Hello All. Im rather new to bass fishing and wanted to know the thoughts on using live bait vs lures. Which is better? Also if i wanted to try using live bait off a Sit On kayak, what equipment would I need to help me? 

Also in need of some general gear information for using live minnows. 

Thanks All!

I get a kick out of live baiting (for everything not just bass) It's how nature intended it. Pitching and flipping shiners to reeds or pads is a goof.  

Live bait vs. lures.Which is better? - For catching fish its live bait. For the sport and challenge of fishing you use lures.

 

Also if I wanted to try using live bait off a Sit On kayak, what equipment would I need to help me? - 6' to 6'6"' medium   with fast tip spinning rod with 8 pound fluorocarbon test on the Shimano 2000 size reel depending on the amount of space you have to maneuver the rod and cast. Add a bobber on your line about 12 to 18 inches to keep the minnow in the strike zone and so you can see when the minnow is hit.

 

You will need to tie a minnow bucket to the side of the kayak to hold the minnows. Also will need a net to get the minnows out of the bucket unless you just grab them with your hand.

 

Big minnows will produce lots of strikes.

 

Add a landing net; needle nose pliers; scale; phone with a camera; extra hooks; extra bobber; cutting knife; and go out and have some fun.

 

Also in need of some general gear information for using live minnows. - You hook live minnows either ether through their lips, in front of their tail, or under their backbone. You can use a gold bream hook if you want. The length of the hook's shaft is up to you.

 

Thanks All! - Welcome

Sam nailed it but i will say i prefer sliding style bobbers and using bobber stops because you an adjust the depth pretty easily and you don't put a kink in the line.  I also use circle hooks but make sure they are big enough so you can get a solid hookset. 

 

Live bait fish like minnows are not necessarily a panacea to catching bass. 

Do you plan to catch the live minnows or purchase them? The next issue is transporting live minnows and keeping then lively while you fish from your kayak. Catching minnows is a lot of work and keeping them alive in large aerated coolers with aeration pumps and the proper water temps can be expensive and time consuming.

Lets assume you can do what's needed and have a water flow through minnow bucket, where do start fishing? This is the problem we all have, where are the bass located?

Tom

Single splitshot about a 18" above long shank hook dragged along weed edges just above the bottom.

Some of the kayak guys I fish with use live minnows for pickerel fishing in the winter.  They keep the minnows in a perforated container thrown over the side with a few minnows “on deck” in an old peanut butter jar somehwere onboard.  

In Florida using large shiners is popular as well as using whitebait/sardines for saltwater species.

 

The old saying around here was “start with a live well, then build a boat around it !”.

 

There is some truth to that.

Wacky rigged crawfish.

If you can get your hands on a copy of lunkers love nightcrawlers.There not minnows but you can catch alot of Bass on crawlers with right presentation.Really big chubs fished in the fall on rivers really catch the Smallies.Try a lindy rig or a splitshot rig.

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On 10/10/2018 at 10:48 AM, Harold Scoggins said:

Wacky rigged crawfish.

I love this. Is that an o-ring you used? Trying to jab hooks through a hard tail gets annoying and i dont have the best hook up rating either

8 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

I love this. Is that an o-ring you used? Trying to jab hooks through a hard tail gets annoying and i dont have the best hook up rating either

It's a rubber band. This particular craw was done by Greg Blanchard, a Kayaker out in CA.