Live vs Artificial

[snake95]

Another key advantage of artificials over live bait is this: you can always have it on hand.

The more you fish it, the better you get at it, and then the more you want to use it.

Depending on your location, how you fish, etc., maybe getting ahold of live bait is no big deal.  For me, it's a huge deal since there are no real bait shops close by, and even then picking up worms at the local Shell station eats up 20-30 min of critical fishing time.

Plus, if you are the type of angler that fishes on short notice (ie. a quick pull over on the way home and pop open the trunk to get your rod out) -- you really appreciate having artificals at hand.

As Wayne Gretzky is famous for saying "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - same thing with fishing.  30 minutes spent getting bait is 30 minutes not fishing.

 

[N Florida Mike]

On 7/6/2016 at 11:57 AM, Darren. said:

I think live catches more fish, but I fish
artificial more.

Though when fishing is tough, live is the
way to go, and for me that is normally
nightcrawlers.

There's nothing cheating about using live
unless it is not allowed in a particular water
or tournament.

I used to live in western NY, and lived near
the Oatka river which banned live bait
fishing - at least in the sections I lived near.

Exactly!

[MickD]

I think that in the totality of the fishing I do for bass, artificials are more effective than live bait.  Same for pike. Walleyes and panfish, probably a tossup.  The advantages of artificials are better presentation, controllable movement, tremendous variety of options to better match the mood of the fish, cleaner boat without all that black nightcrawler crap all over the place, no problems keeping the bait alive, nothing to dispose of or keep in the fridge, easy to cover a lot of water to find fish, more interesting than watching a bobber (although that can be fun, too), lures are always available, any time, any place.

The last time I tried bait we were fishing for smallmouths and found that we could get lots of crawfish at the boat launch at night.  We got plenty and were set to kill the smallies the next day.  Total shutout.  Went to tubes and did well.

We catch a lot of bass on the fall, before imparting any action.  It is not unusual at all.  Jigs, tubes, super flukes, senkos, even surface lures like chug bugs.

[soflabasser]

2 hours ago, MickD said:

I think that in the totality of the fishing I do for bass, artificials are more effective than live bait.  Same for pike. Walleyes and panfish, probably a tossup.  The advantages of artificials are better presentation, controllable movement, tremendous variety of options to better match the mood of the fish, cleaner boat without all that black nightcrawler crap all over the place, no problems keeping the bait alive, nothing to dispose of or keep in the fridge, easy to cover a lot of water to find fish, more interesting than watching a bobber (although that can be fun, too), lures are always available, any time, any place.

The last time I tried bait we were fishing for smallmouths and found that we could get lots of crawfish at the boat launch at night.  We got plenty and were set to kill the smallies the next day.  Total shutout.  Went to tubes and did well.

We catch a lot of bass on the fall, before imparting any action.  It is not unusual at all.  Jigs, tubes, super flukes, senkos, even surface lures like chug bugs.

I agree with you that artificial lures are much more effective in terms of numbers of bass caught in a day than using live bait.I have had multiple trips where I have caught +100 bass on artificials, but cannot recall a day that I passed that many on live bait. It's a hassle collecting enough bait to catch that many bass,but it's easier to catch that amount of bass with a couple packs of soft plastics and a handful of hard plastic lures.

[d-camarena]

On July 6, 2016 at 1:24 PM, MIbassyaker said:

Gotcha. LiveMinnow is out. Good to know. How about:

1. deadsticking a worm:  Cast, let fall, let sit. The fish strikes while it's sitting there after a moment.

2. A jig that gets struck immediately on the fall. The fish attacks before the angler gets a chance to move it at all.

3. A popper or spook, the bass strikes after it hits the water, while the angler is waiting for the ripples to die, again, before moving it.

Were these three fish caught in a sportsmanlike way?

Lol thats funny, just stop

[J Francho]

I throw artificials simply because I have control issues, lol.  Worms and 'dads never do what I want them to.

On 7/6/2016 at 2:24 PM, MIbassyaker said:

Gotcha. LiveMinnow is out. Good to know. How about:

1. deadsticking a worm:  Cast, let fall, let sit. The fish strikes while it's sitting there after a moment.

2. A jig that gets struck immediately on the fall. The fish attacks before the angler gets a chance to move it at all.

3. A popper or spook, the bass strikes after it hits the water, while the angler is waiting for the ripples to die, again, before moving it.

