Catching Your Own Fish Bait

Catch Your Own Bait Mealworm

You want to fish with live bait you go to the bait shop and buy some bait. What if you want to catch your own bait. After all you are limited on what types of bait you can buy at the local bait shop. If the end of the world, as we know it, happens you'll have to find your own bait. Here are some tips where to where to find commonly used baits.

Crickets are one of the most common baits. Great for pan fish like bluegills and sunfish. Crickets are pretty easy to find. You can find them in your house, or look outside under a few rocks, maybe in a local wood pile. You can find crickets most of the year somewhere.

Grasshoppers are almost as good as crickets. Finding them is more limited. You can find them in the tall grass during summer and early fall.

Mealworms are a great bait that can be bought at the local bait shop. Mealworms are a beetle larvae. These can't be found easily. If you are interested in cutting out the middleman you will have to raise them on your own. Wax worms, a moth larvae, are on the same level as mealworms and make a great bait. 

Catch Your Own Bait Minnow Trap Grubs are found in the ground. Just a little digging in a grassy area will turn them up. Some fish will eat them up.

Night crawlers and earthworms are a staple for catching fish. We all know digging them up is the easiest way to find them. At night we go out with a high powered light and catchthe big crawlers coming out of the ground but you got to be fast. You can always fiddle some worms. I plan to write an article on fiddle worms in the future.

Bass and crappie love minnows. We catch minnows in a seine. Seines are hard in the colder temps because you tend to get wet using a seine. There are many types of nets out there to catch minnows but usually require two arms so I stay away from them. During colder weather is when the old minnow trap comes in out. A minnow trap, some oatmeal, and you can catch all the minnows you need. We use the standard metal mesh trap but I am thinking about getting one of these glass traps.

Catch Your Own Bait WalleyeLarge Bass, Northerns and Muskies love the Frogs. Frogs are easily found in ponds and lakes. Catching them live is another story. But it can be done. With practice you can have enough frogs for fishing and a tasty dinner.

Walleyes regard leeches as soul food and walleye is perhaps the best tasting fish ever. The easiest way to catch leeches is to roll up your pants and walk through a swamp. This is effective but not fun. The next best way is to get yourself a big piece of beef liver. Throw it out into a swamp one evening. Go back the next morning and your liver will be full of leaches.

Minnesota 2013 Walleye Stamp

Fishing with live bait is a great way to catch fish. Catching your own bait is rewarding and fun.

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Posted by ES Team on 08 November, 2014 fishing, hobbies, how-to | 0 comments
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