Bait info

[Oldfart9999]

Sometimes, most times if we knew what the bait of choice is for the fish we want to catch it would be a bit easier to find and catch the fish. There is a way we can find a lot of info on the various types of food bass or other fish eat and that is our state/province group tasked with caring for the fish and wildlife. Most have research done on all known species of wildlife in the state/province and it's readily available on their website. It would include bass and their preferred food and the life cycle of the bait. We can use this info to our benefit for searching for our favorite fish. I know I don't use it enough.
Rodney     

[Donald Garner]

Rodney Tks for sharing that piece of information.  I've seen some information  similar to what you posted
here on some lakes in Texas.

[Mike Cork]

Great tip  I use our wildlife and fisheries websites quite a bit. As you said, they've done the research 

This is one of those tips that I do without thinking and don't realize not everyone does it. AND makes for a tip that could with our next Tips Contest 

On this note: I know not all states are this way (Don, your great state of Texas is) but here in Louisiana we have two university's that have large agricultural programs and they work hand in hand with Wildlife and Fisheries, so they also have a tremendous amount of information. I learned a lot about our states crawfish because of a study done on the effects of draining rice fields versus the crawfish habitat and reproduction. While the study was to determine is fertilizers and pesticides effected these issues, they had to set a base line and it's that information which was helpful. They broke down a crawfish from its seasonal colors to where it likes to hide. Great info for those of us trying to mimic one!

[Smallie_Stalker]

Masswildlife has a lot of useful information but you've got to do a little work to get it out of them. I pick a body of water and I ask them for results of shocking surveys, stockings, known species of fish in the body of water etc. That way I can try and make sure that I have baits that resemble the forage that particular water has. If there are no bluegill that doesn't necessarily mean I won't throw something that resembles a bluegill, but it normally won't be my first choice.

[Pferox]

For saltwater, I use Texas A&M, they have a very comprehensive marine biology school in Galveston.  NOAA also has some great information, they have a lab and turtle rescue facility on the Island also.