CoBass Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 Living in Colorado, the majority of fisherman here target trout or walleye. The bass community is pretty small but for some reason the idea of using shiners or any other form of live bait is seriously frowned upon. Last year a 12 year old kid caught the state record smallie on a minnow. He got blasted on our local forums for setting a record with live bait. This year, his record was broken by a friend of mine using a jerk bait. The local forums were very busy with guys who were so happy that the record was broken by a "real fisherman" because he caught it on a lure instead of live bait. I've been to Fla. several times and have seen some monster bass caught on live shiners. In your opinion, does live bait fishing for bass make you less of an angler? I fish artificials 99% of the time, but if the bite is dead and others are catching fish on minnows I have no problem throwing a shiner on and going that route. I have also bass fished in other states and have never seen the level of animosity towards live bait that I see here. I'm not sure if it's a byproduct of all the fly fisherman here or if we just have a bunch of elitist ****** bags here who think their way is the only way. What do you guys think? Quote
Super User Bassn Blvd Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 This topic has been brought up before, but I'll give you my answer. NO! Live bait fishing does not make you any less of an angler. 1 Quote
Super User senile1 Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 Live bait provides advantages and disadvantages and there are circumstances when artificial baits will out-fish live bait. Ignore the naysayers. Fish the way you want to fish, within the law, and have fun. 2 Quote
Super User deaknh03 Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 I personally prefer lures, to me it seems like more of a challenge, and it sort of prohibits me from catching species I am not targeting. That being said, you shouldn't give 2 poops about what other fisherman think, use whatever you want to catch whatever you want. Quote
Avalonjohn44 Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 There is absolutely nothing wrong with using live bait so long as you follow your local laws. The only reason I do not use live minnows more often is because I am a shore/kayak fisherman and lugging around a bucket of minnows is just not going to work for me... Quote
JigMe Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 This is a personal preference; I like using lures because it is more fun for me and don’t need to take a minnow bucket everywhere. I do fish with live baits from time to time, when I fish for crappies and walleye. Don’t worry about what other peoples think, just go out and have fun. I don’t intend to over complicate things, so I do what feels right. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 I've used live bait years ago on the Cape, and it worked quite well. Three years ago I bought a twenty foot minnow seine to get some chubs from the sandy flats in the salt marshes around here. My buddy was going to help me and he'd get a bunch to use for fluke in Nantucket Sound and other haunts around here. Haven't got around to it yet, three years later. If ya got 'em, use 'em. Quote
CoBass Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 I rarely fish minnows, maybe once or twice a year when the bite is really slow. I guess my real question was about the attitude towards it where you live. I'v lived in Colorado pretty much my entire life and I've never seen as much animosity towards live bait as I have here. Not sure why that is. Quote
Super User Grey Wolf Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 Use what you want as long as it is legal. 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted October 10, 2011 Super User Posted October 10, 2011 I rarely fish minnows, maybe once or twice a year when the bite is really slow. I guess my real question was about the attitude towards it where you live. I'v lived in Colorado pretty much my entire life and I've never seen as much animosity towards live bait as I have here. Not sure why that is. Could it be the strong fly fisherman influence within your state & region? Quote
NoBassPro Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 I rarely fish minnows, maybe once or twice a year when the bite is really slow. I guess my real question was about the attitude towards it where you live. I'v lived in Colorado pretty much my entire life and I've never seen as much animosity towards live bait as I have here. Not sure why that is. Around here there is animosity between various subsets of fishermen. I don't see it amongst bass fishermen so much as steelhead and salmon guys . Some guys think if you aren't fly fishing you're snagging without considering you are merely triggering a reaction strike most times and need to do so without spooking the fish. And then there's the walleye guys who thumb their noses at bass and hate on musky.. the list goes on. I most certainly wouldn't consider the vocal group on the internet to be the voice of the majority though. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 Hmm... I lived in Colorado for 17 years. Everyone I knew was a meat hunter. My pet smalljaws prefer farm raised green minnows to the native yellow tail (threadfin). I'm a big fan of live bait, "cathin" is a lot more fun than "fishin". :D 1 Quote
North Ga Hillbilly Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 Hmm... I lived in Colorado for 17 years. Everyone I knew was a meat hunter. My pet smalljaws prefer farm raised green minnows to the native yellow tail (threadfin). I'm a big fan of live bait, "cathin" is a lot more fun than "fishin". :D X2 NGaHB Quote
