catfish Palomar knot

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One of the best catfish baits that works consistently to catch blue catfish or channel catfish is a bait fish called chub minnows. There are some tips I recommend tat work very well for me when I use chub minnows for my catfish bait selection.

There are a couple of way to prepare chubs to be used to catch catfish. You can either fish chubs live, as a whole dead bait drifting or trolling or as a cut bait. I have used all three methods as catfish bait, with good success, but the most consistent method used in different water conditions has been using chubs as cutbait fished from a three way swivel fishing rig.

To make cut bait from chub minnows catch or purchase at leaste 2 dozen 3 inch to  6 inch  chub minnows. Keep your chubs alive with cool aireated water until it is time to use them for catfish bait. In the next step I recommend you use a fillet knife. Take the three chub minnows from the bait bucket and cut them into 1″ wide chunks.

If you want to drift or troll with dead chub minnows hook them by pushing the 5/0 hook through the mouth and up through the back. To hook your chunks of chub minnow catfish bait, push the barb into the chunk up the shank of the 5/0 hook. Make sure the barb is exposed. To make a three way swivel catfish bait fishing rig is very simple.

Step #1 Tie a three way swivel to your fishing line using a Palomar knot.

Step #2 Tie a 8″ steel leader to the open eye oppisite the eye you tied your line too.

Step # 3 Clip a number 5/0 hook into the leader.

Step #4 Tie a Carolina catfish fishing rig to the open eye on the three way swivel that is pointing downward.

I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about Catfish Bait. Have a great day and the the best of luck to you on your next fishing trip

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The crappie is one of the most sought after gamefish from both beginner and expert fisherman and goes by many aliases such as calico bass,speckled bass,white perch,pole crappie,strawberry bass, and papermouth. The paper mouth feed on a variety of different food sources but their primary food chain includes small crappie bait fish such as fathead minnows, small aquatic insects, such as damselfly larva,or dragon fly larva, and crustaceans such as small crayfish. The speckled bass will be close by if you can locate one of these food choices they are feeding on and then imitate your bait fishing crappie bait to match as natural as possible. The closer you can match your crappie bait fishing selection to there natural food source the better luck you will have.

Pole Crappie will feed on a variety of bait fish through out the year. The species of bait fish that the calico bass feed on depends on a variety of different factors such as the season of the year and the area of the country you are fishing. For example if you are bait fishing for speckled bass in a farm pond in the spring and early summer you would probably use small sunfish fry to fish as a live bait or a artificial bait presentation. Small sunfish fry are typically abundant in farm ponds at the time of your and white perch love to feed on them when they are available. Or for example for example if you were fishing in southern waters and the area of water you are fishing on has large populations of threadfin or gizzard shad then you would locate the shad schools to go bait fishing for crappie.

Strawberry Bass are opportunists and will adapt to the food source that is available to them. For example if there is a new hatch of mayfly larva in the water that you are fishing a good bait fishing selection would be live mayflies or a mayfly larva imitation because chance are any crappie or other game fish in the area will feeding on the mayfly larva.

Know most fisherman think to use crustaceans for crappie bait but the truth be told small crustaceans such as small crayfish under 2″ in length make a large portion of the crappies daily diet. Another bait fish that is seldom used for white perch are small goldfish and when traditional bait fish selection are not working sometimes fishing with small gold fish will be the answer. Unlike other non traditional crappie baits such as threadfin and gizzard shad that need to be caught in the wild, goldfish are sold at just about any bait shop throughout the united states.

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crappie bait fish

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Bait fish are a very important part of crappie fishing. In fact crappie minnows make up more then 50% of all crappie baits. Technically, minnows are members of the cyprindae family, the largest fish family in north America. Some of the 200 species in the U.S such as the grass carp and gold fish which grow very large. The majority of the of crappie bait fish such as shiner minnows, daces and chubs seldom grow to over 4 inches in length. The species that most anglers use as crappie bait fish are golden shiner minnows and fathead minnows.

