Feeding Frenzy Live Bait

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2020-2-1  Conery: This was no dream, but a feeding frenzy “Is Alfred Hitchcock around?” she asked. I just smiled. The scene before us was fantastic. Birds going crazy, splashes, bait fish jumping—a blitz! To keep the feeding frenzy going, we switched from live bait to Berkley Gulp! Grubs and maggots to eliminate the need to re-bait. On the advice from Woody, we also began working in pairs. When one angler found fish, another was never more than a few feet away. Bait selection when catfishing at night or during the day is always going to be a crucial factor in determining your overall success. Depending on what bait you use at night and what bait you have grown to like, you may have come accustomed to bait such as chicken livers, stink bait or maybe even live bait if your river fishing at night.

Ice Fishing Feeding Frenzy by Fishing the Wildside with Tommy Skarlis
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Fish have a brain about the size of a pea. They have a stomach that’s roughly 20 times that large.

Fortunately for those of us who love to fish through the ice, one feeds the other.

While a crappie or perch isn’t capable of figuring out where to find a meal when the pickings get slim in the middle of a Midwestern winter, sustenance is survival, and instinct drives those fish to feed. In the aquatic world, that means reacting to visual, audio and olfactory (sense of smell) stimulation.

Most anglers have brains about 1,000 times larger than fish, yet we aren’t that much different when it comes to satisfying our appetites.
We’ve been known to rush into restaurants so we can eat before the vanload that just pulled in beside us. We’ve been known to respond to sensory data, whether it’s advertising or a rich aroma that wafts around us.

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Being intelligent creatures, this is information we should be able to use to our advantage. If we can stimulate the fish we pursue, it follows that we should be able to catch them. What many anglers don’t consider is that there are often multiple fish attempting to react to the same stimuli at the same time.

Our challenge isn’t only to create the sight, sound and scent to create a feeding frenzy through our choice of lures and bait, it’s also to keep the fish interested and to sustain that binge as long as possible.

Those who are successful often leave the ice after catching numerous fish. Those who don’t take advantage of these opportunities don’t know what they missed.

I remember an outing last winter on Rainy Lake with Woody, the legendary guide from Woody’s Fairly Reliable Guide Service located in Ranier, Minn. It was a warm, sunny day, so our group of four anglers chose to fish without shelters. We quickly drilled about 40 holes (a task made incredibly easy with the use of a StrikeMaster Lazer Mag power auger) in a deep bay with a mud bottom that serves as a wintering area for crappies.

Then we methodically worked our way from hole to hole using our sonar units to find the pods of fish that were roaming the bay. When a crappie would appear, we’d work it over with Lindy Techni-Glo Frostees and Genz Worms tipped with livebait. Woody’s lure of choice was a Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon.

Usually, by the time we enticed that initial fish to bite, several more were visible on the sonar, undoubtedly attracted by the commotion of the lure and movement of the initial crappie. However, they were often gone before we’d get the first crappie landed and unhooked and our lure re-baited.

To keep the feeding frenzy going, we switched from live bait to Berkley Gulp! grubs and maggots to eliminate the need to re-bait. On the advice from Woody, we also began working in pairs. When one angler found fish, another was never more than a few feet away. And when one of us pulled a crappie onto the ice, the other immediately dropped a lure into the same hole to the fish waiting below.

By targeting those frenzied pods of hungry fish rather than waiting for them to come to us, our catch rate increased dramatically.

We were able to take that approach because of the mild weather on that particular day. Most mid-winter outings in the upper Midwest aren’t quite as inviting, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the same approach to increase our catch.

When forced into a more stationary approach where we need the shelter of an ice tent to protect us from the elements, the trick is to draw the fish to us and then provide the stimuli to create a feeding frenzy.

I always try to avoid setting up my Otter shelter until I can find fish with my sonar unit. However, they have sometimes moved on by the time I’m ready to get after them. That’s when I dig out an extra rod that I have rigged with a Berkley Frenzy Power Rattl’r.

The Power Rattl’r was designed for open-water applications, but it works well for attracting fish under the ice because it’s visible, it creates noise with the rattles and vibration it causes when jigged aggressively, and because the tail is constructed of Power Bait to add scent to the menu.

Walleyes, Northerns and panfish on the large side will often eat the bait, but because of it’s size, I primarily use the Frenzy Power Rattl’r as an attractor, downsizing to smaller baits if the fish show up and just “eyeball” the Rattl’r. My other favorite lures for attracting fish are Lindy Rattl’r Spoons and Flyer jigs while fishing partner Chip Leer prefers Northland Airplane Jigs and Forage Minnow Spoons worked aggressively. A generous dollop of Power Attractant on these lures completes the effect.

