Baits

What to choose?

When fishing, selecting the right bait is one of the most important parts of a successful trip. There are many different types of baits, and the most effective are live baits, but most fishermen choose to use baits that not alive. Why? Because it presents a different kind of challenge, and most tournaments do not allow live baits to be used. Simply put, using a bait that is not alive requires more skill. I will cover the basic live baits, and then the basic types of non-live baits that are most commonly used. Techniques for using them will be covered in next week’s post!

Live Baits

The most commonly used live baits are different types of worms, namely night crawlers and bloodworms, crickets, grubs, and minnows. The best part about live baits is they do most of the work for you. They react in a lively manner and are what fish love to eat already. They move for you in the water and require much less skill, because the angler does not have to incorporate many different types of reeling techniques to achieve the desired effect of making the bait look like something fresh and appealing that the fish would want to eat.

Non-live or Artificial Baits

This is where Bass Pro Shops becomes the angler’s disney land. There are aisles and aisles of different baits of all different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Plastic Worms and More

There are plastic (more like a rubber type material) worms, grubs, and bugs of all kinds that must be rigged a certain way to achieve the proper motion in the water, and there are lures.

Lures

Fishing lures can be made of wood, plastic, metal, rubber, cork, and can incorporate materials such as feathers, tinsels, strings, animal hairs, etc.  There are so many different types of fishing lures that I will just cover the top three most used types.

Plugs: These are also known as crank baits, and are usually fish shaped in appearance. They resemble small minnows of many different types of species, used accordingly with what fish it is the angler is trying to catch. They make life-like movements due to the way they are weighted, a lip at the front of the lure that causes the head to shake back and forth, and reeling techniques.

Spinnerbaits: These are lures that use a piece of wire with a hook at the end of them, around the wire is a piece of metal that spins in the water causing a flashy effect that attracts the fish. Many spinnerbaits have brightly colored spots and skirts to make them more flashy and appealing to the fish. Spinnerbaits are great for beginning anglers because for the most part you just cast and reel with no special techniques. The spinning motion of the bait does most of the work for you.

 

Jigs: These have a weighted head at the top of the hook and are almost always used in combination with a plastic worm, or grub with a tail that makes for a lively looking bait. These require some of the most skill to use, but are very effective when used correctly.

Thanks for reading this week! Techniques and rigs for baits will be covered in next week’s post!