All crappie baits are not created equal. The crappie baitfish that are considered very hardy fathead minnows, mudminnows, and goldfish. Crappie baits that are considered moderately hardy are young bluegills, creek chubs, hornyhead chubs, southern red belly dace, blacknose dace, and blunt nose minnows. Somewhat hardy crappie bait fish include golden shiners,common shiners,red shiners, and banded kill fish. Fragile crappie bait fish include emerald shiners, small gizzard shad,threadfin shad, and spottail shiners. The best type of bucket to use for your crappie bait is a styrofoam is a much better insulator so therefore tends to keep your baitfish water cooler. The ideal temperature to keep your crappie baitfish is between 55 to 65 degrees.

Two typical crappie fish rigs that are commonly used with a cigar float crappie rig, and pencil slip bobber crappie rig. The cigar float is set at a fixed depth while the pencil slip bobber crappie rig is set to certain depth using a bobber stop, both are commonly used to catch crappie.

Two make a cigar float crappie rig or a pencil shaped slip bobber rig is very simple, and both are commonly used with crappie bait fish as live bait. To make the slip bobber crappie rig tie a number 12 to number 4 long shanked crappie hook on your fishing line. next slide your cigar on the line the depth you want to fish and put the stop in place. next put a small spit shot on the line about 3 to 4 inches above the hook. To Make a pencil shaped slip bobber crappie rig to be use with crappie bait fist slide your bobber stop up the line at the depth you want to fish for crappie. next slide the pencil shaped slip bobber up the line. next tie a number 12 to number 4 long shanked crappie hook on your line,and last put a small spit shot sinker on your line just above the hook about 3 to 4 inches.

I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about Golden Shiner Minnows. Have a great day!

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black crappie

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It has been a long known fact that if you can master and match the crappie’s natural food source of bait fish that they eat on a daily basis you can catch a ton of crappie. And this sounds like a simple process but truth be told it takes some time and patience and some research to be proficient at it. It’s no secret that many of the great pro crappie anglers use live minnow rigs tipped with the bait fish choice for what ever location they are fishing. We are going to discuss some crappie catching tips on how to select the correct type and size of crappie fishing bait fish so the next time you are out on the water you can be more successful.

1. Picking the right size bait fish type such as crappie minnows for black crappie and white crappie is critical to be successful.

As a rule of thumb use a smaller bait fish such as tuffies 1 inch in length to catch black crappie and larger bait fish such as 3 to 4 inch shiners to catch white crappie. The type of bait fish does matter if you want bigger fish. It is best to catch your own crappie minnows at the location you are fishing these fish have not been commercially raised and are already a part of whichever species of crappie you are fishing for so therefore the crappies see these bait fish as a natural food source when you use them as on of your live bait presentations. Also a tip that may be of use to you. use smaller crappie minnows when the water is colder say 55 degrees or below. When the water is cold crappie white or black tend to inhale the fish apposed to attacking it.

2.0 Keeping your bait fish alive is very important.

Make sure your live bait container for your bait fish has a good aerator. also if you are using larger bait fish for crappie fishing make sure you keep the container cool. One method I always use is to drop ice cubes into the water on a regular basis. Also make sure you are using the same water in your bait tank as the location you are fishing. No matter what you do you will have some fish kill, but you want to limit that as much as possible so your bait fish last throughout the day. Also don’t mix your crappie bait fish in with your live well this is a big mistake keep them separate.

Well that concludes my article about crappie fishing. Have a great day!

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skipjack herring cut bait

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One of the best catfish baits for blue catfish and channel catfish is what is commonly called cutbait. Dead bait is also categorized as cutbait and either one of these types of catfish bait work great to catch a mess of good eating size catfish.

One of the most common dead baits that many catfish anglers use are creek chubs. You can hook creek chubs as a dead bait or cut them up and use them as cut bait. There are many methods you could use to fish creek chubs and one excellent method used to fish them dead and whole is to thread them. To thread your creek chub tie a your fishing line to a bait needle then push it through the mouth and out the side near the tail. Next pull the need all the way through until you have enough slack to tie on a treble hook. After you have tied on the treble pull the fishing line back until you impel one of the barbs into the flesh. Let the other two hooks exposed.