A few wily old veteran anglers have been using the scent approach for years by wrapping a handful of waxworms, freshwater shrimp or minnows along with a couple of sinkers in nylon netting and lowering that to the bottom. Now, with the advent of scented baits like Gulp! and PowerBait, an angler can attract fish and catch them with the same offering.

I like to keep two rods ready to go with different lure profiles, and different baits – one with PowerBait and one with Gulp! This not only gives the fish two different “looks”, but it also arms me with a second presentation to quickly offer the fish if the first one gets “fowled”! I’ll also tip both presentations with live bait if it’s convenient. If the fish pick off the live bait, I can almost always pick them back up and catch them with the Powerbait or Gulp!, whereas most anglers would sit “un-bit” due to the lack of any bait at all on the hook. More often than not, I’ll skip the live bait because the scented artificial bait is all it takes to keep them “on the feed”.

Finally, it pays to draw the fish up in the water column as much as possible. I’ve found that time and again, if I can take a fish sitting tight to the bottom and pull it four to eight feet up, it will attract other fish in the immediate area.

When these other fish watch one of their cousins eyeballing a lure a few feet off the bottom, they often inch their way into the picture beneath the action and remain there, becoming even more interested when you yank that first fish from the water above them.

That’s when you can create a catching frenzy!

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Cast nets are excellent tools for catching bait. They work well in the surf, along shorelines and from boats. To catch bait effectively, a quality cast net is important. Cheap versions may not open or sink correctly, which allow fish to escape in some situations.

Minnow traps are easy to use. These traps consist of 2 bucket shaped sections that snap together. Each half is made of wire and has a funnel shaped entrance. A line secures the trap to a dock or piling. The trap is baited with fish scraps, bread, raw chicken necks or other baits and left overnight. Minnow traps work well for smaller baits such as minnows and grass shrimp.

Spot, small perch and other baits can be caught using fish traps. These are special traps which are designed to catch fish more than crabs. Cans of cat food are sometimes pierced enough to leak and used for bait in spot traps. Other baits such as fish scraps can also be used for attracting baitfish to the trap. Always check local regulations before attempting to catch bait with traps.

Seines work well but are bulky, expensive and require a large amount of effort. Seines are fine mesh nets with a pole on each end. Fishermen work in pairs, pulling the net across the bottom and up onto a shallow shoreline. Seines will catch practically everything in their path, including small fish, crabs, shrimp and other baits.

Dip nets are sometimes useful, especially at night under lights. An area can be dipped blindly, or sprinkled with cat food and swept with the dip net after a few moments.

Perhaps the easiest way to catch bait is with a sabiki rig. This special leader features a daisy chain of small lures. Anglers sometimes bait the sabiki hooks with tiny bits of bloodworm as an added attractant. The rig is then slowly worked along the bottom near pilings or over structure. The rig will catch spot, perch, herring and even silversides or other species of minnows.

Finding live bait while fishing in the ocean can be difficult. There are a few possibilities, but rarely can any option be relied on totally. One option is to stop on a wreck or reef and jig artificial lures for small fish.

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Also worth checking are buoys or floating debris. Often small jacks or other pelagic fish will congregate under floating objects and strike a small flashy lure or a light leader and baited hook. In some cases a bottom rig will also catch small fish, depending on the location.

As night falls in the ocean, options get better. Squid, tinker mackerel or other baitfish often appear around the lights of an anchored boat at night. Squid will take a baited line, or special jig, while tinker mackerel will eagerly attack the essential Sabiki rig which should be standard equipment on summer overnight trips.

Learning to brine baits is a good way to use leftover fishing bait. Brining will preserve and toughen bait, making it suitable for freezing and more useful after thawing.

A basic method for brining baits - Kosher Salt Coating

Step 1. Prepare baits by rinsing in sea water. Cut larger baits such as fish bellies or squid into strips.

Step 2. Add baits and coarse kosher salt to a ziploc bag and shake vigorously. Add enough salt to thoroughly coat all the baits.

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Step 3. Purge excess air from the bag and freeze.

Most baits will remain somewhat flexible due to the salt, even when frozen. Well brined baits often last up to a year.

