BAIT??

[Pferox]

What kind of bait do you use?  Do you use different baits for different species, or time of the year?  Do you prepare your baits?  If so, how?  Do you chum?  If so, how do you handle that?  What drives you to obtain or use that certain bait?

Saltwater fishing is pretty evenly split between live, fresh dead, frozen, and artificial, so anything goes.

For some people bait is the secret science that gets them fish, for others, it is the blob on the hook that stinks, but is a necessary sometimes expensive evil to feel that line tug.

I'm always looking for better ways to catch fish, and bait is the most important one, IMO.

[Lee Smith]

Always use live shrumps when I head down for specs and reds, but if they are really hitting, just about any grub in the box will work.

If the big reds are in the grass, we use DOA shrimp, no way to keep the live on in that stuff. 

With all this said, 80% of the time we are using popping corks and the other 20 we are dead sticking on the bottom.

[Nutoy]

Before I moved to T-Bend, I lived close to the coast and spent my time about 50/50 fishing fresh and salt.
When fishing salt, findng the "right" bait for the day was the biggest part of the key to the days success, or failure. Someimes it would be artificial, sometimes live.
I never was one to slap a dead shrimp on a hook, throw it out and hope something came along and gobbled it up. I was more of a species target fisherman, usually flounder or red fish, but my passion was flounder.
I ALWAYS had a cast net in the boat, and almost always had a handful of mud minnow traps.
A typical flounder day was to set out a few minnow traps first thing. While they were doing their thing I'd bump around the selected area with a jig of some sort. While jiggin' around, I'd keep my eye open for schools of small fingerling mullets and cast net them.
If no takers on the jig, I'd run the traps and try with live mud minnows and mullets. If both failed, it was time to move to another area, now armed to the teeth with bait.
Many times it would be tidal movement that turned the bite on, but every now and then they would get really specific on what bait they wanted.
I've seen times you would have to use very small bait to get bit and sometimes huge bait would be the ticket.
I've seen times when the flounder would be sailing out of the water chasing bait and no matter what you threw at them they would not touch it, artifical or live. I'm talking 4-5+ lb flounder. Upon closer observation, they were eatting VERY small shad. Shad almost to small to catch in a cast net. Tied on a tiny silver glitter crappie jig and started smashing them.
The trick, if you want to call it that, was to just keep changing up until you figured it out. Sometimes you never did...

[Pferox]

When I had the boat and live well, live was just about all I used.  Now shore or pier bound, live is just for cooler months, they don't last very long in an aerated bucket or even a floating bait net in the hot Texas summer.

Pier heights make artificials, other than soaking Fishbites on the bottom a tough challenge, especially when the number of lines coming off that pier look like a spider web. 

I do still use my cast net a lot and prefer live, but soaking dead and frozen has kind of become the mainstay around here now for me.

In Florida, you bought live by the dozen, in Texas they sell live mullet that way, but shrimp is by the pint, at $20 a quart, you think twice about getting them on a hot day.

[SFL BassHunter]

Live Shrimp has the ability to catch so many fish species that its hard for me to use anything else. Even when the fish are small at least you feel the constant bites. If im targeting specific species then ill switch it up but since i usually go for mangrove snapper shrimp, live or dead is the way to go.

[Pferox]

Have you tried Fishbites?  There are actually times that they work when shrimp doesn't.  And vice versa.

[SFL BassHunter]

Nope i have not.

[BenFishing]

It depends on the fishing......I'd say I use dead bait and lures about the same, and over the last few years, live bait on occasion.

[bigjim5589]

Generally, I rather fish with lures or flies rather than baits, but sometimes I simply want to go as basic as possible & catch some fish. Most of the time that means targeting catfish, but times I've been down south to the SC coast on vacation that may have meant targeting Drum, flounder or whatever else might happen along.

Up here in the Chesapeake Bay, bloodworms & peeler crab are both popular baits for a variety of fish. But, even nightcrawlers can be used for many of the same target species, particularly if fishing the rivers or creeks. Grass shrimp are good too when they can be found, and are popular for White Perch here.

