Trophy Live Bait Fishing

[preach4bass]

I have a hankering to try fishing with live bream (perfectly legal in the private pond I'm going to be fishing).  I've tried this a few times before, but with very little success.  Could some of you guys with experience with this type of fishing give me a hint about what hooks, bobbers, ect. you use?

Thanks for any help,

Preach

[Fish Chris]

I've used live Bluegills for bait in Louisiana and Arkansas... totally legal there too, but I didn't do very well with them. Seemed like the Gar and Bowfins ate them quicker than the bass.

In-Fishermen actually did studies which showed that Bass much preferred other types of fish, especially longer, more slender, less spiny ones like Shiners.... Oh, and it's not surprising that Cali bass like to eat trout so well.

It's funny, lots of guys over here on the West coast, mistakenly believe that Bluegill must be a "great" bait, and that must be why they are not legal. Yea' right.  :-) LOL

Anyway, I prefer crawdads or crawlers, but I'd use live shiners before I'd use Bluegills again (even if it were legal in Cali).

Peace,

Fish

[paul.]

i do this all the time and really love it.  for hooks, i prefer a big size 1 treble.  you can use smaller sizes on smaller gills.  often with a single hook, even a big one, the hook tends to turn back into the gill on the set and you end up just jerking the bait out of the fishes mouth.   that's why i use trebles.  i never use a bobber unless there's weeds or brush on the bottom the gill can run into and hide.  if there is cover close, you can bet the gill is gonna go right into it and hang ya up.  a float will keep em out of this.  when at all possible, i freeline the gill with no sinkers or floats.  i think this looks much more natural.   hope that helps ya.  good luck.

[SV1000]

The fact that ya'll have had found the BG's are not great for live bait is odd, after reading several studies and guidelines that state that the best pond management for LMB is a good population of BG for forage.

[Olebiker]

The fact that ya'll have had found the BG's are not great for live bait is odd, after reading several studies and guidelines that state that the best pond management for LMB is a good population of BG for forage.

Bass feed on the smaller bluegill before they become so large that the bass has trouble swallowing them.

[MALTESE FALCON]

Here on St. Clair, if you want to use bluegills for bait they almost always have to be no bigger than a half-dollar, however they will take a five inch shiner with no problem.

Falcon

[ba7ss3in]

I use to fish with a friend and he would brim fish while I bass fished. Sometimes we would come across  5 to 6lb LMBs and I would free line a hand size brim to the fish. I tried smaller brim but they would not eat them. I used a regular 4/0 WG hook.

[fishizzle]

I know bass eat bluegills as bait in CT because some young kid used to use them.

He set his rod up and casted with a small bluegill, then he would play in the sand with his friends.

Then the rod would bow and he would reel in a 2-3lber.

Sometimes it would sit for 15 min. before the bite.

[32251]

How many times have you caught a bass that had a bluegill still in his throat.  I fished a small lake last week and talked to a guy who had already caught several bass that had just eaten bream.

I use a long crappie pole with a tiny hook on it with a weight on the end of the line to catch tiny bream.  Tie the hook about a foot above the weight. Take a nightcrawler and cut it into 1/4" pieces and just put that small piece on the hook and toss the rig out. Pull the line to where you can feel the weight on the bottom and wait for just a little tap-tap.  I caught 70 little bream in a few hours, easy baitfish and cheap.

What you use as a technique for fishing the bream is up to you. Just be sure to be patient and wait for the bite.  Might be good to toss out a few lines with bream on them to cover an area and save some time.

I have seen some nice bass caught this way.  

[hamer08]

In general, most predators prefer soft-rayed fish > spiny-rayed fish. They also prefer fusiform (torpedo shape) fish to compressform (flat) fish. That is why shiners and shad are so popular with bass. I'm sure bluegills will work if there is not alot of the prefered forage present. But, throwing a bluegill in a lake full of shad or shiners will be a slow day fishing.

[Dean]

Personally, I believe using live bait takes the art and skill out of bass fishing, which is why I use artificials 100% of the time.

[preach4bass]

The art of bass fishing? :-?  I'm not trying to paint a picture, I'm trying to catch a big bass. ;D

Fish Chris wrote on another thread:

"And finally, the most all around bait on the planet.... The lowly nightcrawler  Don't let anyone tell you that their is no skill involved fishing live bait. Their are actually countless tricks with live bait that can make all the difference in the world.

Actually, I don't fish with live bait much anymore either..... because artificial lures (mainly big swimbaits) make it easier to catch the giants I'm after. However, for numbers of small to medium sized fish, live crawlers are hard to beat."

[Catt]

I think it would depend on the body of water & the over all population of bass vs. other predator fish.

[The Bass Guy]

well there is and has been always a huge discussion on the use of live bait for Bass Fishing...  There is a gent I know who is a bass guide that is known for guiding to Big bass for his clients...  Most of the folks he guides just want to catch a big bass and he uses Big shiners.. ALthough he does fish artificials as well...  He does catch alot of big bass...  

Truthfully it is determined by the person and what he/she wants to do...  As for Bluegills for bait, they can be a good bait, but alot of places won't allow you to use them...  

[Fish Chris]

That's okay.... A lot of people 'mistakenly' believe that  ;-)

How things 'seem' is one thing. How things 'really are', is often quite another.

Speaking from thousands of hours of experience with both live bait and artificials.

Peace,

Fish

[bigbill]

I have noticed that the big gals perfer sunfish as there main diet. I mainly use lures now and the sunfish lures are my favorite along with the rebel BIG Claw Crawfish lure too. These have been my best producers fopr larger bass so far. When i use the BIG Claw I use the largest one that dives 10' and bounce it off the bottom at first then reel it slow. When is use the sunfish lures it mainly jigging with it near the surface very slow. I have also noticed that fishing in the wee hours of the morning have produced my largest fish. I think these places are pressured really heavy so its better fishing when no one is around stiring things up. You also need to be very stealthy/quiet when fishing too and don't bang your tacklebox around too be very quiet or the game is "off" you'll spook the bigger bass, there smart. Just stay motivated and stay going....

                                                            BB

Fact;  Here all my bigger bass were caught on lures why i'm not sure.