How to Correctly Bait Your Fishing Hook to Catch More Fish

So you are about to start fishing. First things first, you need to bait your hook. Do you know the correct way to bait you hook? Below are some tips that will help you attract and catch more fish by simply baiting your hook better.

Firstly, you need to use sharp hooks. Buy new hooks frequently and replace your old ones. If you keep your hook on the line for a long period of time you should sand the point to keep it nice and sharp. Try to buy the best hooks you can (if you buy the cheapest you may save a few dollars but in the long run is it worth it?).

Hooks vary in size, shape and color so go for the hook that is best for the fish you are targeting. If you're not sure, ask the people in your local fishing store. Some fish are supposedly attracted to red hooks (some sand varieties of fish target bloodworms and can be attracted to the red color of the hook) but a plain silver hook will usually do.

So you are ready to bait your hook. It sounds very easy but are you really baiting your hook correctly? Below are some common bait varieties and suggested ways to apply them to your hook.

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1) Shrimp (prawn) should be put on the hook tail first and so the body of the shrimp curls up into the shape of the hook. Most people bait shrimp the other way (head first) but this will cause the shrimp to fall off more easily. Try to keep the hook entirely in the shrimp when threading through. Most fish species don't mind if the shell is left on. Some people believe in de-shelling the shrimp but this takes time and often makes them soggy and they may fall off the hook easier. You can take the head off the shrimp as this often makes the shrimp too big to fish with if left on (and as an added bonus you can add the heads of the shrimps to your burley bucket to attract more fish)

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2) Octopus should be baited using the tentacles foremost so they cover the hook. As with the prawn the octopus should thread over the hook to disguise it.

3) Squid is a good bait as it is hardy, easy to place on a hook and is hard for nibbling fish to nibble off. Just thread the squid over the hook and once again try to disguise the hook with the bait. Also try to use the softer parts of the squid body as some fish may not like the harder parts found near the head.

4) White bait, Mulie or any other small fish really needs to be hooked with a gang of hooks (at least 3 hooks in a row) otherwise they simply slide off the hook.

So next time you are baiting your hook, take the time to try to disguise your hook and make sure that the bait sticks on your hook securely. This will help you catch more fish and save you time as you will not have to keep replacing your bait.

Sea Fishing Bait

If you are getting ready to go deep-sea fishing, there are a few things you might want to know about sea fishing bait. Depending on how adventurous you are, you may want to go shark fishing with gut buckets full of chum and fish guts as your bait, or you might want to use boxed, frozen shrimp that comes from the store to catch yellow-fins for bait.

Of course, many of the bait stores around the beaches have live fishing bait, such as crabs or prawns and shad or you might opt for the frozen squid, shad sides or other offerings that the locals use.

It all depends on what you are fishing for and whether you are deep-sea fishing where the biggest fish are found or you are fishing from a pier or beach fishing, where more varieties of smaller fish might be. When it comes to fishing bait, most of it is going to be things that you will naturally find in the ocean, for the most part.

Most large fish prefer live bait, so many of the frozen baits are used to catch baitfish. If you consider catching anchovies, herring, sardines and mackerel, as part of your fishing expedition, you will have fishing bait that is part of a large fish's natural diet. After you have caught your bait, it is important that you hold it in an aerated bait box to keep them lively during your fishing trip.

Other things like live crabs and other baitfish will work nicely for the fish that search for food by signs of struggle or by sight. For fish like sharks and barracuda, the sea fishing bait doesn't have to be alive, just smelly and bloody, and once you have attracted them to the area, they will hit on almost any kind of sea fishing baits.

Some of the charter fishing boats will give you clam strips, live crab or pieces of crab bodies, such as legs, cut bait or squid and spearing. Others use herring or mackerels and bait that is about nine inches long is standard but some of the cut bait can be the most successful.

You have to keep in mind that many ocean going fish are used to eating remnants of other fish that have been left behind in a feeding frenzy. Even jellyfish and octopus can make good live bait, when you are considering sea fishing bait. Charter fishing boats usually have a pretty good idea of what kinds of fish are biting on what live baits and most of the beachside saltwater tackle shops know, too.

If you know where and when you will be deep-sea fishing, it is worth finding out what is working best, if you can get some kind of fishing report. Because many of the ocean fish are migratory, there are different fish that are biting on different things, year round on most ocean fishing areas, especially in the tropical regions. Like any freshwater fishing, sometimes, the best sea fishing baits are the natural baits they will run across in their habitat.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/how-to-catch-and-store-bait-for-saltwater-fishing-3896425.html

Jeff Bennett

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