Ok....what does it mean if Im fishing with a live craw, and I don't catch anything with it?   

 

If my presentation was solid, were the fish just not interested in eating craw, or were there no fish there at all?

 

I'll admit I was over-confident thinking this would've been kind of a sure thing.....but I thought wrong.

The only sure things are taxes & death

As for your problem it could be either one!

Like the old saying goes......they don't call it catching...they call it fishing.

Back in 1981, when I was about 12 years old, I subscribed to Outdoor Life magazine and there was an article about bass fishing with live bait.  I read and re-read that article many times and they told how the crawfish was the ultimate live bass bait.  There was even an underwater photograph of a bass getting ready to inhale a live crawfish just walking on the bottom.  I got my small seine and went to the small creek by the house and loaded up on crawfish.  ZERO bass on a live crawfish.  Now, I was fishing in local ponds but still no bass.  Maybe the big lakes would have been different.  I did catch a lot of catfish at the river with live craws but no bass.  Currently, I have fished the ZOOM Speed Craw and  scented them with Kick'n Bass and have caught many bass with it.  No doubt, bass eat live craws, but not when they are on my hook. Not yet anyway. 

Better than crawling with a live skunk .

     It may just mean the fish were on a different pattern.....or they just hate you.

 

 

     Just kidding, sometimes you feel like a nut,sometimes you dont.....thats why its called fishing.

These things happen...

 

Nothing to be worried about.

Fishing with live bait isn't a panacea to catching bass, you still need to be fishing in right location and depth at the right time.

How did you rig the live craw and what size was the craw?

If you are serious about live bait fishing read In Pursuit of Giant Bass, Bill Murphy.

Tom

It's entirely dependent upon the area you were in and the presentation you were using. 

Fishing with live bait isn't a panacea to catching bass, you still need to be fishing in right location and depth at the right time.

How did you rig the live craw and what size was the craw?

If you are serious about live bait fishing read In Pursuit of Giant Bass, Bill Murphy.

Tom

Craw was about 3.5inches.  I beak hooked at first, and tried stitching it through an area that some smaller bass frequent.   Then later I rigged it through the tail.

I've had the same experience with live craws.  I could see the fish, and no takes.  I really think that at times the ability to control the presentation with artificial lures makes for a better probability of fish taking it.  I have not used natural bait in many years and I catch more fish than when I was trying real worms and real minnows and real crawfish.

Pinch off the claws before you fish them.