Rows of plastic buckets stare back at you as you stands in front of bait well. Which one of those wriggling bucket do you think will actualy catch dinner? Now the pressure is on! It is a strange kind of pressure to pick live animal that might eat your hook or die before you even cast. Most guys approaches this process with a lottery ticket mentality. Something has to stick to the hook, right? Knowing how to match size eliminate this error.
As you can see in the chart above, there’s a connection between game fish and minnow species. A small bait work best for small panfish such as bluegill and crappie. Bait size is usualy one to two inches. For instance, if you’re trying to catch a three-inch crappie with a four-inch golden shiner, it won’t work. The bait are too big for the fish to handle. It’s a poor match. Plus, the size of the bait will spook the fish. Fathead and rosy reds is good examples of minnows that fit easy onto tiny hooks which allows delicate presentations that small mouths readily accept.
How to Choose the Right Bait
If you want to move into walleyes and bass then it’s time to go big on the bait. Remember, when it comes to conserving energy, fish (in particular, walleyes and bass) like a nice meal but dont want to work very hard to eat it. That’s why smaller baitfish such as bluntnose minnows and emerald shiners works well. Their two to three-inch body length matches nicely different than the middle-sized gamefish. As the chart indicates, match the length of your bait to the hook size.
A small fathead is perfect on a number eight. Creek chubs needs something bigger like a 10 or 20 hook. Go based off proportion here and you’ll miss some bites. Plus, you’ll get some gut hooked fish that won’t survives the fight.
Not only does selection of correct bait matter; so does keeping them alive. Live bait outperforms dead bait. Fish have a predatory instinct that kicks in when they see movement. The graphic explains how to maintain viable minnows. Long days on the water require aerated buckets. Warm weather deplete oxygen rapidly. Minnows will suffocates sooner then you think. Try to maintain water temperature within the range of fifty-five to sixty-five degrees. Maintaining this temperature preserves their energy reserves. Frequent water changes eliminate waste buildup that can foul the bucket, keeping your bait alive is tedious work but worth it. You should of known that.
Don’t mix minnows of various species together. Don’t mix minnows of various species together. If you do, the larger ones will consume the smaller ones. If you don’t separate them, you’ll wake up to half your bait gone. It’s an easy habit that will save you some money as well.
Baits that hold up to chasing big fish such as pike and musky works best. Tullibee minnows and ciscoes are a couple options. They’re big enough for big hooks and robust enough for repeated use. Use wire leaders to avoid getting bit off on sharp teeth.
You have to figure it out as you go with fishing. This chart gives you something to quickly reference so you can make fast choices. It takes the guessing game out of it. Now you don’t have to worry about which bait to use; you just cast and retrieve. Removing one variable increase your success. So when you head to the shop to buy some baits look at the size range. Consider what type of fish you’re targeting. Just because it’s moving doesn’t mean you should pick it up. Make a conscious decision. The fish will see the difference and you’ll have more success. Respect the natural food chain of who eats who.