Live bait preferences...

We always have used nightcrawlers. Huge nightcrawlers pinched to desired length, threaded on hook with hook point covered and no worm dangling to prevent pulling bait off hook. This has always worked but as I am renewing my interest in 'gills/sunfish I read about all these other baits and wonder what your faves are.

I have only used a few live baits other than 'crawlers. Crickets, mealworms, catalpas and small grasshoppers are all I remember trying. Crickets are too mushy/easy to lose IMO. I have only used mealies a few times this year and they caught fish for fish what our 'crawlers caught. Too many years since we used catalpas but too late to find them now to see how they are. (KILLER channel cat bait!) Grasshoppers in the small size are fairly hard to locate around here but seemed to work well.

I'm dying to try maggots and redworms. Just picked up some redworms and some green nightcrawlers that I thought couldn't be any worse than my old proven traditional nightcrawlers and will be trying both these @ our favorite lake tomorrow. (Will follow up tomorrow night and let y'all know what we find.)

My question is what do y'all prefer for live bait and has it out-fished other live baits that you have tried? And how do you prefer to hook your favorite bait?

I like meal worms and redworms. I thread the redworms on my hook and I hook the meal worms in the middle.

Redworm are my favorite and then crickets and nightcrawlers.....i fish the redworms the same as you have been using the crawlers.....i have never used a mealworm or maggots.......but considering the mealworms

#1 for me is wax worms especially when tipping jigs. If I am chasing shellcracker then its a good ole redworm. Last trip I tied on a 1/100 jig about 3 feet up then slit shot and at the end of the line hook w/ redworm. Caught both gills and redear on the set up and caught fish on jig and hook same cast two times.

G-3, do you lose many mealies hooking that way? I mean do you seem to catch most of your bights? I keep reading that a lot of folks like to dangle the worms to enable writhing/wiggling to entice strikes but I wonder if that hooking technique allows the fish to steal bait easier.

jvg, mealworms are the cleanest live bait I have ever used and plan to order a bulk amount from Grubco come spring. I recommend them highly.

I haven't tried worms for panfish in quite some time as I usually use too large of a hook for their mouths (gills and sunfish) but I have been using maggots a lot lately. I like how firm their skin is and they tend to stay put fairly well. I have only been tipping them on jigs though I haven't been fishing them straight.

its meal worms for me. easy to keep, store and use and the fish eat um up. always have a supply in the fridg.

Well I've Got To Put In My 2 Cents. I Don't Bluegill Fish Much But My Grandkids Are Killing Them On Hot Pink Gulp A Live Maggots. I've Never Seen Anything Like It And I Use To Catch Hundreds Of Redear Down In Southern Il. Years Ago But Now Only Crappie Fish. You Gotta Try Gulp A Live No Bull

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Originally Posted by rocket rich

Well I've Got To Put In My 2 Cents. I Don't Bluegill Fish Much But My Grandkids Are Killing Them On Hot Pink Gulp A Live Maggots. I've Never Seen Anything Like It And I Use To Catch Hundreds Of Redear Down In Southern Il. Years Ago But Now Only Crappie Fish. You Gotta Try Gulp A Live No Bull

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I've wondered about those "Gulp" baits, I'll have to try them.

"Shep"

I like maggots for several reasons:

1) Fish love them.

2) Very clean and easy to use.

3) Very tough on the hook.

4) They are heavier than water, so you can chum with them.

5) They have an incredible action.

I will occasionally use mealworms and waxworms, but they cannot match maggots on #3, #4, and #5 above.

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Originally Posted by mrbasser

G-3, do you lose many mealies hooking that way? I mean do you seem to catch most of your bights? I keep reading that a lot of folks like to dangle the worms to enable writhing/wiggling to entice strikes but I wonder if that hooking technique allows the fish to steal bait easier.

jvg, mealworms are the cleanest live bait I have ever used and plan to order a bulk amount from Grubco come spring. I recommend them highly.

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Andy, I raise my own mealworms so I am not skimpy with them....I put two or three on a hook just hooked through the middle...yes the fish might steal one of them but I usally set the hook before they can steal another one.

I have always favored wax worms my entire life, until recently I started using beetle sping bodies under a weighted cork, and just as many or more big gills. Now I hardly ever take live bait with me when gill fishing.

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Originally Posted by Locator79

I have always favored wax worms my entire life, until recently I started using beetle sping bodies under a weighted cork, and just as many or more big gills. Now I hardly ever take live bait with me when gill fishing.

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Never thought to try that, but if it works, my wife would love it (and so would I for not having to rebait her hook!). I've always preferred redworms, nightcrawlers, or blueworms (just a little bigger then reds, but basically the same). I've heard of people using whole kernel corn as well, but haven't tried it. Has it worked for anyone here?

Waxworms are my #1 livebait which I tip on a jig.Great bluegill and crappie bait,especially in the cooler months.

leeches.....

For Bream and Shellcracker you cannot beat redworms you raised yourself. After that I'd use a maggot.

I'm almost exclusively a redear fisherman and I'd give a big nod to redworms. The key to good worms is to make sure they really wiggle, if you've got the wiggling worms you'll tear the fish up. I've caught nice gills/ears on nightcrawlers too but this summer they just didn't seem to work real well. I normally hook up with two worms instead of one.

