How to Catch Live Baits

Saltwater fishing with live bait is a very effective way to catch fish. There are many species that can be caught and used as live baits for bigger fish. You can use cigar minnows, pinfish, even sand perch! In this article, I will cover the general aspects of where and how to catch live bait.

Many fishermen already have their own places in mind they know holds bait that they go to to load up. If you don't know any spots, don't worry - most typical areas include bridges, pilings, docks, tide lines, buoys, markers, grass area, and near shore structures. The majority of this bait is caught during the late evenings, nights under lights, and early morning hours. However, you can also often find baits offshore near structures all day long. If the conditions are right, bait will be there.

Look for different water activity such as ripples, rain drops, splashes, or even birds flying around and diving. These often indicate the presence of bait fish.

Use a cast net with holes small enough to capture the baits you seek. Sneak your boat within throwing distance but don't spook them by getting too close. Throw your cast net on top of the school. If you made a good cast, you should get lots of bait to put in your live well.

On that same water activity, you can also drop down a sabiki rig to see if you can get those bait fish to bite the hooks. Some times you can cast or drop the sabiki and let it sit on the bottom and fish will jump on the hooks. Other times jigging it will produce more bites. If baits are not hitting your sabiki, tip the hooks with tiny pieces of squid and put that down. Sometimes that smelly squid is what's needed to bring them to your hooks.

Once you are in deeper water, like around a channel marker or near shore buoy, move around the markers and look for baits around them (depending on water color of course). If you see the bait down deeper in the water column or you see them on your fish finder screen, let the sabiki down into the school.

Furthermore, if you go to a fishing area, rock or reef, wreck, and don't see bait on top, that doesn't mean bait isn't present. Look at your fish finder. Drop a squid tipped sabiki down to the bottom or through the water column and see what you bring up.

Other than sabiki rigs, jigs work really well for catching live baits too. Pompano jigs, small flashy top water spoons such as kastmasters and herring spoons, and gotcha plugs will all catch a lot of bigger baits. A rule of thumb is to match lures and hook sizes with the present baits. Think about what those baitfish themselves are feeding on and present them with similar tackle.

Catching live baits can be quick and simple most times and a challenge at other times. The only lines of advice I can give you are: Be patient and Keep trying.

If you don't want to catch bait using a net or hook and line, purchase a pinfish trap or two from your local store. A day or two before you go out, put an open can of cat food or raw chicken into the pin and set it out underneath a dock, piling, etc. Keep in mind that with a pinfish trap, you risk having your baits stolen.

The easiest and quickest way to live bait is via your local tackle stores and live bait boats. They often have live shrimp, pinfish, mud minnows, cigar minnows, eels, etc. ready for you to buy on the spot. Put them in your portable aerator or live well and you're ready to go fishing.

Some days when you're fishing dead baits or artificials and you're not getting any bites, change to live baits. After all, fish are out there feeding on real live baits in the first place. Present them with the baits they are feeding on and you're sure to hookup!