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Do you consider "live" bait cheating?


MattinOK

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On November 16, 2009 at 10:51 AM, WRB said:

The use of legal live bait for bass fishing isn't cheating.

The question is; does live bait give a skilled bass angler an unfair advantage? The answer is yes & no.

Bass are very easy to catch using specific live bait during some seasonal periods and little to no advantage during other times.

I stopped using live crawdads, mud suckers, large shiners and water dogs (tiger salamanders) during the pre-spawn and spawning periods about 35 years ago.

The reason was using live bait, in the small high pressured bass lakes, were over harvested as a direct result of live bait fishing during the pre-spawn and spawning time period. It's hard to over harvest larger bodies of water and once the bass get spread out into their summer locations, over harvesting is less of an issue.

Live bait fishing becomes a personal choice, it's not an issue of right, wrong or cheating, unless you are tournament fishing.

WRB

9 years later I would write the same response.

Tom

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39 minutes ago, ratherbfishin1 said:

THANK YOU!

There’s nothing wrong with it in my opinion I just wouldn’t even compare it to the fishing most of us do.

 

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots

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1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

Live bait's WAITING .... not fishing......

 

55 minutes ago, ratherbfishin1 said:

THANK YOU!

There’s nothing wrong with it in my opinion I just wouldn’t even compare it to the fishing most of us do.

Fishing for me is a relaxing past-time, it's not the be-all and end-all of my world

Sometimes I'll just plop a worm or minnow on the line, attach a bobber, toss it out there, and sit back and relax.

This is my 'zen place', where the sounds of water lapping at the hull of my canoe combined with the occasional call of a loon relaxes me.

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A good bass fisherman knows and understands how to fish several techniques well and this includes live bait fishing. There are times live bait works the best and there are other times lures works the best. This knowledge comes from decades of experience not just being part of a forum and typing words on a keyboard which anyone can do. But what do I know I have only caught double digit bass on both lures and live bait and have caught hundreds of bass over 5 pounds in my +20 years of bass fishing. Have also caught 9 types of black bass all on artificial lures from land in public waters so I might know a thing or two about bass fishing.

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5 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

No, but I consider live and dead bait to be boring. I don't like to soak something. Half the fun is being engaged in my bait and succeeding.

What makes you think using live bait  requires sitting in one spot waiting for fish to swim by and attack your minnow or worm?

 

I didn't read this thread except for this last page. I don't fish for bass with live bait. I do, however, fish for panfish with live bait. When I fish for them, I am not polpping the bobber out in the lake and crossing my fingers. I am actively hunting fish and moving constantly until I find them. No different than using artificials to bass fish. BTW, I catch bass all the time when I'm panfishing.   

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Sounds like some of you have never experienced going through 4 dozen shiners in a couple of hours between 2 guys.  What’s boring about that?  Tug on the line...  that’s the point right

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2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

What makes you think using live bait  requires sitting in one spot waiting for fish to swim by and attack your minnow or worm?

 

I didn't read this thread except for this last page. I don't fish for bass with live bait. I do, however, fish for panfish with live bait. When I fish for them, I am not polpping the bobber out in the lake and crossing my fingers. I am actively hunting fish and moving constantly until I find them. No different than using artificials to bass fish. BTW, I catch bass all the time when I'm panfishing.   

I agree . I bass fish with live bait a lot and almost never do I just sit and wait. Usually pitching live shad under docks and trying to keep them from swimming around all the posts . Also if you hook a live shad in the back it tends to swim really fast........ And on top...........

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5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I agree . I bass fish with live bait a lot and almost never do I just sit and wait. Usually pitching live shad under docks and trying to keep them from swimming around all the posts . Also if you hook a live shad in the back it tends to swim really fast........ And on top...........

I pick apart a dock for crappie and bluegill no different than if I would pick it apart for bass. I believe that bass fishing has made me a better pan fisherman, and pan fishing has made me a better bass fisherman. ALL freshwater fish follow the same rules.

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1 hour ago, slonezp said:

What makes you think using live bait  requires sitting in one spot waiting for fish to swim by and attack your minnow or worm?

 

I didn't read this thread except for this last page. I don't fish for bass with live bait. I do, however, fish for panfish with live bait. When I fish for them, I am not polpping the bobber out in the lake and crossing my fingers. I am actively hunting fish and moving constantly until I find them. No different than using artificials to bass fish. BTW, I catch bass all the time when I'm panfishing.   

I guess for me it's that I don't fish for panfish. I drown live bait and I get a gill or crappie. I drown dead bait and I get a carp or cat. Not my thing. Once in a blue moon I can get a bass. What I can get a bass on most of the time is bass specific lures that I have fun using. 

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12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I also forgot to mention that catching live bait can be fun and challenging 

It is a game changer when the fisherman learns how to catch his own bait, keep it alive, and catch trophy fish on his own bait. Most fishermen will never understand this and that is ok since it means more quality fish for those who know the art of live bait fishing.

10 minutes ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Live bait or not whatever type of fishing you enjoy do it.

 

I personally love floating live shrimp under Poppin corks...

Or 2oz of lead holding a bream on the bottom of the river waiting on flatheads

Sounds fun. I like catching jack crevalle and using them whole or cut bait for big sharks from the shore. Using mullets for big snook is another fun type of live bait fishing.

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6 hours ago, WRB said:

9 years later I would write the same response.

Tom

Well yes, but now you'd probably throw in an SMH and/or a LMAO.  Tell them you're shook 'cause they're being so extra.  You know...since it's 2018 now.   ?

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7 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

Well yes, but now you'd probably throw in an SMH and/or a LMAO.  Tell them you're shook 'cause they're being so extra.  You know...since it's 2018 now.   ?

Crushing it!...

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It's not cheating to me. In fact, I like when I see anglers using live bait because I know I'll be showing the fish something different with my artificial baits. I will say, at least in my area, the live bait anglers like to throw their trash all over the place. As a result, I stereotype all live bait anglers as dirty, toothless bums. 

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48 minutes ago, Arlo Smithereen said:

It's not cheating to me. In fact, I like when I see anglers using live bait because I know I'll be showing the fish something different with my artificial baits. 

I like it when ''artificial only'' bass fishermen get cocky and think they know more about lure fishing than those who fish with live bait. Live bait fishermen tend to have more open minds which means many live bait fishermen are more skilled in artificials than many artificial only bass fisherman.

12 hours ago, reason said:

Crushing it!...

The young people are also saying ''slaying it'', or ''slay'' when they are doing good at a hobby. I think some here need to reevaluate their fishing game so they can ''slay'' more and complain less about a legal form of fishing. Must be a very cold winter for some of these northern states to say the least!

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13 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

I like it when ''artificial only'' bass fishermen get cocky and think they know more about lure fishing than those who fish with live bait. Live bait fishermen tend to have more open minds which means many live bait fishermen are more skilled in artificials than many artificial only bass fisherman.

I've never noticed that, but I'm sorry that gets you all in your feelings.

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