live bait vs artificial

[jimca11]

I am what most would call a "part time" fisherman. Don't get a lot of time with a rod in my hand. My question is, do the new soft baits like Berkley's gulp alive work as well as live bait. I usually use worms and minnows up north mostly for perch and walleye with the odd bass. Do you fish them the same as you would live bait? we are heading to Katchewanooka for thanksgiving for our annual fishing trip and any tips would be helpfull.

[Mike the Pike]

i don't use live bait as much as I do artificial lures.I must admit I am very impressed with Berkley Gulp caught some walleye with it this year.MTP

[Riparian]

it all depends on how the fish are reacting on any give day to your choice of presentation.

 

For example, fish may choose to slow presentation of live bait under a float, or completley ignore it and favor the flash of a quickly retrieved lure. Based on what the fish are reacting too on any given day, its best to bring both options to the table and let the fish decide what to choose.

 

But I would say in GENERAL, IMO live bait out performs artificials even if it is berkley gulp or whatever.

[Sinker]

Poorly presented live bait will not out-perform plastics. Poorly presented plastics won't catch much either........its all in the presentation. If you put the right bait in the right place at the right time......bingo!

 

I know, not much help is it......

 

Sinker

[Zib]

I don't use live bait that much. Usually only use it when fishing with my kids or during the spring walleye run in the Detroit River. After having great success with soft plastics like gulp minnows I'm done using minnows for spring river walleye.

 

My buddy & I caught a lot of limits this past spring using soft plastics on the Detroit River.

 

[jimca11]

Sounds like the guys using artificials are casting them, is this true? can they be fished effectivley "still" fishing, just dropping a line over the side. Should they be "jigged" to work. How about on a dropper line? Very interested in any tactics that work.

[fishindevil]

Well i prefer live bait for my worm harnesses...all the way,i guess its a matter of which one you have confidence with.....all the walleyes i have caught dont seem to complain either.. .LOL..LOL.. and as it stands i have caught JUST ABOUT EVERY DIFFERENT FISH SPECIES ON A DEW WORM....from lake trout to fish in the ocean,they always work,always....cheers

[ecxstriper]

I drift fish a jig tipped with gulp. Works really well and I've caught fish with the gulp floating off the bottom .

[nel]

I find panfishing with microtubes is a lot easier than using live bait...

With live bait, you waste time baiting the hook, but with a microtube, it stays on forever and you keep catching fish.

[addict]

i only use live bait for tip ups while ice fishing it provides the action while i keep my hands warm.after ice fishing its artificial all the way i think in most cases artificial will out perform live bait.i do use roe for trout and salmon but technically its not living.

[Canuck2fan]

Personally I go for LIVE bait whenever I can get it. It is much cheaper than plastics as I gather it myself. Also there is absolutely NO plastic substitute for live crawfish, which you now have to catch yourself as you can't purchase them in Ontario.

 

I recently talked with a trusted store owner who tried to convince me that Live gulp leeches would out proform real leeches. He almost had me convinced until I suggested that he let me take a pail on a trial basis and if I could get the bass at my usual spot to bite on it I would GLADLY come back and pay for it. If they didn't I would just return it to him so he could use it since he loves the stuff so much. He didn't bite so neither did I. (Mainly because in 3 seasons of fishing bass there I have NEVER seen one even swim over to any plastic of any type much less be stupid enough to bite on it.) Now I that can't buy or catch leeches though I might just have to break down and try using it anyhow LOL.

[mcallister.grant]

For wallyeye, which I fish for religiously, I use nothing but live bait (minnows) and for both species of bass, musky, pike etc I use artificial baits.

[boatman]

IMO - you can't top live bait. Would you rather eat a fish or a piece of plastic that looks like a fish? Like someone said earlier, its all about presentation. No fish in history ever said "I think I'm hungry for a piece of painted plastic covered in hooks", yet, if you present it properly they will try to eat it everytime.

 

If you are only going to be still fishing then use live bait. If you are jigging off bottom then try live bait or soft plastics. However, if you get the opportunity to do some casting that's when I'd switch to artificials.

[OhioFisherman]

Never fished the lake you mentioned, and don`t usually fish for perch or walleye anymore. I did fish for them on Lake Erie and other places(Ontario) years ago. On Lake Erie we almost never carried live bait for walleyes, small crankbaits like the storm wiggle wart or hot n tot were the way to go, trolled, they worked and there was no need for live bait.

 

I have caught walleye (er, pickeral) on a lot of different lures, some just aren`t the best thing to use at the time, or under certain conditions. Live bait works, it is a pain to get sometimes, a bait store that has what you want or catching them yourself.

 

Dad and my uncle had some success with a plastic worm on a worm harness, never tried it myself, but I have caught walleye on plastic worms. If your comfortable and confident in what you are using?

 

Usually keeping fish doesn`t enter the picture for me, if your looking for a fish fry go with the proven methods. Up north I like a 6 to 8 inch minnow, just because I would rather hook a big pike or ski.

[kennyman]

I am far from a genius when it comes to fishing, but IMHO, live bait is live bait and there's nothing better in clear water. Now, in murky water, you may want something with a litttle flash (or colour) to let them know you're even there. I've caught on both, but to me live bait (usually minnows for me) is hard to beat. As far as plastics go I seem to have the best luck with the Gulp orange and brown twister tails (anywhere) or a ribbon worm in the pads for largies. That's just what works for me (wife and kids too).

[Weeds]

Live Bait makes it easier. I've been basicallly skunked dozens of times this year fishing with artificials and plastics. Yet I keep trying the stuff. Am I a crappy fisherman? Well yeah, sure I am, but, on the very few times that I use worms I enevitably catch something, and with very little effort or technique. I really enjoy working spinnerbaits, bucktails, spoons and whatever else but I firmly beleive that chucking out a worm, leach, crayfish, or big honking minnow or whatever else is generally alot more likely to catch you some kind of fish; unless you are really familliar with the artificial and even then I'm not totally convinced. . Working an artificial is fun but after being blanked on countless outings actually catching fish is pretty fun too. My two cents.