Another way to use bait fish as catfish bait is by using what is called plug-cut bait fish. Plug cutting is when you cut the head off of a bait fish such as a creek chub at an angle.then then gut the bait fish. You want to hook your plug cut bait fish such as a creek chub with a fishing rig that is called a mooching fishing rig. The first thing you want to do with your mooching rig is push the back hook through the body and out the side. Next push the front hook through the back so it pierces the backbone and adjust the hook to take up some but not all of the slack. A mooching fishing rig works best for drift fishing or a very slow troll where you want your catfish bait to roll. A mooching fishing rig is a excellent way to catch so catfish especially in a shallow lake where drift fishing is common.

Another catfish bait that works great to catch blue catfish or channel catfish is using shad cut into chunks. Get you a large shad and cut it into 1 to 2 wide chunks. Use a 4/0 to 5/0 hook. Push the hook through the back portion of the chunk and leave plenty of hook exposed. You can also fish with skipjack herring and other oily fish the same way.

I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about skipjack herring cutbait. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!

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tuffie minnows

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Our article today is dedicated those fisherman who love to fish with live bait. This article is also useful to you artificial bait lovers who know when the fishing gets tough you need to tip your artificial baits with some type of the live form. Anglers who are dedicated to fishing with live baits have a large selection of baits to choose from such as leeches, crayfish, scuds, freshwater shrimp, saltwater shrimp, mud shrimp and ghost shrimp. Other live bait selections that can be used to target various gamefish also include waterdogs, spring lizards, mudpuppies, leopard frogs, green frogs and bullfrogs.

Also when you are talking about live bait selections you can’t forget insects. Insects are a staple part of all gamefishes daily diet. These  insects aquatic insects such as may flies, stone flies, caddis flies,crane flies, dragon flies. and dobson flies ( hellgrammites). They also include terrestrial adult insect types such as crickets and grasshoppers as well as larva forms of catalpa worms, waxworms, goldenrod grubs, mousees, spikes, euro larvae, and meal worms.

Now we have to mention nightcrawler and other worm types as live bait because they are as close as you can get to a universal live bait for all species of freshwater fish as you can get.  They will catch any fish from common bluegill to the elusive sturgeon. Nightcrawlers have amazing fish appeal but there are some important reasons they are so popular. They are a very easy bait to find and a very easy bait to catch or raise if you are a interested in saving a few bucks,or just want fresh bait readily available.

Also we can’t forget about the many species of bait fish that are use for live bait. Freshwater Anglers use bait fish to catch small 6 inch freshwater panfish such as bluegills or yellow perch on up to large sturgeon. Saltwater anglers use bait fish to catch marlin,sailfish and Spanish mackerel just to name a few. Most all saltwater predator gamefish can be caught using a combination of some type of bait fish such as freshwater fathead minnows (tuffie, mudminnow), rosey red minnow, bluntnose minnow, creek chub, horneyhead chub (redtail), blacknose dace, redbelly dace (rainbow), golden shiner, emerald shinner, spottail shiner, common shiner, red shinner, goldfish, white sucker, madtom (willow cat), sculpin (bullhead, muddler), shad, skipjack herring, cisco (lake herring, tullibee), smelt, killfish, bluegill or sunfish, yellow perch, American eel, and freshwater shrimp. The saltwater bait fish used for live bait and cut bait include skipjack herring, mackerel, smelt , mullet, mussel, saltwater shrimp, squid and tuna.

Well that concludes my article about three way swivel rig. Have a great day!

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fishing rigs

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Many fisherman know that many times just using simple live bait fishing rigs is not enough. One of the best methods to make your live baits look more enticing to the game fish you are targeting is by using a spinner live bait fishing rig combination. Whe you are fishing stained or low visibility waters the combination of a spinner with live bait vibrating through the water gets game fish in the area excited.

The flash of a blade in combination with vibrations will sometimes help catch fish when it seems like they have “turned off”. A spinner bait live bait fishing rig combo will also help you catch fish if there is an abundance of bait fish in the area. Many times game fish in this situation will only feed for short periods of the day so you need something more to get their attention.

You can fish what is called a safety – pin spinner fishing rig or a jig with an added safety pin spinner to work weedy cover. The safety – pin spinner arm protects the hook on the jig from constantly getting fouled up with weeds.

