This may sound stupid, but I was wondering exactly how you guys fish with live shiners for LMB. Octopus hook with a bobber and let it sit there or what? There is a bait store a few miles away that sells live minnows for 1.50 a piece , would these work just as well? I need to check the CA laws on catching shiners for bait. I'm not even sure if I can.

The place that sells bait should be your best source of info.  Any tackle joint worth its salt will be able to give you the basics of what works best in your area, as to type of hooks, depths at which to fish, and how to rig the live baits.  

Some work best hooked through the lips, others through the back below the dorsal fin.  Sometimes its personal preference.  Other times the fish will tend to prefer one or the other.

well I better clarify, this place is pretty much a liquor store with live minnows and a freezer with frozen anchovies and squid in it lol. The guy who works there doesnt know jack about fishing and probably wouldnt tell ya anything if he did. Guess I can buy a few and test it out, but at a 1.50 a pop I can see these things getting expensive fast.

I usually hook them behind the dorsal fin in the meaty part in front of the tail and let them swim under a bobber.

I do this when I take kids fishing so they will catch something.  

hook through the lips with #4 octopus circle hook this is my preferred method for big smallmouth in the fall

Don't spend 1.50 a pop.  The place i go to when I take my little brother is 4.75 for a dozen large.

As for rigging them, Just use an octopus hook and a bobber.  How much leader you use depends on the depth or where the fish are.  

Trey Anastasio is right. Too much $. [not to mention some turtles would be treated to an expensive meal].

I would try ditching the bobber. Let that minnow explore the depths.

$1.50 a pop does sound pretty heavy. i've never used live bait, but i would let the minnow swim as freely as possible. i have no reason

1.50 for a minnow???

my local shop, i gett'm for 3.50 a dozen.....

shiners go for...

med....... 6.75

large......9.00

jumbo (like 5-6in long) 15.00

all per dozen...(cant quote the $$ exactly, cause i havent bought them all in a while.... but its pretty close, nonetheless)

as for minnows....

a small to med bobber, with a small baitholder hook.... hooked through the bottom lip only...

for the shinners...

a bobber and a circle hook.....

pierced just below the dorsal fin........(if live)

after a while, some shinners have a tendency to die off....

at which point, if that is all i have left....

i tail hook them. (still with bobber though)

..its been a while since ive used live bait,

but thats just how i always do it...

hope it helps.

hey lite, you said you are a shore fisherman. Have you had much luck with live minnows/shiners from the shore? I dont plan on doing it everytime I fish, I would like to try it though.

ya, man......

that is the only way that i have fished'm......

for the minnows,

i use the microlite setup (sahara 500 on fish eagle II 5'6" ultra lite, spooled with suffix braid 2-6)

shiners,

i use sahara 3000 on BPS micro lite (md lite) with suffix braid 8-30...

i have had great success with both minnows and shiners from shore.... i just use the lightest setup with the minnow bc i like the fight beter with the BG's and small bass that tend to hit them......

even with the shiners, though.... of course i like the micro lite rod

beware with UL's though,

cause this may happen with the live bait....

(thats the sahara 500 setup there...)

awesome man, ill deffinately have to give it a try. Fishing with UL stuff sounds fun, when I get some funds maybe ill set myself up a decent UL setup.

UL's are def. fun,

but more importantly,

im just tryin' to say that..... yes..... live bait from shore will produce!

good luck with it man,

and definitely let me know how it goes for ya!

Mr Lite -

I can't believe you reel in fish like that with setups that tiny.  I'd be way to paranoid to loose fish.

My biggest 2 bass this year both came from the shore on UL tackle...both on minnow tipped popeye jigs while looking fro Crappie!

BTW, I regularly get minnows for under 2 bucks per dozen, 1.50 each is WAY to high for me!

ya, man......

that is the only way that i have fished'm......

for the minnows,

i use the microlite setup (sahara 500 on fish eagle II 5'6" ultra lite, spooled with suffix braid 2-6)

shiners,

i use sahara 3000 on BPS micro lite (md lite) with suffix braid 8-30...

i have had great success with both minnows and shiners from shore.... i just use the lightest setup with the minnow bc i like the fight beter with the BG's and small bass that tend to hit them......

even with the shiners, though.... of course i like the micro lite rod

beware with UL's though,

cause this may happen with the live bait....

(thats the sahara 500 setup there...)

JEEZ PUT SOME PANTS ON  ;D

LOL, I was thinking the same thing.

when i use shiners or bluegill as bait , i use a treble hook , size 2 for shiners and either a 1/0 or 2/0 for bluegill depending on the size of the blue gill . you will pretty much never have the bass swallow the hook , most times you will hook them in the top of the mouth or on the gill bone structure . where i fish i have shown everybody there and they have all converted to trebles and love them .....  

Here is one I stuck on UL gear with a live minnow last night...

(BTW, the pic was taken in a barn for lighting purposes only, the fish was handled carefully and released immediately after the pics were taken) http://www.primareptilia.com/gallery/albums/album123/IMG_4255.sized.jpg

clark, infidel,.....

the pants are there, just riding low as i held up the fish and the pole (i forgot a belt that day, and later MacGuyver'd a 7-11 bag into a belt)....

.. but that is why i cropped the photo.