Many years ago I took my one son fishing & all we had was nightcrawlers we dug up in the back yard. We fished a small tidal creek and had the place all to ourselves. The mosquito's tried to eat us alive but we did end up catching some decent size Croakers on the nightcrawler. Might have been better to have a different bait, but what we had worked.

For catfish, & I mean eating size, not the huge Blue cats some folks like to catch because they're so big, I like to use fresh veal liver soaked in a garlic powder solution & kept fresh in the refrigerator a few days before use. Veal liver stays on the hook better than chicken liver (which is a popular catfish bait) IMO.

When we go south, & hopefully it's a time of year there's plenty of baitfish present, I'll use a cast net & get whatever baitfish is present & we'll use them live & as cut bait. Otherwise I'll usually buy some either fresh or frozen shrimp to use as bait. One year we caught a lot of Pinfish & used them as bait, both live & cut into chunks & strips.

As far as the Fishbites, they're a good product IMO, but so far my experience with them is they work sometimes, but won't replace natural baits entirely. I like some of the Gulp & Gulp Alive products too, particularly the bloodworm, crab & shrimp. They work well too, but again don't completely replace the real thing.

[Smallie_Stalker]

My saltwater fishing experience is very limited so I am at the mercy of whoever it is that I am going with that day.

My nephew swears by cut mackerel, and the few times we have fished for stripers in the Cape Cod Canal we have done alright with it.

Now I have another friend who swears by dead clams. Caught a variety of species, most of which I can't name the couple of times we have been out.

A third buddy swears by live bait. Sea worms in the North River and live eels for fishing offshore down around Cape Cod and the islands. Also with decent success.

Maybe like freshwter bass fishing it is more about confidence than the actual bait used?

[bigjim5589]

Maybe like freshwater bass fishing it is more about confidence than the actual bait used?

IMO, that's not entirely true, but confidence does play a role in choosing baits just as it does in choosing lures. I have witnessed times when fish here have preferred a specific bait over another when both were fished at the same time. Of course have seen when it didn't matter what bait you tossed at them they would eat everything! 

I believe sometimes with baits there's a good reason to use specific baits. For example, a guy I work with likes to take his boat & go to Ocean City, MD & fish the inlet there in the fall for Striped Bass. The bait of choice is live eels & he drifts them. Other baits will work, but the eels seem to attract a larger size fish.

There's another fishing site I frequent & much of what's posted is for pier & surf anglers. There's a state park very near where I live & some of the folks fish the beach there. This park, Sandy Point State Park is on the Chesapeake Bay & is popular for fishing, particularly when the Striped bass season opens here & for folks who don't have boats. However, if you asked the folks there opinions about the best baits to use, there's going to be some using the same ones, but some will swear specific baits are best. In cases like that it may be more confidence than the actual bait, because its a cast your bait & wait situation. If the fish finds your bait, it usually doesn't matter what bait you're using. Some baits may give off more scent, like bloodworms, which may attract the fish more readily, but there still needs to be enough fish in the area to be attracted in the first place.

Bloodworm, just as an example is a good bait, but after awhile it can lose a lot of it's scent it has when fresh, so IMO that plays a role in how productive a bait might be too. Still, when folks have success with a specific bait, they may tend to rely on it more than a bait they don't have as much success using, so in that regard is not different than why folks use specific lures, and that goes back to confidence.

[Pferox]

I agree with Big Jim, although it is also regional.  Bloodworms don't work well around here at all and the only reason I can think of is because it isn't a common forage.  Maybe a colder water bait, not sure.

Around here EVERYBODY uses shrimp, and that will catch about anything.

I have found that fishbites usually work when other baits don't, but don't work as well when other baits are working.

When I fish a pier or the surf I keep abreast of what is working, but won't put all my money on that one bait because it could change in a heartbeat.  I usually carry a few baits and put out at least one hook of what I have out until I can determine what the Bait Dejour is.  If I notice that the catch rate is slumping off, then I start to mix it up a little.

Cracked blue crabs, shrimp and mullet tend to catch the bull drum around here and that is popular with that crowd.  There are a few specific baits that the shark gang use.  Croaker and whiting tend to be attracted to shrimp, squid, and cut bait fish.  Speckled sea trout tend to prefer live shrimp or small mullet usually in the upper parts of the water column, in clear water.  That is just as an example, and it isn't cast in stone.

