To Bait or not...

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Originally Posted by Bob/MN

I have not used minnows for crappies since the twister tail and tube jig came about. I do use scent on my lures if needed.
I look at it this way, if the lure looks good and smells good the fish will bite.
I have some friends that use minnows and I usually catch three fish to their one.

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In a nutshell. 100% agree to this.

I never use minnows. When younger i did because of lack of faith in my ability to catch crappie without them. Of course i never consisitently tried to catch them with artificials so who knows. Havent used minnows in over 20 years and have caught thousands of crappie, even in freezing water with soft plastics. When the bite is slow i have tipped with a nibble or a power bait honey worm and caught fish, but there is no way to know if those same fish would have biten a plain tube or not. My concern with using live bait is the tendency to believe that you cant catch without it and out of habit and that belief you continue to buy them until you are "addicted" to live bait. In the end its my belief that confidence in whatever method you choose means more than whether your using live bait or artificials. I have also found that proper use of electronics is a huge confidence boost. Real time sonar and verticle jigging helps understand the fishs reaction to your offering no matter what it is. Its amazing to see a fish react to one action and ignore the bait only to respond with an imediate strike to another. Just knowing they are there makes a big difference.

Fish bite for two reasons. One is sight and second is food or smell. Warmer water sight is very important. Cold water ( ice fishing) fish are lethargic and usually take a jig when it is not moving and bait such as a small mill worm or mousee is almost a must. I watch a yellow perch chase a minnow through a hole in the ice when the split shot was about a foot plus from the minnow. I shortened the distance from the shot to minnow to about 2 inches and with a few seconds the perch had the minnow. Hope this helps.

I have grown to like using crappie nibbles on the jigs hook, I am pretty sure it is getting me more fish. when I first tried them years ago I didn.t like them and didn't give them much of a chance, but after a few banner days using them my fishing buddy who has been tipping with a piece of worm or minnow took note and he too started using them. After 50 years of tipping with live bait he switched to the nibbles, this is using 1/32 calftail hair jigs under a float.

I have never used Nibbles and probably never will. I guess I am just set in my ways of using jigs as they are. Call me old school but I have no electronics, aside from a flasher for ice fishing, in my boat. I fish structure in farm ponds mostly and drift fish the same ponds. I think it all boils down to confidence in your presentation. I fish a pond and a white 2" twister will work most of the time while I drift. I have added some tied jigs while I drift but i can grantee you one rod will have a white twister on it!

I always use nibbles, Why Not?

For crappie, I never tip.

For bluegill, I very often tip.

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Originally Posted by Zippy

I never use minnows. When younger i did because of lack of faith in my ability to catch crappie without them. Of course i never consisitently tried to catch them with artificials so who knows. Havent used minnows in over 20 years and have caught thousands of crappie, even in freezing water with soft plastics. When the bite is slow i have tipped with a nibble or a power bait honey worm and caught fish, but there is no way to know if those same fish would have biten a plain tube or not. My concern with using live bait is the tendency to believe that you cant catch without it and out of habit and that belief you continue to buy them until you are "addicted" to live bait. In the end its my belief that confidence in whatever method you choose means more than whether your using live bait or artificials. I have also found that proper use of electronics is a huge confidence boost. Real time sonar and verticle jigging helps understand the fishs reaction to your offering no matter what it is. Its amazing to see a fish react to one action and ignore the bait only to respond with an imediate strike to another. Just knowing they are there makes a big difference.

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I am addicted to minnows . I have been to many "MA" (minnows autonomous) meetings but just can't shake this addiction. It's those darn minnow farm pushers that have me ( hooked). Oh no! I feel another minnow fix coming.lol.

I'm strictly catch & release, so no bait for me. But I will sweeten bait with plastic or pork trailers.

The only time I break this rule is for little kids. I want them to catch fish & see the gleam in their eyes and smile on their faces.

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Originally Posted by HookUp

I'm strictly catch & release, so no bait for me. But I will sweeten bait with plastic or pork trailers.

The only time I break this rule is for little kids. I want them to catch fish & see the gleam in their eyes and smile on their faces.

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I am not opposed to using bait. I love catching nightcrawlers and use them for gills, catfish and catching bait to catch catfish. I just dont usually see the need to tip a jig when I am crappie fishing.
My boys love going fishing, not sure if it is the fishing or the fact they can go stomp in the water, catch frogs, throw rocks...you know little things that make little boys happy!
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