QUOTE="cjam93, post: 7410111, member: 141306"]Haha that is true mono is so much cheaper. Honestly if I used live bait i would likely do that as well. I cant tell you the last time I used live bait when I was bass fishing, Im not sure that I ever have haha it would be a lot of fun though! You should look up the J knot if you do use leaders much. It has been great for me and it is much easier than a blood knot. Course if I were for something really big I would likely switch from the J to a blood or alberto or something like that. For bass fishing though you cant beat the speed and ease of the J knot.[/QUOTE]
You NEVER used live bait for bass????!!! Jeez, Bro....you havn't lived yet LOL. Try getting your hands on some Hellgrammites...they are expensive but they last forever and you can catch like 6-8 fish on the same one before they finally shred it cuz it's skin is tough and leathery. They have venomous bites, not harmful, but it IS painful, so I grab them by the shell behind the head and run a size #4 Eagle Claw baitholder hook starting just behind the head, (at the start of the abdomen) under the shell and bring the point of the hook back out the opposite end of the shell on the back WITHOUT cracking or piercing the shell itself. When they start to get beat up after a few fish, they can be re-hooked in the tough part of the leathery posterior.
My biggest smallmouth ever was on a big crayfish w/ the claws broken off, Still-fished on olinaig, but w/ a 1/4oz. egg sinker instead of a bullet weight. Hook them in the last segment of the tail CAREFULLY making sure you don't hit the main artery that runs down the center of the tail or it kills them. Placing the slightly off-center in that segment is the answer. This keeps them alive and allows them free forward walking movement, and natural looking backwards swim movement as they attempt to flee from a hungry bass. Making every live bait appear natural is the key. I even hook my live niightcrawlers the way you'dhook a plastic worm/lizard weedless and bury the point so it's hidden from sight.
As far as quantity goes, live creek chubs, shiners, killifishes, darters, madtoms, baby bullheads, suckers and other baitfish in the 3-10-inch range will trigger the most strikes. The best thing about bass fishing with 8 or 10 inch baitfish is it leaves you open to other option such as Pike, Muskellunge, catfish and just about any predatory fish brave enough to hit on it. I've caught MANY Largemouths in the 17-20 inch range on baitfish that were 8-10 inches+, but then again I've done the same w/ fathead trout-minnows/rosy reds too.
If you really want some fun, try fly-casting a live cricket or other local insect that will stay in one piece on a hook. Unlikestandard fly-fishing, this method of live-baiting excludes false-casting, and you just make 1 long gentle cast and leave it, or if you have an abundance of bait, you can do some line-stripping as well. Big bass on fly tackle is great....mostly effective in the hot summer months
Some other option to try are small eels up to maybe 14-18 inches, but they are to be casted and retrieved slowly or they find a hole or a crevice and hang you up. Largemouth, Striped bass and Wipers will appreciate that presentation, while if you want to target bass with a side of Walleye, Leeches should be on the menu. Mind you, Horse-leeches are useless for fishing. To find out if you have Horse-leeches, place all your leeches outside in a bucket half-full of water an the ones that crawl out overnight are the horse-leeches. Take what's left in the bucket and have fun. Useful fishig leeches won't leave the water or can't climb....not sure which, but that's how you figure out the good ones from the bad ones.
