Bait Fish

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We recommend that you use some type of portable bait fish tank whether you are fishing from a boat or from the bank. Your bait fish will last much longer. You do not need to spend allot of money. You can make a aerated portable bait tank for very little money. I use both the cooler and a 5 gallon pickle bucket as my bait tank on my pontoon boat. The whole bait fish tank consists of a old ice cooler, or a 5 gallon pickle bucket, a bilge pump I purchased from Wallmart for 29$ make sure the pump you buy is portable and can be moved to any bait tank you choose. (make sure you buy one with small alligator clips to hook to your battery, and one that has suction cups to stick to the bottom of your tank )

This section will include freshwater fishing baits, and saltwater baits. The freshwater bait section will include fathead minnows (tuffie, mudminnow), rosey red minnow, bluntnose minnow, creek chub, horneyhead chub (redtail), blacknose dace, redbelly dace (rainbow), golden shiner, emerald shinner, spottail shiner, common shiner, red shinner, goldfish, white sucker, madtom (willow cat), sculpin (bullhead, muddler), shad, skipjack herring, cisco (lake herring, tullibee), smelt, killfish, bluegill or sunfish, yellow perch, American eel, and freshwater shrimp. Our saltwater bait fishing section will include skipjack herring, mackerel, smelt , mullet, mussel, saltwater shrimp, squid and tuna as bait.  We have located the how to fish bait fish section right at the top of the web page for your easy access. The specific details for each bait fish species will be located after the “how to fish with bait fish” section.

The art of of fishing bait fish is no big secret but you need to learn what bait fish work best and how to use them for different game fish. Bait fish are probably the most popular and widely used type of live bait world wide used for both freshwater and saltwater fishing. Freshwater Anglers use bait fish to catch small 6 inch freshwater panfish such as bluegills or yellow perch on up to large sturgeon. Saltwater anglers use bait fish to catch marlin,sailfish and Spanish mackerel just to name a few. Most all saltwater predator gamefish can be caught using a combination of some type of bait fish. Most freshwater fisherman use bait fish as a live bait, but these baits can be cut into pieces called cut bait also. This is a very good method of fishing for multiple sub species of the catfish. Many saltwater fisherman use live bait fish also but using bait fish as cutbait is very common and preferred by many saltwater anglers.

Many of the bigger predator game fish with feed mainly on smaller game fish for example bluegills or yellow perch, or even small fish in their own species. As the game fish grow to trophy size, their food diet reaches nearly 100 percent smaller game fish. The reason we mention this is because you can use thus information to your advantage. You need to make your bait selection based on the size of gamefish you want to catch. Most gamefish will go after baits that are close to the size of bait fish they normally eat in their natural food chain. One thing we need to mention is to check with your local state or providence department of natural resources to see if it legal to use gamefish such as bluegills, sunfish or yellow perch as live bait. In some states and Providences it is not legal. Another factor when selecting your bait is the liveliness and hardiness. You are probably wondering why this makes a difference but this is a very important factor because most game fish, especially predator gamefish will not strike dead baits.

Typically the following bait fish are very hardy as live bait and will stay alive for long periods of time. they include fathead minnows, rosy reds, American eels, and madtoms. The following bait fish are know to be hardy and with a small about of care will last long periods of time too. They include daces, creek chubs, redtail chubs, stonerollers, white suckers, goldfish, sculpin, bluntnose minnows, and bluegill. all of the listed hardy bait fish need to be kept cool and have fresh air aerated to the bait container.

You can make a aerated portable bait tank for very little money. I use both the cooler and a 5 gallon pickle bucket as my tank on my pontoon boat. The whole bait fish tank consists of a old ice cooler, a bilge pump I purchased from wallmart for 29$ the pump is portable and can be moved to any bait tank you choose. (make sure you buy one with small alligator clips to hook to your battery, with suction cups to stick to the bottom of your tank )

The following list is of delicate bait fish and probably a bad choice for live bait unless you catch them and intermediately use them as bait, or have a very good bait tank on your boat that circulates water from the water source you are fishing into your bait tank. They include the common shinner, golden shinner, red shinner, yellow perch, killfish, emerald shinner, spottail shinner, ciscos,shad, and smelt.