You can purchase purchase many different spinner fishing rigs designed specifically to be fished tipped with live bait but many fisherman would rather design their own. You can make your own spinner fishing rigs easily by threading a clevis and a few beads on the line in front of the hook. or tip a weight forward spinner bait with live bait such as nightcrawlers or bait fish.

Spinner live bait combos are used to catch such game fish as walleyes,smallmouth bass,northern pike,muskies,crappies,sunfish,trout and salmon. The types of hooks and sinkers used with the spinner bait fishing rigs depends on the size of the fish you are targeting and what type of cover you are fishing in.

Well that concludes my article about bait fish. Have a great day and the the best of luck to you on your next fishing trip

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It is very important to understand a few simple pointers when you go to purchase your crappie minnow bait fish at your local bait shop or at any bait shop. Many times we do not have time to catch our own bait fish for our fishing trips so we go to our local bait shop to purchase some. In most case this works out just fine. Unfortunately there are so many bait fish that make great live fishing bait presentations that you cannot purchase in at at bait dealer, but for the basic bait fish types or worms bait shops work fine.

One thing you may not know, bait shops do not adhere to any set standards on naming the bait fish they sell many times they list their baits as they are called by the local fisherman in the area. For example they may be selling rosy red minnows but they advertise them as tuffies which in truth they are not. Rosy red minnows are actually a type of commercially raised fathead minnow used for crappie fishing that is sold throughout the United States and Canada to bait dealers. My point here is you need to be able to identify what type of bait fish you are wishing to purchase. It does make a difference depending on what type of gamefish you are targeting.

You also need to inspect the bait fish the bait shops have in their bait tanks to make sure they are healthy. Here’s a few tips to help with your inspection:

Number – 1

Look in the dealers bait tank to see if the bait fish are swimming in tight formation at the bottom of the tank. This is a clear sign of healthy bait fish.

Number – 2

Have the dealer pull a few bait fish up with a bait net so you can inspect them. If any of these fish have a red noses or missing scales, or have white fungus on their bodies, DO NOT BUY these fish are are sick and they probably have infected or weakened the rest of the bait fish in the tank. These fish will be dead before you can ever use them on the water. Go to another bait shop if you can.

Number – 3

If any of the fish pulled out to inspect are discolored or darker then the others do not buy these fish are probably sick also and have probably infected the other fish in the tank. Don’t get the the dis colored fish confused with breeding males. Breeding males will be darker then the other fish but will have tubercles on the top of their head. These fish are healthy but really not a preferred bait either over the lighter females.

Number – 4

As mentioned in tip number 3 breeding males do not work as well as live bait as do the lighter females so if you could have the bait dealer separate the dark males from the lighter females and purchase only the lighter females you will have better fishing luck.

You also need to keep your bait fish lively while you are transporting them and also while you are fishing heres a few tips to keep them lively:

Number – 1

We suggest you purchase at minimum a battery powered aerator they work on the same principle as aerators that you see on in door tropical fish tanks. You can purchase them at any department store that sells fishing supplies or you can purchase them on line at bass pro shop or cabala’s. As soon as you transfer the bait fish you have purchased install the aerator and turn it on. you will be surprised how many fish you can loose if you don’t do this little simple step.

Number – 2

Normally bait shops keep their water temperature in their tanks much cooler then the outside temperature. To make sure the water temperature in your bait bucket does not go up rapidly, drop a few ice cubes in every few minutes. this will keep the water cool for the duration of your fishing trip and save you some money.

Well that concludes my article about crappie minnows. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!

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bait fish

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The art of of fishing smaller fish for bait is no big secret but you need to learn what bait fish work best and how to use them for different game fish. Bait fish are probably the most popular and widely used type of live bait world wide used for both freshwater and saltwater fishing. Freshwater Anglers use bait fish to catch small 6 inch freshwater panfish such as bluegills or yellow perch on up to large sturgeon. Saltwater anglers use bait fish to catch marlin,sailfish and Spanish mackerel just to name a few. Most all saltwater predator gamefish can be caught using a combination of some type of bait fish. Most freshwater fisherman use smaller fish as a live bait, but these baits can be cut into pieces called cut bait also. This is a very good method of fishing for multiple sub species of the catfish. Many saltwater fisherman use live bait fish also but using bait fish as cutbait is very common and preferred by many saltwater anglers.

