Bait vs. lures

[ronaultmtd]

Been quite a while since I used any, but I when I lived in Tidewater I was mostly a live or natural bait fisherman- I spent countless hours gathering, catching bait and building/maintaining live bait tanks- nothing like a fresh lively corn cob mullet, big mud minnows or peanut menhaden...get 100 yards off the beach, float a live corn cob mullet- bam!- big king mackerel and cobia...both great fish on the grill...or drag a big mud minnow with strip of shark belly across the flats at Hospital Point in Hampton for doormat flounder...if you can keep the horse croakers off the hook...now-a-days I fish almost exclusively with lures- rarely use live bait- however, I have met several boat fishermen who have the techniques down pat- they have eel pots, minnow traps, etc. that they maintain- of course these folks also have the luxury of living on the water and having 24-7 access...
So what is your preference? Natural baits or lures?

[Mark]

Lures and flies.

I find it especially satisfying to catch fish on those I make.

[Fishinfool]

It depends on what fish I am targeting. If I am bottom fishing under piers for white perch earlier in the season (my season doesn't start until the w perch come into the shallows in force) I like live peeler if I can get it. The reason is that crab is irresistible for perch and the occasional striper or croaker, and you can make a bigger sturdier bait that keeps the dink perch at bay. If I can't get peeler, then razor clams or grass shrimp work but they do catch a lot of throw backs.

If I am trolling for rock; lures of course; mostly jigs with 4" Gulps.

[Huntrava]

The only thing I love more than catching fish on a lure is catching more fish. Since I can only work one lure at a time my method lately has involved both baits and lures. When drift fishing I usually put live/cut bait on a couple poles while working a lure.

[bunnielab]

I am too impatient to fish bait very often, hell, I can't even stand to fish a senko most days. I much prefer more "active" lures like reaction baits and fluke like plastics.

[kevinfry]

Not all bait is created equal. I like fishing with minnows. I troll them on spin-n-glo for walleye, minnow tipped jigs for walleye, northerns and pickerel......i am anxious to use them on a popping cork for specks. Fishing minnows is more active than cut bait.

[M1A4ME]

I've only freshwater fished.

When I was a kid we'd go to the creek and set out minnow traps. We go up the creek above grandma's house and catch crawdads and lizards (salamanders).

We'd spend a few hours over a couple/three days prior to Sunday and gather live bait. Then we'd go fishing on the Greenbrier or Meadow Rivers for small mouth or red eyes/rock bass. After awhile I lost interest in the crawfish and the minnows as we didn't catch a lot of fish with them. The lizards are another story. When the bass (smallmouth or rock bass) won't hit anything else they will nail a lizard hard. No fooling around. I mean nail them. Same hole in the river. Toss tiny torpedoes, toss mepps spinners, no bites. Toss a lizard in there and bam!! You catch fish.

That's the salamander out of the cold clear creeks in the mountains. The salamanders in the ponds/mud holes don't seem to interest fish at all. Different species and I guess a different smell/taste and the fish may hit at them, but don't "take" them for a good hook set.

[ronaultmtd]

Not all bait is created equal. I like fishing with minnows. I troll them on spin-n-glo for walleye, minnow tipped jigs for walleye, northerns and pickerel......i am anxious to use them on a popping cork for specks. Fishing minnows is more active than cut bait.

My experience using big mud minnows up here is they are candy for blue catfish- can't keep them off the bait- down in Tidewater they are primarily flounder candy, although croakers will eat them, too- never tried them with a popping cork or a Cajun thunder cork...I usually fish artificials under the corks...mostly Gulp shrimp