Another FFS question

[king fisher]

Has anyone used or heard of anyone using live bait with FFS?  Would the popular use of this combination, change any ones opinions on the legality issues of FFS, live bait, or both for bass?

        I have to believe somewhere there is some old man leaving the dock in a 14 foot john boat with a 15 horse, motor, one old rod, a live well full of bluegills, and a FFS sonar unit covered up with an old hunting coat.  I'm sure he has been catching DD bass that would make Josh Jones envious.  He wont come back to the dock bragging about his catch, will probably take his left over bait home to eat, and of course will not post pictures on the internet.  If one of his fishing partners mysteriously ends up dead, it is because he didn't keep his mouth shut.

        When using proper live bait techniques including circle hooks, the bass can be released un harmed so the question isn't one of depleting the resource, but is more of an ethical sportsmanship question.  I have no opinion one way or the other, but I am interested in what other anglers think. 

        So far I haven't read one word pro or con about this combination, but I'm sure both sides would be very vocal if a record bass were to be caught using both live bait in combination with FFS.

 

[Pat Brown]

I'm sure guides in Florida already do this.  Shiners + FFS

 

I'm guessing it's just a funner day for clients mostly.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve seen it done locally for catfish and crappie 

[gim]

My parents use it on the state walleye circuit they fish.  Most of the other rigs have it too (up to 100 boats per event).  They use a lot of live bait.  Later in the season they troll with planer boards, downriggers, or lead core and crankbaits.

 

These events are all CPR style now (catch, photo, release) with an official measuring board like kayak events are.  No one is using circle hooks, that I can assure you of.

 

My parents used to be competitive until about 2 years ago.  Live sonar has changed how people walleye fish now too, and they have not done well the past couple seasons.  They have the latest and greatest version, but they are nearly 70 and the learning curve is steep at that age with technology.

 

Honestly I think my old man is pretty clueless on how to fully use it.  He just likes saying he has "live sonar" to people lol

[TnRiver46]

Eat the leftover bluegill bait with big flaky bass meat in the boat? I don’t imagine your imaginary angler being that silly haha

[gim]

I should have mentioned in my previous post that the walleye rigs do not look anything like some of the rigs we see on pro bass tours.  No one has theirs outfitted like a commercial plane.  Its generally just one unit.  These are not pro walleye anglers sponsored by anyone, they have to pay for it themselves.  A lot of the participants are retired folk.  They have nice big deep V walleye boats that are very expensive but its not their day job.  Grand prize at each event is usually about $5 grand.

[Zcoker]

17 minutes ago, king fisher said:

 

        When using proper live bait techniques including circle hooks, the bass can be released un harmed

 

 

I haven't heard anything about the FFS with live bait but I've caught a LOT of bass with cut-off circle hooks still embedded in the fish's mouth. Most of these hooks were easily removed. Can't say why this didn't happen in the first place other than folks being plain lazy, cutting them off after they catch them. 

[TnRiver46]

@Zcoker, perhaps the bass got into vegetation and broke the line itself ? 

[rgasr63]

On YouTube there is a channel "The Old Fisherman" . He has been using FFS and catching white bass, large mouth, striped bass, Catfish and Crappie. Using jigs,spoons and live bait. His name is Steve Comalander. Lake Murray and Lake Monticello is the locations of his videos. He used to find these fish with 2D sonar. He is one that had the skills before he got the tool. 

[Team9nine]

I know a guy in the Carolina’s, I believe, that has been doing this for big bass for years pre-FFS. He doesn’t talk much or post online. There is a live bait guide on Chick that uses FFS and scored 32 DD bass last year. Not certain what the mix breakdown was between live bait and artificial, but the clients seem to usually go live bait and he fishes with artificial behind them from what I can tell. 

