Live Bait...your Opinions

[WRB]

When I statred bass fishing back in early 50's catch & release was very rare, catch and eat was the goal of 99.9% of every angler. Jason Lucas the editor of Field & Steam changed that concept for me, he was the first national fishing editor to promote what has become known as selective harvest; releasing the big bass and keeping a few 2 lbers for the table.

I became and advocate of C & R and agianst live bait fishing for bass with crawdads, waterdogs and large bait fish like shiners and (planted trout) during the pre-spawn & spawning periods in our small local lakes; bass fishing was closed during the winter back in those years.

I still feel the same in regards to fishing small local trophy bass lakes with live bait. I base this on my success during the 60' and early 70's catching hundreds of DD bass using live bait; it was too easy and believed it was damaging the big bass population.

The C & R anglers today take killing a bass for any reason to extremes. When someone catches a big bass and kills it the catch treated like a crime. If the big bass was caught on live bait, it's a bigger problem and one reason the current world record from Japan is frowned on by some anglers.

The logic that if it's legal it's OK and I agree as long as it is done with a spirit of good sportsmanship.

Anyone chastising a 12 year old for catching a record bass with live bait is either jealous or stupid.

[SirSnookalot]

What ever your preference is go4it. As WRB stated that using live bait was easier, I agree, but if one takes pleasure in doing so it's ok with me. Bass are but 1 of a number of fish I target, I choose only to use artificial lures, no plastics, with the exception a weedless fluke when it's a must, and never use any type of aroma enhancement. My normal MO is sight casting. I do catch less fish, but I appreciate the rewards when I score. For me, nothing beats casting to fin and getting slammed by a hefty fish.

[Bluebasser86]

I don't think the main issue here is livebait, I think it's the fact that it was a 12 year old that caught the fish. Fishing livebait makes catching fish easier, and making it easier is a good thing to help get kids hooked on fishing. We have to do our best to pass this sport down to future generations and blasting a kid for using livebait is for sure not the right way to do it. Personally, keeping livebait alive is too much of a hassle for bass fishing but if someone else wants to use it, then that's up to them.

[breezy]

Bashing a 12yr old for catching a state record probably stems more from jealousy than any moral objections to live bait fishing. Here in KY it's fairly common to fish with live bait for Crappie, Walleye, Striper, and to a lesser extent bass. As long as the angler is within the law and keeping fish responsibly I have no problem with it. My only concern fishing with live bait is a higher mortality rate but it's dramatically reduced with circle hooks.

For me, the vast majority of bass fishing is with artificial lures. We catch a lot of suckers/chubs out of creeks with cast nets to use when trolling for striper and sometimes I'll use extras for bass fishing. Usually the only time I'm bass fishing with live bait is if I'm taking new/inexperienced people along and want to make sure they catch fish or I'm heading to a pond simply to relax and catch a few fish.

[Mattlures]

I use what gives me the best chance at catching a big bass. I ocasionaly use live bait but I catch more big bass on artificials. If Live bait produced more big bass for me then I would use it more often. Crawlers is my live bait of choice. I dont care if guys think less of me or less of my bait caught fish. I have caught plenty of big ones on lures. I do think in general live bait is easier but it still takes plenty of skill and many times its not the best choice

[rboat]

Bass fishing is a wonderful sport. I use artificial lures most of the time because it makes it even more sporting and a bit more challenging to trick a fish into trying to eat or kill a piece of wood, metal, or plastic that he, under normal conditions would never even approach. When I want to try for a larger bass in a limited time frame, I have been known to throw a live shiner. Normally I do not use shiners, because it takes time to catch shiners, they are expensive to buy, and a pain to keep alive and haul around. People around here sometimes look down on shiner fisherman, calling it lazy fishing or no skill fishing. I disagree. You still have to find the fish and present the bait at the right depth. Those same individuals use minnows and multiple rods when crappie fishing and think nothing of it. Use what you like, Have fun, stay within the law. Consider C&R, and don't say anything bad to kid who is fishing. That kid could be involved in much worse activities.

[brushhoggin]

Give me a link to these forums where they're gettin bashed i wanna go start a fire