I know bass are predatory and like the kill, but just curious.

Something like this

http://www.magicprod...s/5222_5224.jpg

[North Ga Hillbilly]

I've seen a bass eat rabbit liver, anything can happen. But you'd prob be better off with more traditional offerings.

NGaHB

[tomustang]

A lot of the guys here fish with those and shiners, they end up catching more pickerel than anything

[Bassn Blvd]

Save your money.

[SirSnookalot]

If I were to fish bait for bass (which I wouldn't), it would be live bait, not that dead won't work. As a kid I fished minnows, shiners and chubs, clip a fin or bleed your bait and make it swim funny, a saltwater ploy when using live bait. It works.

[bigbill]

When i first got into bass fishing i was reeling in a bobber/nightcrawler when the bass struck at it. The bass told me they wanted something moving. Being a trout fisherman for all of my life i felt really dumb that the fish had to tell me i was doing it wrong. I put on an inline spinner and caught many bass that night along with my son we had doubles after doubles. The rest is history... this taught me to read what the fish want and the mood there in. I'm not a fish whisper.

[Raul]

Dead bait = catfish fishing, not bass fsihing.

[backcast88]

Dead bait = catfish fishing, not bass fsihing.

x2.

Every now and then I will use live bait for deep spotted bass and crappies with good success but I prefer soft plastics and other hard baits to catch bass.

[Pepul]

I caught a catfish and 5 min later a bass with ham

[Caden]

When fishing for bass, if I don't use a crank bait, purple plastic worm, or a spinner bait, my go-to is a piece of dead bluegill. It must be fresh, you must replace the bait every time you catch, hook, or loose a fish, and you need to set the hook FAST. Yes, I love using dead bait for bass. Especially Largemouth Bass.

[scaleface]

On 4/5/2012 at 9:49 PM, scubasteve3 said:

Anyone ever fish with dead bait for bass? I know bass are predatory and like the kill, but just curious.

Something like this

http://www.magicprod...s/5222_5224.jpg

 

Yes I have . I scooped up a floating dead shad put it on  a Carolina rig . After a few cast I caught   channel cat . 

[jr231]

Definitely wouldn't recommend anything like those. Even for catfish. Capture your own prey fish and use them as bait. I was told a long time ago that those packaged dead fish have had all the essential oils taken out of them to use in scents and other things. 

 

Fresh is always better. 

[WRB]

I spent several years during the 60's and early 70's live bait fishing for bass using big night crawlers, crawdads, waterdogs, mud suckers or whatever was legal for bass. What I learned is the bait needs to be lively, dead fresh live bait that dies rarely works. The key to live bait fishing is using the lightest weight and smaller size hooks, lightest diameter line so the live bait can move naturally.....dead bait doesn't move and might as well use a lure if you add movement for bass. 

Tom

[Looking for the big one]

A nice hunk of dead bluegill works wonders as a trailer for a dropshotted pink buzz bait. Use 2 full dead bluegill for the big ones. You must use a 5/16 ounce weight. Hooked what was easily a 15+ pounder yesterday doing that but he broke me off. ?

[Team9nine]

Dead bait for bass certainly isn't a normal thing that you would expect to catch them on, but as with everything bass fishing, there are no absolutes. The lake I lived at had a marina, and twice a day, they'd toss out their dead minnows and the bass would gorge on them. You could fish that exact spot all you wanted with traditional baits and almost never get a bite. Those fish were "trained" to just eat the dead minnows. I caught a few one day in "the frenzy" on a shad colored tube jig they let me toss in once. Also caught one or two over the years tossing a weightless fluke and just letting it sink and deadstick, but otherwise, if you didn't toss them a dead minnow, they weren't biting.

[Looking for the big one]

2 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Dead bait for bass certainly isn't a normal thing that you would expect to catch them on, but as with everything bass fishing, there are no absolutes. The lake I lived at had a marina, and twice a day, they'd toss out their dead minnows and the bass would gorge on them. You could fish that exact spot all you wanted with traditional baits and almost never get a bite. Those fish were "trained" to just eat the dead minnows. I caught a few one day in "the frenzy" on a shad colored tube jig they let me toss in once. Also caught one or two over the years tossing a weightless fluke and just letting it sink and deadstick, but otherwise, if you didn't toss them a dead minnow, they weren't biting.