Hooking your bait fish the right way is often overlooked and probably the main reason many people have lost fish they thought they had hooked. If you are targeting smaller gamefish such as crappie, bluegill , yellow perch and using small bait fish there are literally dozens of different hooking methods. As a rule of thumb, as your bait fish get larger your rigging options get smaller. Also the body size of your bait fish can give you different hooking options. For example a long thin body bait fish such as a sucker give you more hooking options then say a deep body bait fish such as a blue gill. Don’t overlook how you hook your bait fish it is a very important part of using bait fish to catch. gamefish correctly.

How To Fish And Rig Bait Fish For Freshwater Fishing

Panfish such as crappies, sunfish, rock bass, warmouth, yellow perch, white perch (white bass)

For panfish use 1 1/2 to 3 inch fathead minnows, shiners, and redbelly dace (rainbows). Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Walleye, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass

For walleye, sauger, and smallmouth bass use 2 1/2 to 4 inch fathead minnows, bluntnose minnows, shinners, chubs, dace, and madtoms. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Northern Pike And Muskie

For Northern Pike And Muskie use 4 to 12 inch suckers, chubs, shiners, goldfish, yellow perch, smelt, and ciscos. If you are targeting trophy fish, use bait fish larger then 12 inches up to 15 inches in length. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Largemouth Bass

For Largemouth Bass use 4 to 8 inch golden shiners, shad, chubs, dace, killfish, American eels up to 12 inches long. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Catfish

For catfish use 4 to 12 inch suckers, chubs, skipjack herring, shiners, shad, goldfish, small carp,bluegills, and mackerel and bonito for cut bait. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Striped Bass

For Striped Bass use 6 to 12 inch shad, skipjack herring, golden shiners, bluegills, chubs, frozen anchovies, and American eels up to 18 inches long. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Trout

For Trout use 3 to 6 inch smelt, ciscos, shiners, chubs, suckers, and sculpins. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

Salmon

For Trout use 4 to 8 inch smelt, ciscos, and shiners, Coastal fisherman use skipjack herring, geat lake anglers use alewives which are species of herring. Here’s a list of rigging’s you can use:

For Saltwater Gamefish visit our saltwater bait fish web page by clicking here

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Fathead Minnow

Fathead minnows are one of the most common bait fish and have a habitat that includes small lakes, ponds and sluggish creeks. They are found throughout most of North America. The first ray of the dorsal fin is very short and the lateral band does not reach the eye. The make is much darker then the female as the picture shows. The lighter female is the preferred bait fish of many game fish.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Rosy Red Fathead Minnow

Rosy red minnows are the commercially raised version of the wild fathead minnow. they have the same looks except they are orange or pinkish in color. You will find rosy reds at most all bait stores.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Bluntnose Minnow

The bluntnose minnow lives primarily in large bodies of water but they can be fond in smaller bodies of water also. There habitat ranges from large lakes, small lakes, ponds and rivers throughout the Unite States. The bluntnose minnow has a short first ray of the dorsal fin and the lateral line extends to the eye socket.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Creek Chub

The creek chubs habitat includes creeks and small rivers mainly in the Midwest and Eastern United States. The creek chub’s habitat is what you would guess by the name, creeks, and smaller rivers, mainly in the Midwest and Eastern United States. The creek chub has two distinguishing marks, a black spot at the front of the dorsal fin and a black spot on the base of the tail.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Hornyhead Chub

The hornyhead chub is also called a redtail chub by some fisherman. It’s habitat is medium sized clear water streams in the North Eastern United States. The hornyhead or redtail chub get it’s name from the distinguishing little bumps called tubercles on the head of the breeding male. The horny head resembles closely the creek chub, but the fins and tails are more redish then the creek chub.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Blacknose-Dace

The blacknose dace has a visible black lateral band that from the tail to the nose. The sides of the dace are brown with scattered black scales. The blacknose dace is found primarily in the Eastern Half of the United States. The blacknose dace lives in small fast moving streams.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Redbelly-Dace

There are the northern redbelly dace and the southern redbelly dace and their habitat ranges an area west of the Rockies, from the Hudson Bay to Oklahoma. They are fond mainly in boggy lakes and small to medium sized streams. All Redbellies have a dark lateral band. they also have a reddish to yellowish belly.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Golden Shiner

The golden shiner is a deep bodied baitfish, which in fact is not a shiner at all. The golden shiner often grows to a foot in length. The sides of the golden shiner have goldish look and the belly has pointed keel. Their main habitat is weedy lakes and ponds in the Eastern United States and Southeastern Canada.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Emerald Shiner

