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The way I see the insects is there are the swimmers, the crawlers, jumpers, and of course, the fliers. All of which are like candy to different fish. They cannot help themselves when they come in contact with their favorite one, because they see it so rarely it becomes a treat.

Crickets and grasshoppers are a fishing favorite, because like nightcrawlers, some fishermen can catch them as they need them, and for others they are commonly available at your local live fishing bait store.

Crickets are usually found in wooded areas or fields, especially the dark-colored cricket, commonly known as a field cricket. There is a gray cricket that is commercially raised and sold in bait shops and pet stores.

Grasshoppers like grassy or weedy fields. Most are 1-2 inches in length. The dark colored grasshoppers are some shade of gray or brown and live on the ground. The green shaded crickets live on plants.

Mayflies are a fish favorite and they are a very interesting choice as they go through many changes in their short life cycle. Of course this is one of those which came first things, the egg, or the mayfly because their short life is so ever changing.

The mayfly life cycle is something to be aware of as they can be used as live fishing bait in several different stages of their metamorphosing life. So lets look at their short life and see something amazing.

1) A mayfly mates with the opposite sex while in flight.

2) After mating the female drops her eggs in the water.

3) The eggs sink, adhering to plants, rocks or other things at the bottom.
4) The larvae hatches in about six months. They eat and grow for about five months going through several molts -changes.
5) When full grown they swim to the surface.

6) Now it splits and sheds its skin -molts, and in seconds it has wings that harden.

7) The mayfly then flies off to nearby vegetation where it stays for a day, or two

It molts into an adult where it lives just long enough to mate and drop its eggs, except a few live for weeks.

Its the many changes and short life of this live fishing bait that gets it so much attention in this post, but we are going to pause here, we will say its in memorial for such a short lived fishing bait and we hope you will return to view the next post in this Live Fishing Bait series.

This first one I remember using alot as a boy because they were so easy to hook. In fact, I have even had them hook themselves on a baitless hook. I kid you not.

Bluegills, they have a blueish gill flap with a black lobe. The bluegills and other sunfish, often called bream, are well distributed in North America.

Mottled Sculpins, known to some as mudlers or bullheads, have large pectoral fins and they live in mountain streams of the West and many eastern states and Canada.

Yellow Perch are most commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. They are identified by their yellowish tint and have 6-8 dark bars running top to bottom on their sides.

Rainbow Smelt are iridescent with silvery sides and adipose fin, a pointed snout and long narrow body. They have large teeth. An ocean species, although they have been stocked in many inland lakes in the northern United States and Canada.

Whenever you are buying live fishing bait avoid buying baitfish with damaged fins, reddish snouts or fungus growing on the body. Fungus grows as white cottony patches wherever scales and slime have been rubbed off. This indicates the have been handled too much.

You should also watch out for any with bulging eyes and blackened heads, as this too are signs of disease in most kinds of baitfish. But moving along…

Lets take a few minutes to discuss some other live fishing bait. For instance, did you know there were eight different kinds of common fishing worms?

Probably the most commonly used is the Nightcrawler, big and juicy, how can the fish resist them. But there are some others that may not be so well known to you by name.

We use many of them perhaps without realizing their different names like the Leaf Worm, Garden Worm, Red Wiggler, Gray Nightcrawler, Grunt Worm, and even the African Nightcrawler.

So you see there are numerous worms that we use for our live fishing bait. So with that said I will pause until the next post where I will continue with Live Fishing Bait -Part – 4. Be sure and check it out as I am sure you will enjoy it.

So you see there are some restrictions to what live baits you use and where you use them. Some baits are only available in certain areas or during certain times of the year, while others are simply not useful for one kind of catch, but extremely good for another.

We want to discuss things like minnows, and other baitfish, as well as things like crickets, frogs, toads, leeches and worms, crustaceans, salamanders and all sorts of flying insects.

Minnows are used for numerous reasons. Some minnows are chosen for their size, shape, activeness, sex, flash or color, even taste and smell. With so many decisions its a wonder anglers ever have time to get their bait in the water and this is just the decisions regarding the minnows and we still need to figure out our hook. But we will save that for a different topic.