Well, yesterday was not the best of days to test baits as the bight was slow. 26 keeper fish total with a mixed bag of a few large green sunfish, quite a few redears and mostly 'gills. Mealworms were the best today as we ran out of them. (Caught a ton of lil' 'gills with them.) Chartreuse nightcrawlers and the "Dillies" (small worms I purchased @ Academy?) were a tight tie for 2nd then Gulp Earthworms came in last. Old Man (Dad) caught 2 nice crappie on the Gulp bait which was the only "live" bait to catch crappie. I caught a couple crappies, a few 'gills and 1 redear on a 1/64 chartreuse jighead w/1 1/2" curl tail grub in black body/chartreuse tail matched with small colorado blade spinner.

redworms, raise my own.

Has anybody ever tried those canned preserved live baits Roland Martin advertises on his show. I've never seen them for sale anywhere yet

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Originally Posted by Psmith

I've never seen them for sale anywhere yet

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There are only two authorized dealers listed on their website, but you can always order online.

Fisher's Choice Bait by Timbuktu - The Ideal Solution to Live Bait!

I like a redworm.

Night crawlers under a bobber

I raise my own....

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Originally Posted by Psmith

Has anybody ever tried those canned preserved live baits Roland Martin advertises on his show. I've never seen them for sale anywhere yet

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I ordered some by mail, wanted to try crickets with the grand kids thought they would get lots of bites---wrong--- Red worms were #1 bites, Wax worms were #2, minnows ah a few gills & crappie, those canned crickets nothing.. I dumped over 1/2 the can in water & watched as they slowly sank-nothing came up for them-zip no more:(

Here is a pic of my buckets that I raise my meal worms in. I bed them in wheat bran and give them a lettuce leaf once a week for moisture.

The Bulletin: pest management and crop development information for Illinois

Specifically ... the critter in the first picture - the stalk borer (larvae stage).

My Grandpa used to call them "Horseweed worms" :p We used to find them in the Giant Ragweed plants that grew up along country road fences. Finding them and cutting the plant stalk (that had a hole bored in it), then splitting open the stalk (to check for a worm's presence), then putting them in a burlap bag for transport to the lake .... was an adventure in and of itself :D
Insect repellant sprayed over us, long sleeved shirts/pants (in the heat of late Summer), was employed to lessen the possibility of getting chiggers, or getting bit or stung, and to keep the Ragweed leaves & stalks from giving us a case of the "itchy/scratchy" syndrome ;)

I haven't used them in decades ... but, back when I did, I could always count on catching some nice Bluegill, Readear, Longear, the occasional Crappie, & Channel Catfish with them. Deep, rocky points were the usual places where we would fish them, but they worked in deep brush & along cliff walls, too.

It's probably too late in the year, now, to find these critters ... at least, around here, anyway. They've probably already turned into a moth. But, if/when they can be found ... they're really good bait. (not to mention, they're free ;) ... and since they're pests, I doubt anyone would mind having them removed from their area - just be mindful of private property, and don't venture onto private farms/lands without permission !! )

... cp :cool:

crappiepappy....those are mealworms and they do not turn into moths... they turn into black beetles. The beetles then lay eggs and they hatch into more meal worms. The worms that you speak of must be similar in appearance but the meal worm is different.

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Originally Posted by G-3 Fisherman

crappiepappy....those are mealworms and they do not turn into moths... they turn into black beetles. The beetles then lay eggs and they hatch into more meal worms. The worms that you speak of must be similar in appearance but the meal worm is different.

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I was just adding another critter to the list. ;)

I've had much better luck using wax worms, than I have using meal worms. And I've caught larger sunfish, using the stalk borer larvae, than I ever have using wax worms. The problem is ... stalk borer larvae are very seasonal, occurring only for a short period of time as a "worm". They're found in the wild, and not commercially grown.

... cp :cool:

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Originally Posted by G-3 Fisherman

crappiepappy....those are mealworms and they do not turn into moths... they turn into black beetles. The beetles then lay eggs and they hatch into more meal worms. The worms that you speak of must be similar in appearance but the meal worm is different.

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Do you get a large beetle pest problem from "Escapees?" If so, what do you do about it? Kinda reminds me of an old song from days of yore...


"I swallowed that cat...to catch that rat...to catch the cheese...to catch the fly........." I don't know why I swallowed that fly................

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Originally Posted by shipahoy41

Do you get a large beetle pest problem from "Escapees?" If so, what do you do about it? Kinda reminds me of an old song from days of yore...


"I swallowed that cat...to catch that rat...to catch the cheese...to catch the fly........." I don't know why I swallowed that fly................

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No escapees....the beetles cannot fly. They can crawl but they cannot climb the sides of the plastic buckets and I have lids on them anyway with screened vent opening. The beetles die shortly after laying their eggs.

CP...the wax worms do not work good for me here in MS but when I fish in TN they work good.

Here in NE Ohio I must say that wax worms work the best for me for bluegill. For redear and pumpkin seeds I like to use crawlers on spoons with trailer hooks.

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Originally Posted by jigtwins

Here in NE Ohio I must say that wax worms work the best for me for bluegill. For redear and pumpkin seeds I like to use crawlers on spoons with trailer hooks.

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Very interesting.....do you just hop it across the bottom or what?

wax worms & jumbo red worms & maggots are the top three baits up in my neck of the woods,

dgi

Small earth worms and a slip bobber.Don't forget that size 8 hook.lol.