The emerald shiner has a blue green back and silver sides. This shiner is found in Central Canada and the Eastern United States. It’s habitat is large lakes , reservoirs, and rivers.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Spottail Shiner

The spottail shiner is found in large lakes in most of Canada and Northeastern United States. The spottail is easily identified by the black spot found at the base of it’s tail. The back is pale olive and the sides are silvery.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Common Shiner

The common shiner has a deep body and larger scales then most of the shiner species. This shiner lives mainly in streams but also inhabits some clear water lakes. They range from Southern Saskatchewan to Colorado and Eastward to the Atlantic Coast.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Red Shiner

The red shiner gets it name from the breeding male’s redish head. The red shiner has a deeper body then the common shiner. They have a habitat area that covers from Southern United States and into Northeastern Mexico. They live in small streams.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Goldfish

The goldfish is actually a Asian native. Its habitat varies here in the united states but just about any freshwater area will hold gold fish. Most of the local populations come from people releasing their aquarium goldfish into the wild or from fisherman releasing their unused live bait. many bait stores sell gold fish or you can go to a tropical fish dealer and purchase them cheaply.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – White Sucker

The white sucker has a habitat range throughout the northern two thirds of the United States, and most of Canada. They are a very common bait fish in these areas. Large suckers are used to catch large catfish, pike, and muskies. Suckers are easily identified by sucker lips they have. they normally are olive to brownish color.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Madtom

The madtom is also called a willow cat. The madtom is a small brownish catfish that has a continuous fin from the middle of it’s back to the anal fin. Their pectoral fins are coated with venom and they can give you a very painfin sting if you get horned. They are most common in medium to large rivers in the Eastern United States but can be found elsewhere in the Midwest and Northeast United States.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Sculpin

The sculpin is also called a bullhead or muddler The sculpin is easy to identify because of their large broad heads. The sculpin or muddler, is has a habitat in the northern United States up into Canada and Alaska. The prefer small streams, but they are also found in large lakes.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Shad

There are too types of shad that make great live bait one is the gizzard shad and the other is the threadfin shad. The gizzard shad is much hardier of the two is the most common type bait fish used for fishing. The gizzard shad has it’s habitat in inland rivers and reservoirs throughout most of the Midwest and Eastern United States. The gizzard shad has a dark silvery body with and a long ray at the rear of the dorsal fin and a dark spot behind the head.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Skipjack Herring

Skipjack herring are mainly found in the Mississippi river drainage system. The skipjack herring is easy to identify by the perturbing lower jaw. It has a bluish to greenish back, and silvery sides and a whitish belly. The skipjack herring has a extremely oily flesh and makes great cutbait. Many catfish anglers from the south swear by it.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Cisco

Cisco, or often called lake herring or tullibee are native to large deep lakes of the Northern United States and Canada. Cisco are are ideal bait fish to be used as live bait because of their long slender bodies. Cisco’s have a greenish back, silvery sides and a small adipose fin behind the dorsal fin.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Smelt

The smelt is a marine species that entered the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway and has spread to allot of cold inland lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. Smelt look very similar to ciscos and share the same habitat. The smelts snout is more pointed then the cisco and smelt have large teeth.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Killifish

Killie fish live in fresh and brackish waters form South Eastern Canada to South America. Their dorsal fin is positioned father back then most fish, and they have a turned up mouth that make them easy to identify.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – Bluegill

The bluegill is part of the sunfish family. You can find bluegill through out the United States and Canada. They prefer warm water lakes and ponds that have plenty of weed cover. The bluegill is easy to identify because it has black ear lobe and a dark spot on the base of the dorsal fin.

Freshwater Bait Fish Description – Yellow Perch

The yellow perch is native to the Northern United States and Canada. They have also been stocked throughout the south. They are slender with a yellowish color and they have 6 to 8 vertical stripes down both the sides of their body. The can live fine in warm or cool waters with sparse to moderate vegetation.

Freshwater BaitFish Description – American Eel

The American eel spawn at sea but spend a great deal of their lifetime in freshwater. The enter freshwater areas through rivers along the coastal areas. They live all along the Atlantic and gulf Coasts of North America. The American eel will migrate great distances up stream. They are long and slender and look like a snake. They are easy to identify because of the rear fin that runs along their bodies.