Catching live bait.

I recently hired a guide to take me smallmouth creek fishing. We
fished artificials with not much luck then switched to creek minnows.
The action immediately improved, we started catching rock bass and
smallies. I was really hoping that I could catch just as much with
artificials but it seems that live bait catches more fish. I feel like
buying live bait is cheating, plus I like to keep things simple and I
don't like the idea of rigging up some complicated live bait tank with
an aerator. However, if I could be fairly certain of catching minnows
or crayfish myself, in whatever creek I'm fishing, then it seems OK to
me.

So my question is, "Is it possible to catch my own bait (minnows,
crayfish), consistently, from any given stream, with a few simple
tools like a cast net and bait bucket?"

Chuck.

P.S. All the fish we caught on minnows were lip-hooked and released.