Were these three fish caught in a sportsmanlike way?

These are good debate examples!

Yes.  Just as with live bait, location is the number one consideration.  Where you put your bait determines whether you get bit.  It's a basic tenant of fishing.  You can't catch fish where there are none.  Also, in the case of the jig (#2), you chose the weight, profile, trailer, color, etc. to exhibit a certain "fall".  BTW, eliciting a strike is one thing, you still have to get it to the boat.

 

[Catt]

Very divisive subject

Targeting bass specifically with live bait is not a simple task.

Ya aint gonna just walk up to a body of water & cast 

One still has to consider weather condition, water conditions, cover, & structure!

[Cgolf]

In my opinion and experience, I have had better luck with artificial vs live bait. Just last week I tried fishing leeches and crawlers on a jig around reeds and only picked up 1 largemouth bass. There was no bobber or slipfloat involved. This has been a consistent theme for me over the years. We always grab livebait for walleyes and on the last day or two of a trip I use the leftovers on bass. If I were targeting smallies the leeches may come into play a lot more though.

So for me I have zero issue with it, but don't do it because it just doesn't work all that well for me.

[scaleface]

I think using Manns Jelly worms is cheating .

[riverbasser]

10 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I think using Manns Jelly worms is cheating .

Then I'm a cheater

[Cgolf]

35 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I think using Manns Jelly worms is cheating .

For me it depends on the year lol. This year the red eye shad is definitely cheating, I have caught 6 different species of fish on it, similar to what happens when you toss out a worm, you never know what is on the other end of the line:)

[bigturtle]

I like hooking live bait to lures

[DogBone_384]

Artificial bait is fishing... live bait is waiting....

"...and that's all I have to say about that..."

[S. Sass]

2 hours ago, riverbasser said:

Then I'm a cheater

^^^ same here

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

I think using Manns Jelly worms is cheating .

I've been cheating for a long long time 

[DogBone_384]

no such thing as cheating... just fishing, or waiting.... 

[hoosierbass07]

You could look at it another way - who profits when you buy artificial lures?  Some company/business makes money from you.  What is their main competitor in the fishing lure world?  Free worms!  If you have a yard or access to a yard/field/grass/etc..., you can find free night-crawlers to use.   Real worms are probably the worlds greatest fish catcher. 

 I've read on these forums reasons not to use real bait.  One is that it increases the chance of throat hooking.  I'm starting to wonder if that is true or an old wives tail pushed by the big lure companies.  Another reason is that it's not "sporting" and yet bass tournaments are held across the country where the competitors take those poor bass and stick them in box and let them sit there all day, drag them out and weighed, then dumped back in at a random spot.  How is that sporting? 

 I love my plastic worms and Yum-Dingers, but I pretty much realize all those lures pale in comparison to the real live stuff.  Two famous bass books, In Pursuit of Giant Bass and Big Bass Magic, both push live bait along with artificial lures.  In fact, I think Doug Hannon and Bill Murphy lists live bait above lures.  If I recall correctly, Hannon said if you are fishing in the day time, use live bait.  Only use lures when its darker out so it will be easier to trick the bass into biting.  Murphy puts live bait ontop with plastic worms a close second and everything else (jigs/spinnerbaits/crankbaits) far behind.  

[Cgolf]

3 hours ago, hoosierbass07 said:

 I've read on these forums reasons not to use real bait.  One is that it increases the chance of throat hooking.  I'm starting to wonder if that is true or an old wives tail pushed by the big lure companies. 

Now I get to anger both sides of the arguement. I don't feel that there is any reason to allow a bass or any fish to munch on a bait before you set the hook. All that does is increase the risk for gut hooking a fish! This goes live bait and dead sticking baits or fishing baits like the Ned on slack line. If you set the hook at first tap and miss you have the wrong bait or presentation. I have had bass post a second cold front in 3 days just about swallow a RES while it was moving, right lure right time. It's not the lure gut hooking fish. It's generally has the lure is fished IMO.

Thats me on my soapbox, stepping down now

So to answer your question I'm on the old wives tail side of the arguement.