CoBass Posted October 11, 2011 Author Posted October 11, 2011 Roadwarrior...I agree that there are a lot of meat hunters here but they tend to be more in the walleye/stocker trout crowd. Both species are stocked in the tens of millions yearly with the expectation that many will be kept. For example, the lake that I do most of my walleye fishing at receives 3 million walleye fry every year and it's only 800 surface acres. The bass community is small by comparison and most guys realize that with the limited stocking of bass here, C&R is the way to go. Likewise, most of the serious trout guys are C&R and they don't bother fishing for stockers in the lower elevation put and take reservoirs. You'll find them up in the mountains hunting bigger fish in the rivers and streams. It's really unfortunate that with all the snow we get here, most of the water winds up in other states. It's all about water rights. So much so that in order to satisfy water rights that Kansas and Nebraska have, one of our best warm water fisheries (Bonny Reservoir) is currently being drained and will not be refilled so those two states can have the water. I'm really envious of you southern boys who have what seems to be an endless supply of water to fish in. Quote
Super User NorcalBassin Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 If it comes down to me catching 1-2 per day at Clear Lake with plastics when things slow down or catching 8-10 with a minnow... get me some minnows! Quote
BassResource.com Administrator Glenn Posted October 11, 2011 BassResource.com Administrator Posted October 11, 2011 I've used both, and prefer artificial baits. But if you enjoy live bait fishing, knock yourself out! Quote
Khong Y. Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 There is nothing wrong with using Live Bait. It's just a different technique of fishing. As for me, I like to develope other technique of fishing. This is why I use lures. You never know when there is a situation where you would use a lure instead of live baits. Quote
NBR Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 Anybody that blasts anyone for using a legal method for taking fish or game should have a brain check. Blasting a youngster should also require a heart check. Quote
Steve K Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 I am a fan of live bait in certain conditions. For example we use a splitshot and chub in Sturgeon Bay between all the bass boats in spring and catch a lot more smallies than the guys throwing jerks, grubs, and tubes. If you do it right it's lights out! It's all about stealth or finesse. IMO I would rather be catching fishing than wasting my time throwing my tackle box at them. Personally, some of my largest smallies have come on 4-5in chubs and suckers drifted behind the boat. If you look at bassmaster.com's list of record bass most of them came on live bait anyway. If you want, fish both at the same time. In spring and late fall I will fish two sucker rods (dead sticking) and then casting artificials in front. Let the fish tell you what they want. There are days when it will go one way or the other. Quote
Super User OkobojiEagle Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 You asked what I think... Fishing with live bait is trapping. If my objective was to bring home a meal quickly then live bait will help accomplish this. Bass fishing is a game to me and I don't eat my advisary in this game... artificials only, most often barbless. If you are deep hooking multiple bass because of using live bait and releasing them to die... that is morally wrong in my eyes. oe Quote
Super User grimlin Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 I use live crayfish from time to time. Nothing wrong with it. I catch more channel catfish with crayfish than I do Bass. Granted i fish more artificial than I do live bait. If somebody holds it against me for using live bait once in awhile,oh well,I really don't care. I've yet to deep hook using live bait this year,just like fishing artificial you have to watch your line and be ready to set the hook. Quote
CoBass Posted October 11, 2011 Author Posted October 11, 2011 Anybody that blasts anyone for using a legal method for taking fish or game should have a brain check. Blasting a youngster should also require a heart check. Couldn't agree with you more NBR. That is what really bothered me. Twelve year old kid catches a state record fish and instead of congratulating him and encouraging him people were blasting him because of his method of catch. Quote
Super User Raul Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 Live bait is just another way of fishing, nothing wrong in that, it´s like trolling, just another way to fish. I don´t use live bait, I like artificials, there´s something about live bait that I don´t like, you gotta leave the bait and wait until somebody comes and gets it, for me that´s boring. Quote
Super User grimlin Posted October 11, 2011 Super User Posted October 11, 2011 Live bait is just another way of fishing, nothing wrong in that, it´s like trolling, just another way to fish. I don´t use live bait, I like artificials, there´s something about live bait that I don´t like, you gotta leave the bait and wait until somebody comes and gets it, for me that´s boring. Not entirely true,I rarely leave my live bait in one spot for more than 5 minutes,plus I do work it a little bit.If you don't your bait will just hide under a rock LOL.I did this versus somebody doing the way you just said and I outfished him 20-1. I had to buy him lunch to keep him from being mad at me that day. LOL It's still about location and locating where the fish are. I apply live bait just like i do artificial baits. Only downside to live bait is everything will eat it....you never really know what you will catch. Quote
hookingem Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 I'm happy to see anyone out fishing, and enjoying the great outdoors. Wether they are fishing with a live bluegill or a jig is solely their decision. With that being said I have more fun fishing with artificial baits. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.