Need help with shiners

[uhhhmike]

Hey all!

I've always used artificial baits and have caught hundreds of bass on them. I fish almost every day, sometimes two or three times a day (have a 1-year-old, so i dont get many opportunitiea to stay out for extended periods of time).

I'm not exactly bored throwing artificials, in fact I love throwing them, but I just decided I would like to try something different for a couple weeks and decided to try and catch some bass on shiners. It definitely helps that I've read around 90% of the bass over ten pounds caught in Florida have been caught using shiners!

Anyways, I've done a decent amount of research on shiners, i think i know how to catch them and use them for bait, but I am having trouble locating any.

I know I can buy them from a marina not too far away from me, but I don't want to. I want to catch them myself.

Anybody have any tips on locating shiners? Such as what to look for in the water to spot them, or signs that they could be in a pond or lake? 

I've been chumming some spots close to my house and going back later to fish, but all I am catching is bluegill and other sunfish.

I live in Cape Coral, but don't mind driving to find some. Anybody know of a place close to my area that holds shiners?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Dwight Hottle]

Try asking your local bait shop and or contact a local guide. They might share some info. 

[uhhhmike]

2 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Try asking your local bait shop and or contact a local guide. They might share some info. 

Thanks Dwight

I considered doing this, but I figured they wouldn't want to give up the info without getting something out of it, but I suppose the answer is no until you ask! I'm going to give it a try today

[the reel ess]

What are you chumming with? I'm interested in this method too because there are golden shiners in the place I fish the most as well as big ol bass. It's a good opportunity for a PB.

[uhhhmike]

49 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

What are you chumming with? I'm interested in this method too because there are golden shiners in the place I fish the most as well as big ol bass. It's a good opportunity for a PB.

I'm using oatmeal and bread, but I've read that hog feed works really well too

[buzzed bait]

get you one of these, fill it with bread, dog food or cat food....  that's how my brother and i would catch them as kids.

[uhhhmike]

25 minutes ago, buzzed bait said:

get you one of these, fill it with bread, dog food or cat food....  that's how my brother and i would catch them as kids.

Not a bad idea, but my problem is locating a body of water that holds shiners. I will probably get a trap once i figure out where the shiners are! Thanks

[the reel ess]

3 minutes ago, uhhhmike said:

Not a bad idea, but my problem is locating a body of water that holds shiners. I will probably get a trap once i figure out where the shiners are! Thanks

If the place you're fishing doesn't have shiners, they might not be a great bait.

[uhhhmike]

3 hours ago, the reel ess said:

If the place you're fishing doesn't have shiners, they might not be a great bait.

This was my original train of thought as well, but from what I have read it seems that if you throw shiners into an area that they dont live they get eaten rather quickly. I'm not 100% sure that this is the case, but multiple posts I have read have suggested that this is true.

I'm also not sure that the places I fish don't have shiners, I'm just not sure that they do have them. I don't really know how to tell, which is my main issue :/

[the reel ess]

55 minutes ago, uhhhmike said:

This was my original train of thought as well, but from what I have read it seems that if you throw shiners into an area that they dont live they get eaten rather quickly. I'm not 100% sure that this is the case, but multiple posts I have read have suggested that this is true.

I'm also not sure that the places I fish don't have shiners, I'm just not sure that they do have them. I don't really know how to tell, which is my main issue :/

I understand. I catch a lot of bass on a gold/black Rat L Trap and Rapala minnow. But I've also caught a big shiner on a jig.

This place has a good steady flow from a feeder creek, so I guess they never completely get eaten because they keep flowing in.

[bigbassin']

1 hour ago, uhhhmike said:

This was my original train of thought as well, but from what I have read it seems that if you throw shiners into an area that they dont live they get eaten rather quickly. I'm not 100% sure that this is the case, but multiple posts I have read have suggested that this is true.

I'm also not sure that the places I fish don't have shiners, I'm just not sure that they do have them. I don't really know how to tell, which is my main issue :/

In my experience, the place doesn't have to have shiners for them to both work, and out fish every bait/lure I've ever thrown. Plenty of spots that I've fished have only produced a couple of bass under a pound in 5+ years throwing every lure imaginable, but as soon as shiners hit the water it becomes an absolute pig factory.

With that being said, to get the most out of shiners the area has to be just right, you can't just throw them wherever and expect to get hit. For example, the places where the shiners really excel for me is areas with a relatively small strike zone where you can let the shiner stay in one place and call the fish, such as a grass cut or where brush and grass meet. If you're shore fishing in tight quarters, they also work really well on depth changes where you don't have access to several different angles to target the change. On the other hand, when fish can be more spread out, such as grass flats or lily pads, lures tend to work much better for me as you can cover more ground.

[N Florida Mike]

I used to catch mine at a small golf course pond.Id chum them with bread and throw once or twice with a cast net and get all I needed.This worked fine until I caught a 5 pound bass in the net just as the security guard pulled up!

Don't use the the farm- raised shiners.Bass don't care for them.

And any bass in a water body will readily eat shiners whether or not there's any in there or not