How big were those guys? I hate seeing the biggest bass in the lake at marinas with no fishing signs.

[Team9nine]

Not giants, but healthy 2-3.5 pounders, at least the ones I caught. Some say much larger ones there, but hard to tell when they're slashing so fast, picking off minnows.

[IndianaFinesse]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Dead bait for bass certainly isn't a normal thing that you would expect to catch them on, but as with everything bass fishing, there are no absolutes. The lake I lived at had a marina, and twice a day, they'd toss out their dead minnows and the bass would gorge on them. You could fish that exact spot all you wanted with traditional baits and almost never get a bite. Those fish were "trained" to just eat the dead minnows. I caught a few one day in "the frenzy" on a shad colored tube jig they let me toss in once. Also caught one or two over the years tossing a weightless fluke and just letting it sink and deadstick, but otherwise, if you didn't toss them a dead minnow, they weren't biting.

I tried fishing there half an hour after they closed once, thinking that you were allowed to fish after they stopped selling gas.  A 1.0 crank burned through that area caught a couple of 2.5-3.5 pounders (and one over four) as fast as I could cast. A couple minutes later I found out that it was an off limits fishing area even after they close, I got the hint when a dog walker called somebody on the phone and the sheriff and another car pulled into the parking lot a minute later.  I didn't hang around after I caught the gist of the phone conversation, and only saw the vehicles pulling in just before I got around the point.  I didn't realize they took it so seriously.

 

It seemed like that they all got fired up after the first one hit, very competitive fish.

[Team9nine]

4 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I tried fishing there half an hour after they closed once, thinking that you were allowed to fish after they stopped selling gas.  A 1.0 crank burned through that area caught a couple of 2.5-3.5 pounders (and one over four) as fast as I could cast. A couple minutes later I found out that it was an off limits fishing area even after they close, I got the hint when a dog walker called somebody on the phone and the sheriff and another car pulled into the parking lot a minute later.  I didn't hang around after I caught the gist of the phone conversation, and only saw the vehicles pulling in just before I got around the point.  I didn't realize they took it so seriously.

 

It seemed like that they all got fired up after the first one hit, very competitive fish.

 

I heard they're still looking for some guy in a white getaway boat that was headed north on the lake that day. I don't think they want to arrest the person, just question him and see what he knows about the situation 

[IndianaFinesse]

1 minute ago, Team9nine said:

 

I heard they're still looking for some guy in a white getaway boat that was headed north on the lake that day. I don't think they want to arrest the person, just question him and see what he knows about the situation 

Good thing I don't know anything about the situation  I was lucky for the fact that it started pouring rain and lightning literally 30 sec after they pulled up, so following in security boats wasn't an option.  I didn't fish nearby that side of the lake, and avoided security boats for a month lol.

[BuzzHudson19c]

On 4/7/2012 at 0:45 PM, Raul said:

Dead bait = catfish fishing, not bass fsihing.

 

Don't forget eels.

 

While targeting bass I've caught catfish on crankbaits, spoons, and plastics but I have never caught bass while targeting catfish with dead or stank bait.

[Bluebasser86]

I caught by far the largest bass I ever caught in a lake I used to fish a lot on a chunk of bluegill fishing for catfish. Also caught a nice one on a chunk of frozen bluegill I set out on a turtle line. 

[Sam]

I have never had any luck with dead bait fishing for bass.

 

I have thrown dead shiners and Nightcrawlers and never caught a bass.

 

Caught catfish and bluegills but never a bass.

 

And Nighcrawlers are a pain as every small bream, pan fish or bluegill will hit them all day long.

 

 

[tholmes]

Dead bait works very well. Every bait that I cast for bass is very, very dead. Plastic worms, jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbairs, etc., all as dead as a rock.

 

Tom

[Choporoz]

Perfect thread for necro-post!

 

 

 

Aside...the talk about marina(s) off-limits for fishing is rather disturbing...makes me sad (or made even), just to consider it