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#1
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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. |
#2
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Catching live bait.
When I lived in Maryland I made a Crawfish trap out of Chicken Wire. The key
is to make the entrance to where they cant get back out. They sell minnow and crawdad traps at most bait stores, I have even seen them at K-Marts. Justy bait them with some old chicken or beef parts. The only problem with catching your own bait is that at sometimes of the year it gets pretty scarce. I have a place stocked with Shiners so if I know in advance I just walk over and net some. The neighborhood has 2 fountains and very small ponds, about 10 feet deep and 50-60 foot circles and the other one is twice as big. Once a week either me or my son throws some dog or cat food in to feed them. The fountains and waterfalls gives them plenty of Oxygen, and I have my own big aeration tank pretty much all to myself. --- Chuck Coger http://www.fishin-pro.com "CR" wrote in message om... 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. |
#3
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Catching live bait.
....reminds me of when I'd stocked the campus fountain with bullhead and
bluegill under cover of darkness......and the looks I got when I caught them again while wading with a flyrod during mid-day...ah, college days. said Huck |
#4
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Catching live bait.
A glass or clear plastic minnow trap (the best you can find) baited with
broken crackers and fished in the riffles is hard to beat for catching minnows. While you are letting the trap fill with minnows, use a home-made hand net made from a 2' broom handle, a triangular bent coathanger frame (flat on the bottom) and covered with loosely stapled, soft window screen material. Hold it downstream from rocks that you kick over to allow the current to wash crawfish and helgrammites into the net. Pure fun, and deadly bait! Important! Wash out that minnow trap with dish detergent after every 2 or 3 trips, and it will produce forever. -- Bob Rickard www.secretweaponlures.com --------------------------=x O'))) "CR" wrote in message om... 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. |
#5
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Catching live bait.
Look at my article on the bass fishing home page.
http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/articles/T176.htm This is how I fish all summer long on lake lanier in georgia. "Bob Rickard" wrote in message ... A glass or clear plastic minnow trap (the best you can find) baited with broken crackers and fished in the riffles is hard to beat for catching minnows. While you are letting the trap fill with minnows, use a home-made hand net made from a 2' broom handle, a triangular bent coathanger frame (flat on the bottom) and covered with loosely stapled, soft window screen material. Hold it downstream from rocks that you kick over to allow the current to wash crawfish and helgrammites into the net. Pure fun, and deadly bait! Important! Wash out that minnow trap with dish detergent after every 2 or 3 trips, and it will produce forever. -- Bob Rickard www.secretweaponlures.com --------------------------=x O'))) "CR" wrote in message om... 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. |
#6
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Catching live bait.
Look at my article on the bass fishing home page.
"After I get the boat ready to launch, I will back the boat in the water and just before it starts to come off the trailer I will stop and get in the boat. This puts the boat in the perfect position to catch bait." You dont have a problem with others waiting to launch? Ronnie http://fishing.about.com |
#7
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Catching live bait.
Maybe he isn't launching at one of those super busy launch ramps.
For instance I sometimes launch here at Squaw Lake becasue it has a nice ramp and very little early morning traffic. It costs 5 bucks though, so a lot of the other guys launch at Hidden Shores or Fisher's Landing where it is free to launch and park. -- Bob La Londe Yuma, Az http://www.YumaBassMan.com Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free Simply add it to our index page. No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required) "RGarri7470" wrote in message ... Look at my article on the bass fishing home page. "After I get the boat ready to launch, I will back the boat in the water and just before it starts to come off the trailer I will stop and get in the boat. This puts the boat in the perfect position to catch bait." You dont have a problem with others waiting to launch? Ronnie http://fishing.about.com |
#8
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Catching live bait.
I fished about 3 days a week all summer long and only had a small
problem 1 time. After the other boater saw what I was doing he was amazed at the bait I was catching and I ended up giving him about 5 doz spottail minnows for free. During the week on lake lanier there are not many boat ramps that are busy. "Bob Rickard" wrote in message ... A glass or clear plastic minnow trap (the best you can find) baited with broken crackers and fished in the riffles is hard to beat for catching minnows. While you are letting the trap fill with minnows, use a home-made hand net made from a 2' broom handle, a triangular bent coathanger frame (flat on the bottom) and covered with loosely stapled, soft window screen material. Hold it downstream from rocks that you kick over to allow the current to wash crawfish and helgrammites into the net. Pure fun, and deadly bait! Important! Wash out that minnow trap with dish detergent after every 2 or 3 trips, and it will produce forever. -- Bob Rickard www.secretweaponlures.com --------------------------=x O'))) "CR" wrote in message om... 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. |
#10
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Catching live bait.
I think live bait works better than artificials when there is a lot of
natural bait in the water. Actually, nothing works like the real thing. I was recently on the central Florida east coast around Sebastian south of Cape Canaveral. This is the Indian and Banana Rivers that are large shallow brackish estuaries with snook, tarpon, redfish, sea trout and jacks. There is a big baitfish migration going on right now with bait fish jumping everywhere. People there use throw nets because it is open, mostly still water with schools of baitfish. When the bait fish are not around in big numbers, artificial lures and flies seem to work better. -- Bill Kiene Kiene's Fly Shop Sacramento, CA www.kiene.com "CR" wrote in message om... 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. |
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