By William Milheim
From the July 2011 issue of Susquehanna Fishing Magazine. To download this and all back issues free, visit SusquehannaFishing.com:
http://susquehannafishing.com/
We’ve come a long way, if you have been following along with the elements of fishing article series, from weather to selecting artificial bait. This month we’ll look into live bait and how to collect it along the river.
“Natural” or “live” bait comes in many forms, and most will attract the fish you are after. Our target fish will be the smallmouth bass. Most live bait will attract a smallmouth. In regards to worms, most of the garden variety will work just fine. Minnows, leeches, crawfish, stone fly nymphs, mad toms grass hoppers, and crickets all work well also.
When I was a kid I laughed at a man who was buying night crawlers at a bait shop. I thought it was odd that he would purchase something so abundant, as well as easy and fun to catch. Often my farther and I would go down to the river with no bait. We would spend some time gathering what we could find along the banks and in the water, then go fishing. Times have changed, but the use of live bait remains relatively unchanged.
A lot of lessons were taught by my father on those evenings along the river collecting bait. While holding an insect, I’d ask “Have you ever caught a bass on this?” He would always answer, “Hook it up and see.” I‘ve caught bass on slugs, beetles, tent caterpillars, whatever I could find, either on the shore or in the water.
Care must be taken while hunting bait, either in the water or on land. Some insects are sticky, like slugs, and others may bite. Turning over rocks to find bait can be a frightening experience, from huge fishing spiders to coiled-up snakes.
The author and his buddy, Scott Baker, collecting bait.
As I said, you can’t go wrong with worms for bait. Any fish in the river will eat a worm. One way to harvest worms is with a shovel. Turn over the soil and pick the worms out. On a rainy night, head out with a flashlight and look for night crawlers. I prefer night crawlers (night walkers). They are a longer and beefier worm. Rainy nights are the best, as the rain fills up their holes and they come to the surface. They are very quick to go back in their hole if they feel your footsteps or if you shine your light on them for too long. After a dozen or so you will get in the grove and be a night crawler picker. Make sure that you put them in good soil and keep the soil moist. A damp rag overtop the soil will keep them for a long time.
Minnows are a good choice to entice almost every fish in the river. I use a minnow trap, which you can purchase at any sporting goods store. I bait the trap with a rolled up ball of bread. Throw the trap in water where you see good sized minnows, wait an hour or so and pull it up. Keeping minnows alive until you fish or while you are fishing is a bit more complicated. They take some effort on your part. Captured minnows will not live long without oxygen. Either keep them in a minnow bucket in the water at all times, or purchase a portable aerator to give them that much needed oxygen.
Leeches are great bait for smallmouth… I admit, I do purchase leeches. I’ve never found a spot where I could harvest them where they are as big and long as store bought ones. Leeches do well in the container they are sold in, provided the water is on the cool side. Try to keep the container out of the sun. They will not live if they are subjected to water temperature changes. They do well in a refrigerator.
I use a stream net to collect stone fly nymphs, mad toms, and hellgrammites. The net is three feet wide and three feet high. Place the net in moving water. Have a buddy move upstream from the net and start turning over rocks. Every now and then pull up the net to collect your harvest.
Mad Toms (stone cats) are a small catfish that I catch using a stream net in fast water, turning over rocks in the front of the net. Mad toms are excellent smallmouth bait. They can be kept like minnows. Be aware that they have pointed barbs on their pectoral and dorsal fins that will give a painful puncture wound.
Stone fly nymphs and hellgrammites can be kept like minnows as well, and caught using a stream net. Hellgrammites are excellent bait. I have yet to see a smallmouth pass up a mite. Stone flies are great bait also. They can be kept with minnows, and like the minnows, they need oxygen to stay alive. Keeping your hellgrammites in a minnow bucket with an aerator will work, but they love to fight each other. If you keep them in water, use a clean piece of balled up burlap, and put it in the water, this provides them cover. Hellgrammites can be kept out of water as well, just wet and wring out a piece of burlap and place them in. Be very careful with a hellgrammite, they love to pinch.
Crayfish you can either collect by walking along the shore or with a net. Either way it’s best to turn over rocks in the water. Remember, they also pinch. Crawfish will keep in a minnow bucket with an aerator.
I spend a lot of time collecting and keeping bait. I still find it fun. I don’t have the large quantities of bait on hand as I did when I was a kid. I do find myself re-living those nights along the river collecting bait and learning about the world around us.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different live baits. You would be surprised at what a fish will eat. Remember, fish are opportunistic feeders, they can’t wait for their meal to arrive in a white Styrofoam container.
Next month we will be looking into the most important element of fishing, bait presentation.
Bill Milheim has been fishing and guiding the North Brach of the Susquehanna River for over 25 years.