One of the other benefits of pier fishing is that there is so much bait in the water at any given time, usually, it acts as an attractant in itself.  Even if the pier isn't very busy, fish are conditioned to the structure and food source.

There are so many baits available around here both cut and live that it is almost a seasonal science to figure out what to carry with you.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Very interesting stuff. It seems like the salty side, like the fresh can often be a game of figuring out what will work for that day, or even hour. And that can change. I am thinking there must be a way to, for lack of a better word "pattern" at least some species of salt water fish?

No you all have my curiosity up. 

[Pferox]

I can only talk about the Gulf and Southern Atlantic, so some of the Pacific and North Atlantic people need to chime in too.

Some species prefer crunchy, like Sheepshead, they will go for shrimp, barnacles, small crabs.  I usually do well with croakers on shrimp, although they do like to eat other baits as well.  As a matter of fact most fish, crabs, eels, etc will eat shrimp around here.

Shrimp is such a strong bait contender that you have to have some with you every trip.  That is because inland areas are the breeding grounds for massive amounts of that little critter, and they are bountiful almost year round.  Some times of the year they aren't as successful, but that is because there are so many little fish eating on them that they get cleaned off of a hook before a larger fish can find it.

[bigjim5589]

Very interesting stuff. It seems like the salty side, like the fresh can often be a game of figuring out what will work for that day, or even hour. And that can change. I am thinking there must be a way to, for lack of a better word "pattern" at least some species of salt water fish?

That's very true! Just like patterns for bass & other freshwater fish, patterns can be found for salt species as well. Much easier in rivers & creeks IMO than more open water, but it can be done. Just as with bass, knowing what they eat & what type of environment they prefer is a key factor. Then, like finding bass if you can locate them, most can be caught. But, also like bass, it's not always as easy as dropping a bait in the water.

Up here in the Chesapeake area, crabs are a major forage, as are baitfish species such as Menhaden. There are shrimp too, but more so at the southern end of the bay. Many of the fish here are migratory to some extent, moving up & down the bay with the various baitfish as they move into the bay from the Atlantic Ocean. We have had years that I can recall when these migrations vary greatly. Two years ago we had Redfish every where, which was a rather rare occurrence. There used to be good fishing for Seatrout, and there's been more in the lower reaches the past few years than in the prior years, but not to the extent it had been many years ago when I was a kid. Some years we get a lot of big Bluefish up in the bay, while other years the big ones seem to bypass the bay. There's almost always some fish that can be caught, and having a good selection of baits can help, but often knowing where to look for these various fish is the real key to catching them consistently, just as it is with bass.

Soon the season will be opening for the Spring Striped Bass fishery. This is when the bigger spawning girls move up into the bay to their spawning rivers. Some of the largest fish can be caught during this time, (50lbs or bigger are possible) but a lot depends on finding them. Fortunately, the major spawning areas are off limits, so that means anglers intent on catching them have to intercept them as they travel up or down the bay. Some folks will go out & have success, while others will not.

Still curious? 

[Smallie_Stalker]

Always. But that was very educational and notes will e taken. 

[Pferox]

Big Jim knows his stuff, Smallie, better take LOTS of notes.   

All fisheries are cyclic and somewhat predictable, to a point, just like bass and other freshwater fish.  Most places that catch fish at a certain time and under certain conditions will occur over and over again until something major changes that.

As an example, Flounder migrate out of the bays into the Gulf (in my area) around November and December to spawn.  Just around and before this time they stack up to feed/ rest on non grassy bottoms around the mouths of inlets, rivers, creeks, that kind of thing, working their way to the Gulf.  So you can predict with some accuracy that you can catch flounder reliability this time of the year by concentrating in those location.  In spring they migrate back, but it is more of a trickle effect, so you still have those locations to check, but it isn't as reliable as in the late fall.

Types of baits aren't as critical at this time either, and a wide variety of natural and artificial baits are quite successful.  The jig and fish finder rig (Carolina rig) is quite popular.  Other times of the year, flounder are more apt to be caught on live bait, especially flounder candy, mud minnows.