Sensitive subject

[jerkw8nonajerk01]

So check it out....we go back out...bucket of minnas...I say man..gimme a minna...I have a whole new respect for it..I missed more fish than I ever have on an artificial and I'm not a treble bait fisherman.

worms and jigs so I know how to set the hook...lol...it was actually frustrating.....maybe I'll keep a little quieter about his live bait tactic..lol..thanks for the responses on the subject..I have a feeling regardless of what we are fishing it'll be a great season

[BigEbass]

Cheating? No. Not for fun. In a tournament yes obviously. I don't use live bait personally, but I could care less either way - whatever brings one enjoyment.

[Fish Chris]

RoLo's post was spot on !

I've said this before, but I'll say it again,

the fisherman who believes that live bait fishing for largemouth bass

is easy and a form of cheating, has not done enough live-bait fishing.

Fishing natural bait is tons of fun, but it is not easy and requires a goodly measure of know-how.

During the pre-spawn period, I'll often take live golden shiners along in addition to artificial lures.

Nearly every year without fail, we catch more and larger bass on artificial lures.

I hasten to add that I'm speaking here only about largemouth bass,

because boating a trophy smallmouth bass, walleye or northern pike

is definitely easier with natural bait. In any case, provided it's within the law

there's absolutely no reason to feel guilty or sensitive about your chosen method of enjoying your day afield.

Roger

And Bassman, thank you for finding, and quoting me in that post.

So, I've said it before, but I'll say it again, "I just love to catch big bass, and if using live bait made that easier, I'd do it even more. In reality though, that just has not been the case.

I've proven to myself again, and again, that the real monsters are typically easier to catch on artificials.

......which is why I always get a kick out of guys who talk {sometimes with their noses up in the air} about how they only use artificials Uhhh... Okay. So without even knowing it, what they are really saying to me is, they prefer to do it the easier way. Well, that's all fine. But if they only knew the truth....

Granted, all of that talk is pertaining to true monsters, of say, 15 lbs or more.

Sure, their are plenty of times when live bait will kick the heck out of artificials for numbers of small to medium sized fish.... but if I'm only catching small to medium sized fish, I don't feel like I'm proving anything to anyone, anyway. Besides all that, I'm probably the least competitive guy on the planet, in the first place.

The only guy I'm ever trying to outdo, is myself.

Peace,

Fish

PS, When I first saw the title of this post, I thought it might be about hemorrhoids or something !    ;D

[shimmy]

I'd have to disagree with you Fish Chris. I have said it before, live bait (minnows) is a whole other dimension. Heavy pressured waters and cold weather can be lit up with minnows more so than artificials. When we talk about 15 plus pound bass, how many people are tossing minnows at spawning beds hittin the banks as much as the typical artificial angler? Minnows die too fast for that so most minnow fisherman don't do that cause- minnow dies quicker and they never have enough minnows so they park in one area. If i wanted some big bass and wanted it consistantly, i would buy a bunch of minnows and toss them everywhere. I just don't believe artificials are better than the real thing. When you have to try and search for explanations how minnow fishing is not as easy, that alone should indicate your stretchin it. Big bass eat live bait. That's what they do. They didn't get so big by eating crankbaits and stinkos! But, nevertheless, i don't minnow fish, not as much of a challenge and hold no grudge to anyone who enjoys it.

[wisconsin heat]

i use livebait when im fishing for species i dont fish for alot/species im not familliar with, i mean, i am not a walleye fisherman so i am not gonna pretend that i know what im doing, id rather use some live bait and CATCH something than make a fool out of myself trying to use that fancy walleye junk.

[Taylor Fishin 4 life]

Here is my opinion, If you want to fish live bait go for it, I do not have a problem with this at all but I prefer when fishing for bass to go artificial, its more fun and active and not as boring.

[Fish Chris]

But shimmy, I'm not talking about my personal opinion on this one. I'm talking about what I have actually experienced. Believe me, I've thrown pretty much every kind of live bait... a LOT, especially crawlers, and dads.

And it's shown me two surprising things...

1) That making live bait work to it's maximum effectiveness, takes just as much skill, and knowledge, as making any artificial lure work to it's max effectiveness.

and 2) As much as I love fishing live bait, I seem to catch more and more of my biggest bass on artificials in spite of the fact that I still almost always have a box or two of crawlers with me... and not to brag, but I think I know how to work a crawler pretty darn well.

Ya' know, I've said before, that I've caught 2/3rds of my double digit bass on artificials, but even that doesn't tell the real story. That is taking into account that before I knew better I used to use live bait, about 98% of the time, and so it figures, that 8 of my first 10 DD bass were caught on (big surprise) live bait.

Nowadays however, I think my DD's caught on live bait are down to about 1 in 10.

Kind of sucks really. I just love fly-lining a crawler on the micro-light, then sticking, and playing a big ol' DD bass on that gear.

