Live Bait Gathering & Keeping

When I was a youngster in the 1950s, the idea of buying live bait was never entertained in our household. "It's a waste of hard-earned money when you can get off your rear-end and gather all the bait you need," my father would tell me. "Trudging the creek with a seine or crouched over a wet lawn with a flashlight builds character."

He was right. Knowing how to gather makes you appreciate fishing that much more. Half a century later I'm satisfied that my character and appreciation are in tack, so I've been known to slip into a tackle shop on occasion to buy some worms or a dozen fatheads. But I would still rather gather my own – it's simply better bait.

If you have youngsters who are showing any interest at all in fishing, you should take the time to instruct them in bait gathering. Even if they are on their way to becoming purist fly-anglers or artificial-only tournament bass anglers – everyone should know the basics of bait gathering and what different fish species actually eat in the 'raw'. If you missed bait-gathering 101, here is what you need to know.

Garden Worms and Nightcrawlers

Start with the most universal live bait – the lowly worm. A favorite for trout, suckers and panfish, garden worms may be found in moist ground under debris (old planks, logs, leaf piles, old bricks, etc.). I strongly recommend wearing work gloves to move debris because other things live under there, too! Garden worms may also be dug from rich soil of gardens. Use a spading fork rather than a shovel to prevent chopping worms in half.

The big juicy nightcrawlers that walleye, bass, carp and catfish relish can only be gathered at night following a soaking rain from fertile, grassy yards. The worms poke part of their bodies out of deep borrows to eat decaying vegetation and to, well, with fish we call it spawning. Nightcrawlers will make hasty retreat when a bright light is flashed on them or the ground vibrates from heavy footfalls. Place a piece of red cellophane plastic over the lens of a flashlight to reduce spooking the 'crawlers, and walk lightly. Word of caution: This back-bending work is really for younger anglers.

Red worms and nightcrawlers may be kept for extended period of time in commercial worm bedding and worm habitat container. Ideally, store the containers in a refrigerator. Lacking approval to do that, keep the container in a very cool basement or garage – well away from possible ant pathways.

Baitfish

Big fish eat smaller fish. The species of you fish you seek helps determine the species and size of preyfish you want to use. Various minnows, chubs, shiners, and darters may be taken either by seining, or using a minnow trap.

A 4 x4 seine attached to two poles (broom handles) is effective in very small meadow creeks. With the seine spread across the width of the creek, move upstream to corner minnows in an undercut bank or funnel area. Traps are good choices for streams with deeper holes or too wide for a seine; bait the trap with crumbled bread and a can of fish flavor cat food.

Larger chubs and specific river bait (i.e. riffle runners, sand pike) can only be taken with a tiny hook (size 14 fly hook) baited with a single maggot. Chum a riffle with a few maggots and begin fishing.

Creek and river baitfish are delicate and require cool, oxygen-rich, chlorine-free water at all times. For long term storage (more than 24 hours), you should have a wire bait cage placed in a small, constant-flow stream. Or add an extension to a minnow trap, plugging the entrance ways with corks. Be sure your traps and minnow cage are labeled with your name and address or as required by local regulations.

During transportation from the catch site to the keep site or fishing site, you must have baitfish in an aeration system within an insulated, portable bucket or cooler. Another great option to keep baitfish lively for fishing is a Bait Tamer from Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle. A Bait Tamer can be trailed over the side of the boat or dropped into a livewell where it will keep baitfish alive for days.

What about a throw net for shad and alewife? Check local regulations regarding the use of cast nets in gathering bait. A throw net requires instruction from an experienced thrower – which I am not.

Crayfish

There are only two "types" of crayfish that I'll consider fishing with: a soft-shell of any size; and tiny yearling hard-shell crayfish from 1 to 2 inches in length. Soft-shells are best picked one-by-one at night during the early to mid summer months in shallow, still waters of creeks with the aide of a flashlight. Yearling crayfish come along about mid summer in shallow pools off the main current flow – the same places as soft shells.

Tiny hard-shell crayfish may be kept in a bucket with an oxygen bubbling system. Meanwhile, soft-shells should be stored in damp sphagnum moss (obtained at a greenhouse floral center). Kept in a refrigerator to stall the hardening process, they may remain "soft" for several days.

Hellgrammites

I love to gather hellgrammites, in part because smallmouth bass love to eat them! Collecting dobsonfly larvae requires that 4'x4' minnow seine on poles, a garden hoe or rake, and a friend. One person spreads the seine downstream of some flat rocks in a swift current while the second person uses the hoe to lift the rocks and scrape the undersides. Dislodged hellgrammites drift into the seine. Pick them up by grasping the sides of the head or the hard collar directly behind the head, otherwise the critter will curl around and pinch you.

Hellgrammites can climb any rough surface and squeeze through some remarkably small spaces. They should be kept in a smooth-sided container with secure lid and some type of oxygen enrichment system typically used for minnows. Have a couple flat rocks and some sphagnum moss in the bottom, and change the water every 2 days. Store the container in a cool place.