[king fisher]

I'm sure guides are in a tough position.  They want to market their success, but I can't imagine them wanting to draw any attention to the effectiveness of a FFS live bait combination.  If I were a guide that had a sufficient client base, and wasn't dependent on new customers, I would try my best to stay off the radar.  If I were a young guide trying to get my name out there, I would have to be very careful how I market my success.  Fish and Game departments are not immune to the  power of public opinion.  They try to make all decisions based on science, but in the end they are part of the political environment.

[roadwarrior]

32 DD in TN?  I don't know anything about this, but that is amazng!

[Vilas15]

I dont care about live bait. I use it, though not for bass, and I dont own FFS. All I know is Lord help us if/when FFS ever becomes cheap enough for the bucket brigade. They dont even need a boat here, they just wait for ice season.

[Zcoker]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Zcoker, perhaps the bass got into vegetation and broke the line itself ? 

 

Perhaps. I really can't say what the actual reason was, only that I removed the circle hooks and sent them on their merry way. Mind you, this was in places where they fish a lot with shiners, which I mostly see as open water fishing. To be honest, it's just so high on the horse nowadays, meaning that everyone and their uncle is fishing with shiners. Places like Headwaters is unbelievable, tens of dozens for each guided trip with tons of trips daily. And it's one fish after another on those trips, which would certainly account for a LOT of broken off fish. Bound to happen, I reckon. 

[WRB]

The pre spawn and spawning bass was just a matter of finding the bass when using live crawdads or (illegal) Live baitfish in our local giant bass lakes back in the 90’s before FFS. Give those live bait anglers FFS-Live Scope during the spawn cycle and kiss off your trophy bass populations in smaller lakes.

Fortunately I didn’t have to witness FSS Live baiters seeing the big bass floating like volley balls on stringers was upsetting enough.  

Tom

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, king fisher said:

I'm sure guides are in a tough position. 

That they are. My muskie guide buddy isn't a fan of FFS, but he has to use it to keep up with the competition. 

[DaubsNU1]

3 hours ago, king fisher said:

...I'm sure he has been catching DD bass that would make Josh Jones envious.  He wont come back to the dock bragging about his catch, will probably take his left over bait home to eat, and of course will not post pictures on the internet.  If one of his fishing partners mysteriously ends up dead, it is because he didn't keep his mouth shut....

 

Guy at work discovered his own little honey hole. A metro area pond with a nice fishing platform form...kids loved to catch and release bluegill.

 

He rigged a bluegill and dropped beneath the platform and BANG! 6 lb LMB! 

 

The bass were hanging under the platform, picking off bluegill as the kids were releasing.

 

He caught MANY large bass this way.

 

I told him to keep his mouth shut...but he did not...and the party stopped shortly thereafter. Sadness. 

[gim]

3 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

I told him to keep his mouth shut...but he did not...and the party stopped shortly thereafter. Sadness. 

With the addition of 18 new species to the MN C & R length record category in 2024, I'm thinking twice about entering one if I happen to catch one.  The form requires the name of the lake, county, and nearest town.  Most of the lakes I fish are small to mid size ones.  Once that information is made public, I can foresee them seeing increased pressure.  After thinking about this, I don't think it's worth it if I do happen to catch a new state record and release it.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

 

Guy at work discovered his own little honey hole. A metro area pond with a nice fishing platform form...kids loved to catch and release bluegill.

 

He rigged a bluegill and dropped beneath the platform and BANG! 6 lb LMB! 

 

The bass were hanging under the platform, picking off bluegill as the kids were releasing.

 

He caught MANY large bass this way.

 

I told him to keep his mouth shut...but he did not...and the party stopped shortly thereafter. Sadness. 

Theres a little tiny pond we used to instruct fly casting on. You could catch a bluegill and two 5 lb bass would eat them off your line and usually break the line, jump and spit it , etc. They eventually became conditioned to follow anyone that was fly casting around the pond. They also followed the guys weedeating because it scared frogs into the water. We showed a young kid the trick and he did it a few times a week and those bass or bluegill wouldn’t touch a hook after that and totally quit following us 😂