Lets quickly go over minnows so you can identify them and perhaps even learn why some are chosen for one catch, but not the other. We will now identify the most popular thirteen minnows at your local bait shop.

Minnow Identification:

1) Fatheads, sometimes called mud-minnows or tuffies, have a short first ray on the dorsel fin and live in lakes and rivers throughout most of North America.

2) Creek Chubs look similar to the hornyhead chub, but have smaller scales and a dark spot at the front base of their dorsel fin. A very common stream minnow usually found in eastern North America and thrives in gravel bottom streams east of the rockies in the United States and southern Canada.

3) Bluntnose Minnows are more rounded at the nose than the fathead and have a dark band from the tail to eye and they live in the eastern half of the United States.

4) Horneyhead Chubs, also known as redtail chubs, have a lateral band that extends to the tail and they prefer gravelly streams from Wyoming to New York, south to Arkansas.

We will pause there and pick this up in our next post, so be sure and check back for Live Fishing Bait -Part – 2. I would strongly suggest you bookmark the website, or take this opportunity to sign up for my free RSS feed.

More Crappies are caught on small baitfish than on all other baits and lures combined. Yellow Perch, White Perch, Rock Bass, Warmouth, White and Yellow Bass, and some species of Sunfish will take minnows.

A variety of baitfish are routinely sold as Crappie Minnows. Fatheads and shiners are the most popular, followed by small dace and chubs. Large Crappies, Yellow Perch and White Bass will take a minnow up to 3-inches in length, but in most cases a 1 1/2 – 2-inch minnow works best. Sunfish usually ignore a minnow longer than 1-inch.

When the shallows warm in the spring, minnows move into quiet bays and sunny shorelines. The Crappies are not far behind. Most shore fishermen use bobbers and minnows, or jig-minnow combinations.

Later in summer, large Crappies move out to deeper cover. They frequently hang around mid-lake rock piles, sunken islands or submerged brush. During the day, they may suspend in deep water away from cover. Most fishermen catch them on slip-bobber rigs or tandem hook rigs fished vertically.

When fishing with minnows for other panfish, anglers often use bobber rigs, split-shot rigs or jig-minnow combinations. Some Crappie fishermen in the South use welding rod rigs in heavy brush to avoid constant snagging.

How to Make a Welding Rod Rig:

#1
Cut an 8-inch piece of welding rod.
#2
Flatten the ends and drill a hole in each end.
#3
Insert a snap at one end and a snap-swivel at the other.
#4
Use a #4 light-wire hook and 20-pound mono.
#5
Hook a small minnow through the back.
#6
Fish with a shorter rod in dense brush.

A glint of light off the side of a shiner may be the key to triggering a strike from a stubborn walleye. Emerald shiners are an important food for walleyes in many large lakes. But because emerald shiners are difficult to keep alive, many walleye experts use golden shiners.

Other popular baitfish for walleyes include fatheads, common shiners and redtail chubs. Madtoms work well for walleyes in rivers. For average-size walleyes use 21/2 – 3-inch baitfish. However, a walleye over 5-pounds can easily swallow a 6-inch minnow.

Slow-trolling with a slip-sinker rig probably accounts for more walleyes than any other bait-fishing technique. If you feel even the slightest tug, release the line so the fish can swim off without feeling resistance. Wait until the fish stops, then quickly reel up slack and set the hook.

Baitfish work best in spring and fall. But in northern lakes where natural foods are scarce, baitfish are effective for walleyes year-round. In these waters, dead or preserved baitfish work nearly as well as live ones.

How to Tie a Basic Slip-sinker Rig:

Step #1
Basic slip-sinker rigs are tied by threading a 1/4 – 1/2-ounce walking sinker on 8 – 10-pound mono.
Step #2
Attach a barrel swivel.
Step #3
Tie 3 feet of 6-pound mono to the swivel.
Step #4
Add a #4 or #6 short-shank hook.