Welcome back. Lets continue the discussion on fishing live bait. Ok, I talked about the crawfish in the last post now its on to live shad. While in other parts of the country it may be legal to use throw nets out here in California we are not allowed to use them to catch shad to use for bait. But don’t fret, there are a couple ways to catch them.
One is to first locate them by looking for balls of bait on your depth finders then use small weighted trout flies to catch them one at a time, kind of a pain. Another way is to net them with a fine mesh long handled net. One way of doing this is to basically chase the shad into the back of a cove, then use some kind of long pole to corral them into the net. Alot of people out here use swimming pool skim nets and minnow nets with large openings modified with long handles. Once you catch them place them into your livewell and turn the pump on to keep them alive.
Rig the shad just like you would any minnow, through the top lip and out the top of the head, here again making sure you do not pierce the brain or you have dead a fishy. Note that I just said the top lip, you dont want to hook both top and bottom lips because this will restrict their breathing and result in, yep you guessed it, dead fishy. While it may be true that you can still catch fish on a dead fishy I personally feel you will catcg more on a bait that is alive.
I use either a size 6 or 8 light wire circle hook, yes it is a rather small hook but remember, shad are very delicate creatures and will die easily so handle them with care to keep them active. Toss them out with either no weight or a small weight and let them swim along.
The same basic setup applies for minnows. Me personally, when I use minnows I target crappie. I use a small bait holder hook, size 8 or 10, hook them through the upper lip, attach a small split shot and at times attach a bubble. I prefer the clear bubble myself, they are a little more difficult to see than the old fashioned red and white ones but if they are hard for me to see then they are hard for the fish to see.
Onto water dogs or water dawgs also known as salamanders. I’m not sure about your part of the country but out here in California it is no longer legal to use them as bait, welcome to the land of fruits and nuts, HA! They used to be a very effective bait, I’ve seen people catch a bunch of big bass on them.
Me personally I used them once when I was a kid fishing with my dad and didn’t use them ever again. There was just something about the little noises they made when you hooked them made me feel sorry for them so I remember emptying the bait bucket into the lake and saying “Be Free!!” I also remember that dad was not real happy with me that day. When the conditions are right I do throw a custom poured soft plastic water dawg that looks just like the real thing and the way I rig it the thing swims and looks just like a live dawg but this post is about live bait so I wont go into detail here.
Rigging the dawgs is very basic. A size 2, 4 or even as small as a 6, bait holder hook and thats it. Dont forget to put the dawg on the hook. Some peple hook them through the lips, some hook them in the thick part of the tail so they swim away from you. Cast them gently and feed line out so they can swim.
Next I’ll discuss worms. Here we have several different types, the size large earth worm or night crawler if you will, the dillies, which are also known as baby night crawlers, just a smaller size of the big uns, brown worms, etc.
When rigging worms I like to use a small bait holder hook once again. Like before, pending the size of the worm will dictate the size of hook. Anywhere from a size 4-8 in my opinion is the correct size to use. I like to rig them basically the same way as one would hook a Texas Rigged plastic worm, in the head, back out then back into the worm. Of course in the case with live bait you would have the hook come all the way out unlike the plastic version where you would leave the hook inside the worm making it weedless. I then attach a small split shot, without ears of course, anywhere from 12-24 inches from the hook, let the fish tell you how they want it.
As to how the hit feels, if you get quick taps, like a machine gun, then chances are it’s a little fish just chewing your worm piece by piece. Normally a bass will suck the whole worm in head first, that will be the initial tick you feel. He will then proceed to swim off as he attempts to swallow the worm, this is the pressure you feel. When you feel the pressure, just like with anything your fishing with, take up the slack, point your towards the water and set the hook.
Onto the lowly cricket. These little buggers work especially well for trout. Use a small bait holder hook, size 10 or even 12 and once again a small earless splits hot weight.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