Many of the bigger predator game fish with feed mainly on smaller game fish for example bluegills or yellow perch, or even small fish in their own species. As the game fish grow to trophy size, their food diet reaches nearly 100 percent smaller game fish. The reason we mention this is because you can use thus information to your advantage. You need to make your bait selection based on the size of gamefish you want to catch. Most gamefish will go after baits that are close to the size of bait fish they normally eat in their natural food chain. One thing we need to mention is to check with your local state or providence department of natural resources to see if it legal to use gamefish such as bluegills, sunfish or yellow perch as live bait. In some states and Providences it is not legal. Another factor when selecting your bait is the liveliness and hardiness. You are probably wondering why this makes a difference but this is a very important factor because most game fish, especially predator gamefish will not strike dead baits.

Typically the following bait fish are very hardy as live bait and will stay alive for long periods of time. they include fathead minnows, rosy reds, American eels, and madtoms. The following bait fish are know to be hardy and with a small about of care will last long periods of time too. They include daces, creek chubs, redtail chubs, stonerollers, white suckers, goldfish, sculpin, bluntnose minnows, and bluegill. all of the listed hardy bait fish need to be kept cool and have fresh air aerated to the bait container. The following list is of delicate bait fish and probably a bad choice for live bait unless you catch them and intermediately use them as bait, or have a very good bait tank on your boat that circulates water from the water source you are fishing into your bait tank. They include the common shinner, golden shinner, red shinner, yellow perch, killfish, emerald shinner, spottail shinner, ciscos,shad, and smelt.

Hooking your bait fish the right way is often overlooked and probably the main reason many people have lost fish they thought they had hooked. If you are targeting smaller gamefish such as crappie, bluegill , yellow perch and using small bait fish there are literally dozens of different hooking methods. As a rule of thumb, as your bait fish get larger your rigging options get smaller. Also the body size of your bait fish can give you different hooking options. For example a long thin body bait fish such as a sucker give you more hooking options then say a deep body bait fish such as a blue gill. Don’t overlook how you hook your bait fish it is a very important part of using bait fish to catch. gamefish correctly.

I want to thank you for reading my article about yellow perch. Have a great day and the the best of luck to you on your next fishing trip

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walleye fathead minnows

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If you are a walleye fisherman using bait fish as a live bait presentation is your best chance for success. There are many ways to rig bait fish for walleyes such as using a slip sinker rig with a plain hook, a slip sinker rig with a floater a slip bobber rig, a split shot rig, a jig and a minnow, a spinner rig with a slip sinker or bottom bouncer, a jigging spoon with a whole minnow, or spin rig with a minnow. The rigging method you select will depend on the size of the baitfish you are using and the size of the walleyes you are targeting, and whether you are going to use your bait fish as a  live bait presentation or fish them as strips of cutbait or dead bait.

The norm walleye, saugeye , and pickerel live bait fish of choice consistently are 2 inch to 4 inch fathead minnows, shinners, madtoms daces and bluntnose minnows. The standard hook range when you are going to fish with live bait for walleye, saugeye , and pickerel ranger from a number 8 to a number two size. The type of hook that seem to work very well is the circle hook.

Hooking Methods:

• Hook your bait fish through the lips. Push the hook from the bottom up.

• Hook your baitfish through the snout. Hooking through the snout will leave more of the hook exposed especially the barb tip, which is very important when you set the hook

• Hook your bait fish out of the gill through the back. Push a long shank hook point through the mouth out the gills and through the back. This method will hold the baitfish securely but will usually kill it.

• Hook your baitfishes through the nostrils. Slide the hook through the nostrils with the barb pointing to the side.
  

• Hook your baitfish through the tail. If you are going to free-lining for walleye this is the best method for hooking.

• Hook your bait fish through the back.Slide your hook through the back right behind the dorsal fin, make sure the hook back is pointing upward.

Stay tuned for some more walleye, sauger, and pickerel fishing articles on how to fish with bait fish in the future. Have a nice day ! i sincerely hope the information I have provided will help you on your next fishing trip.

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