[Jaderose]

I used nit crawlers and minnows when I was just putzing around at fishing.  Now I bass fish exclusively and use artificial.  Why?  Because it's what I do.  You use live bait?  Great...have fun.  Couldn't care less either way

[Frise]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

Now I get to anger both sides of the arguement. I don't feel that there is any reason to allow a bass or any fish to munch on a bait before you set the hook. All that does is increase the risk for gut hooking a fish! This goes live bait and dead sticking baits or fishing baits like the Ned on slack line. If you set the hook at first tap and miss you have the wrong bait or presentation. I have had bass post a second cold front in 3 days just about swallow a RES while it was moving, right lure right time. It's not the lure gut hooking fish. It's generally has the lure is fished IMO.

Thats me on my soapbox, stepping down now

So to answer your question I'm on the old wives tail side of the arguement.

I've fished live bait for about 4years now and have never gut hooked a fish after switching to circle hooks 

[hoosierbass07]

Well, maybe I spoke too soon. lol.  Or I have foot in mouth disease.  I was actually thinking about this thread when I went fishing tonight at a strip pit in a canoe.  I wasn't catching anything (soft swim bait and soft plastic Texas rig lizard) then I put on my favorite lure of all time - five inch Yum-Dinger, and ended up in a big battle with a six pound bass, one of my biggest I've ever caught and my biggest bass I've ever caught during the summer. 

 So would I have caught that bass using a night-crawler?  Actually, I don't think so.  I think that bass probably wanted something larger like a Yum-Dinger.  But, would I have caught that bass on a live lizard?  Maybe, might catch more big bass.  I don't know.  I still believe live bait is superior.  But also, live bait is messy.  When I dig up worms I get dirt under my fingernails that stays there for a few days.  I don't really like that.

 I should add, the only live bait I've used was/is night crawlers and even then I only use them .001% of the time.  99.99% of the time I'm using a soft plastic Texas rig like the Yum-Dinger. 

[jr231]

I'm not Sure why everyone gets so upset over fishing techniques. My PB came on a top water popper. But I have caught numerous beauties fishing with live bluegill. I would hook them through the lip, and out the nostril. Usually the bluegill is very lively and ends up running into the weeds and getting buried there. So I would have to check it periodically. If a big bass is around , she cannot resist. Especially if it is in a pond and this is her main forage. I've caught bass when the bluegill was practically dead. Just reeling it In . Make sure the bluegill is of appropriate size. If you choose to use a 4 to 5 inch bluegill you're only targeting bass about 5 pounds and up. People say it's not fun using live bait, but it's surely fun catching the big bass. And taking pictures with your friends or kids. Not to mention occasionally catching some nice catfish. 

[Mad Scientist]

I enjoy all types of fishing - live bait, artificials, fly fishing, you name it. The only thing I don't do is spearing/bow fishing or snagging. But if it's legal and sustainable, and you're fishing for food, I can respect those methods.

The real question is, do you catch your own bait?

[bigfruits]

for me, bass fishing is all about the fun of using and catching fish with artificial lures. using live bait is a totally different sport to me. im going to need beer and I will be targeting bigger species than freshwater bass. also fun but a different "game".

is natural bait that was once alive (cutbait, squid etc) considered live bait?

[Brett's_daddy]

I have nothing against using live bait. I know my Dad preaches the use of live bait saying it will out-catch artificial lures any day but I myself haven't proven that statement true. I suppose each have their pros/cons but I for one don't have a lot of containment space to keep live bait alive (only 1 live well on the boat and prefer to use that for the catch, not the bait) and for me carrying a tackle bag of lures is a lot more feasible. Another thing is with live bait you can't really control where they go (if you're using shiners etc.)...I mean you can target the fish all you but your live bait may have other ideas of where it wants to swim so keeping it in the strike zone is more of a challenge. I also am not a fan of dead-sticking a rod and waiting for something to bite (reason I hate the Carolina rig fishing for trout)...to me this isn't fishing, it's waiting or lazy fishing. I suppose it has it's place like if your on a picnic by the lake with the family and while you're eating you want to throw a line in and not have to worry about it unless a rod starts bending but other than that I personally much prefer to use other methods/techniques where I'm always casting and retrieving...I'm actually constantly doing SOMETHING and that to me is real fishing which is one of the reasons I much prefer bass fishing over trout fishing, it takes more skill and thought which makes catching something that much more rewarding!!!