Bass Fishing with live bait?

Question

It was recently brought to my attention that bass are more likely to hit the live bait during these cold months. What types of live bait would the patrons of this great site suggest to use to catch those largemouth and smallmouth bass?

Answer 1

Live Bait: minnows, shiners, crickets, worms, grubs, cockroaches, crickets, frogs, lizards, flies, moths, crawfish, grasshoppers... you name it,, and if you can't buy it at the bait and tackle shop, lift up some rocks, or bricks around the perimeter of your home.

This gal loves to fish too. Good luck!

Answer 2

BASS will eat almost anything; bluegill, shad, worms, crawdad, etc. At times the will even bust the surface to eat frogs. I'm speculating here that you don't have the patience right now to use live bait & wait until the BASS fully engulfs the bait before setting the hook. A different approach... I'm going to suggest something like a Rattlin' Rapala in the firetiger color which mimics a bluegill. Or the blue/chrome also works well on sunny days. Once you've located a few BASS with a lure like this - slow down & use a live or plastic worm in the same spot. BASS like to hang out near deeper water - not necessarily deep water - just deeper. If you can find a grassy flat with deeper water near by, use a rattlin' bait.

Answer 3

All good answers. You're best bet is using shiners. Again depends on what size bass you want to go for. If you want to go for bigger fish and less action opt for the bigger 3 to 5 inch shiners. If you want more action and still catch nice bass stick to the smaller minnows. Crawfish, grub worms, leeches, etc all work well.
I still would much rather have the diversity of using artifical lures, such as the top water buzz baites, spinners, divers, or setting up a Carolina or Texas rig setup.

Good Luck, catch that big 10lber!

Answer 4

shiners are better than fathead minnows, cause they have a large, flashy profile. hook them through the meat of the back between the dorsal fin and the tail. they'll stay lively for hours this way. an if you're gonna go worms, do yourself a favor and buy some nitro worms. they're nightcrawlers that have been fed this stuff that makes them flourescent green. that's what's up! both under a bobber, at the weedline edge. good luck. i've heard great things about crawdads (like half of the top 10 world record LM's have been caught on them) but i've no idea how one would obtain them

Answer 5

Net yourself some shad . Thats a basses favorite food this time of the year. Otherwise try large shiners or maybe some crawfish. You will want to fish shallow flats and creek mouths. Watch for seagulls diving on shad. This means the bass are attacking them and are really aggressive and probably easy to catch

Answer 6

I like to use cuban tree frog here in SW Florida. We got loads of these things crawling around at night... They are easy to catch. I hook them between the scrotum thingy and just forward of an arm. Largemouth hit on these Btch'z everytime. Good Luck Dawg!

Answer 7

You could try looking at some of the articles at http://fishing.hammocksurvivalguide.com/
Though I'm not sure you'll find the answer straight away. Lot's of good articles. Just not searchable.

Answer 8

CRAYFISH, crawdads,crawlfish whatever you want to call them. the love em this time of year.Also larger minnows like in the 2-3 inch range.

Answer 9

I always have good luck with canadian night crawlers. Bass (and every other fish out there) love em

Answer 10

Minnows, shiners and crawfish if you can find them.