A Guide For Catching Live Bait

So you are planning a fishing trip with family or long time buddies. You have your gear, your high aspirations of catching every fish under the sun, and your tackle box is fully stocked with an assortment of tackle. You spend a few hours trying out your tackle but yield no hits or bites, even though you see fish jumping left and right of your boat or pier. Maybe you need to change the odds in your favor and go with some bait.

If you are on a lake or river and the bait shop is closed or not accessible, there are alternatives to getting instant bait such as catching live bait yourself. Freshwater fish whether a sun fish or a musky will go after just about anything that moves and is smaller than them. It is obvious that the really aggressive strikers like Bass and Musky prefer bait that has a lot of movement to it and will usually require hooking a larger piece of bait such as a sucker or large size chunk of bait.

Worms

Of all baits, worms are pretty easy to acquire and accepted bait by most freshwater fish. I have hooked everything from blue gill to walleye with the aid of the trusty night crawler. Looking for worms is really easy. You simply look under any large rocks or objects that will contain the little buggers underneath. Crawlers can be easily accessible in the summer when you go out into a damp lawn after a nice rainstorm. Bring along a little coffee can full of wet soil and you will have access to a few dozen crawlers in no time with the aid of a flashlight. If you are exposed to dry conditions and crawlers are not available, choose an area in the yard or garden that you can dig and you will find yourself a few dozen earthworms very easily. I would recommend looking for worms as your first choice as easy to find bait.

Minnows

Another highly sought after bait by freshwater fish are minnows. The ability to catch your own minnows all depends upon the equipment you have. Two ways to catch minnows involve either a casting net or any kind of fine mesh net or a bait trap or submersible bucket. One easy way to look for minnows is to walk the shore line where there is clear and shallow water. Walk up and down the shoreline until you spot a school of minnows. Once you spot the grouping, throw the cast net over the school and quickly cast in your bait. If lucky you will trap a good portion of the school that can be transferred to a bait bucket. Once you have some bait, make sure you keep the bait in cold water and stir up the water on occasion to temporarily aerate the bait well.

If you do not see any immediate minnows in you search along river banks or shores, take a few minuscule pieces of bread and throw them into a submersible bait trap. The minnows will eventually swim into your bucket and you have bait for a day or two. Please be advised that minnows will not last long in buckets that are not aerated. They will die after a day or so due to lack of oxygen. When fishing with minnows also take note of your local DNR rules governing use of such bait fish. Some waterways prohibit use of minnows, usually though when they are a species not indigenous to that particular environment.

Insects

Fish love a good juicy insect on a warm summer day. Their affinity to bugs is evident when they constantly jump at the hovering flies above the water. If you are in a pinch and do not have any bait, you can try your luck at catching insects. Some of the insects that fish will go after involve field insects such as crickets and grasshoppers. To catch these hopping critters, go out to a grassy area and listen for the chirping and humming of these little insects. Bring along a butterfly net or even a smaller net to trap the bait. Keep the crickets contained in a sealable cup or coffee can with a few holes punched through to allow oxygen. Be cautious for escapees when pulling the lid of the container.