Of course it's not all bad sticking a DD bass on a big ol' broom stick, and ripping his but to the boat in 10 seconds either   LOL

Anyway,

Peace,

Fish

[slonezp]

Is a bass some sort of elitist fish that only needs to be fished for with artificial bait? People fish for every other species of fish with live bait. Why not bass? I only use artificial as it is my preference. I don't have the patience to sit and wait for a fish to bite. I am a hunter hunting for my prize. For me it's the whole thought process which is what makes the outing enjoyable. If I am fishing with my father (not a bass fisherman) who fishes strictly live bait unless he is trolling, I end up fishing live bait like it's artificial. Cast and reel, cast and reel.

I went out on a local river system today. My buddy , a walleye fisherman, was supposed to come with and we were going to fish live bait for walleye. All the reports said the walleye bite is ON. His wife wouldn't let him go. I spent about 15 min this morning debating. I would rather work for bass than sit and wait for the walleye and pannies to bite (and this is with 25mph north winds). Bass bite was tough only got 2 keepers in 6 hours of fishing and they were both caught at 7:00am. I challenged myself. That is the appeal of artificial bait.

That being said, to this day my largest bass was caught on a minnow ;D.

[Lund Explorer]

This would probably be another good time to express a very heartfelt thank you to Glenn, Kerri, and all the mods for providing us with an open forum to discuss the subject matter we ALL enjoy.

Imagine how boring this place would be if the voices we heard from came from the same narrow mindset.  I don't think it would be very much fun to only converse with fishermen that only fished from Lund Explorers, limited of course to boats that were green, with Mercury four stroke motors, and of course only used Lowrance electronics.   I don't see any reason to ignore those poor misinformed fisherman that uses Shimano reels in favor of the Abu's I have.  And just because I happen to like Power Worms doesn't diminish the guy (or gal for that matter) that wastes their time throwing senkos.... Gasp!

So thanks Guys & Gal, you've opened the door to this little world to all of us with only a few simple rules.  No politics, no religion, and most importantly that we respect each other's viewpoints whether they mesh with ours or not.  It is an incredible feat to bring together so many diverse personalities with such varied experiences and can still keep these threads so civil.  Because regardless of what fishing knowledge a person could gather here, perhaps the best lesson we can all learn is that no person is somehow better than any other on these pages.

[MattinOK]

This would probably be another good time to express a very heartfelt thank you to Glenn, Kerri, and all the mods for providing us with an open forum to discuss the subject matter we ALL enjoy.

Imagine how boring this place would be if the voices we heard from came from the same narrow mindset. I don't think it would be very much fun to only converse with fishermen that only fished from Lund Explorers, limited of course to boats that were green, with Mercury four stroke motors, and of course only used Lowrance electronics. I don't see any reason to ignore those poor misinformed fisherman that uses Shimano reels in favor of the Abu's I have. And just because I happen to like Power Worms doesn't diminish the guy (or gal for that matter) that wastes their time throwing senkos.... Gasp!

So thanks Guys & Gal, you've opened the door to this little world to all of us with only a few simple rules. No politics, no religion, and most importantly that we respect each other's viewpoints whether they mesh with ours or not. It is an incredible feat to bring together so many diverse personalities with such varied experiences and can still keep these threads so civil. Because regardless of what fishing knowledge a person could gather here, perhaps the best lesson we can all learn is that no person is somehow better than any other on these pages.

   Which Moderator are you trying to brown nose?

[shimmy]

ha, x2!

[Lund Explorer]

This would probably be another good time to express a very heartfelt thank you to Glenn, Kerri, and all the mods for providing us with an open forum to discuss the subject matter we ALL enjoy.

Imagine how boring this place would be if the voices we heard from came from the same narrow mindset. I don't think it would be very much fun to only converse with fishermen that only fished from Lund Explorers, limited of course to boats that were green, with Mercury four stroke motors, and of course only used Lowrance electronics. I don't see any reason to ignore those poor misinformed fisherman that uses Shimano reels in favor of the Abu's I have. And just because I happen to like Power Worms doesn't diminish the guy (or gal for that matter) that wastes their time throwing senkos.... Gasp!

So thanks Guys & Gal, you've opened the door to this little world to all of us with only a few simple rules. No politics, no religion, and most importantly that we respect each other's viewpoints whether they mesh with ours or not. It is an incredible feat to bring together so many diverse personalities with such varied experiences and can still keep these threads so civil. Because regardless of what fishing knowledge a person could gather here, perhaps the best lesson we can all learn is that no person is somehow better than any other on these pages.

Which Moderator are you trying to brown nose?

I was trying to make the point that nobody on this forum is so much better than the rest of us, that they can move across the water without a boat.

Most elitists have a much higher opinion of only themselves and aside from their mothers, have a fan base of one!

[bassman31783]

HUH??? What does that have to do with live bait VS artificial. From what I can tell, nobody came across sounding as if they thought that they were better then anyone else. Everybody just has a preference. Besides that, there are those on here that ARE far superior fisherman then most, myself included. However this is just not THAT sensitive of a subject to begin with.

[UGLY STIK]

I fish for enjoyment...not compition , so I mix it up.   :-/