Live bait bassing.

Richard Gene inspired me to do some live bait fishing for bass. Yesterday was my first go at it. Fortunately, I live close to the very place he films most of his live bait videos, so I knew exactly what to do.

It’s a learning curve, but I managed to put 2 largemouth, 8 or so spots and a stripe in the boat. 5 of them measured. I’m hooked and plan on going back for more Friday.

None of these were monsters, but it was fun and, I got to fish in the shade all day!

Very fun.....though my cast net skills are just a tad bit rusty....I mean damn rusty

Yeah, I’m still working on that too. I can catch bait pretty good in shallow water, but I’m not good in water more than 5’ deep. I only have a 5’ net though. I caught all my bait right up against the grass. It makes a mess in the boat. 😆

Same here.....my pontoon looks like a TVA weed boat when I’m done and have 3 dead shad to show for it

I caught several threadfin shad and a bunch of shiners. The one in the pic is about 6” long, but most were about 4”. The shad were all about 4”. I feel like I got better bites on the shad vs the shiners.

You know those spots don’t have to measure on Guntersville.

I know, but some would have. If it wasn’t so hot I’d carry a few home.

I should have hollered at you. I fished alone all day.

I love live bait fishing. We do it a few times a summer. Gotta a couple of spots we do it at on Guntersville and we catch some sure enough toads

The thought of fishing a small bluegill under a cork next to the weeds has crossed my mind. Dunno if I’ll ever do it but I e thought about it.

👍🏻 I ‘ll keep a limit of 12 in spots in a heartbeat. A lot of folks think they have to measure.

Some of the biggest bass will only take live bait.

You need my bait tank: http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2887540&#Post2887540

I'm in Pisgah often, just sayin.

I grew up cast netting shad and i can guarantee you that you want ever catch more big bass back to back than fishin with live shad..gottah gettem in a bucket with a good aereator or theyll kill out quick...an dont putem in anything you dont want a million little scales to clean up inwe free spool them tho with good sized spinnin reels...i always liked usin worm hooks cause they are long and thin..but wed chase down a school of shad..netum..and hookem right through the top lower back kinda towards the tail a little an lobbem 30ft or so an turn the drag all the way down...trick is watchin the bow in your line and payin attention to what direction you minner is flutterin around..sometimes your minner will flutter right on top which is deadly..An sometimes hell pull againtst the bow and drift down in the water column some...this is an old way of bass fishin and the best way to catch bigguns..bout 2014 me an my brother caught about 10 fish kne day an the smallest one went a little over 5lbs and the biggest was nearly 9lbs..theys certain times of year when its better post spawn and the coolish down time from now on through october...when i always did the best anyway...one week close to the end of september we caught probly 40-50 fish that weighed an average of 3.5-6lbs...caught some good sized stripe doin this too.

That's how me and my brothers got our start bass fishing,,,

brother and I used to fish Lake Jackson and Carr Pond (Fl) with big shiners in the day and big muskie jitterbugs at night. That damn night time jitterbugging is exciting.

Jitter Bug at night sounds like a good time !

when an 8 pounder slams one it sounds like someone dropped a refrigerator on it, esp if it happen as you start to lift it at the rod tip!!!!

It is a very effective way to catch big bass. Mr Ed Herron used to run a sporting goods store in Pine Hill when I was a young man. In the summer when there would still be a few hours of daylight to fish after he closed the store in the evening, he and his wife would take some shiners over to a local place called The Sportsman Pond and fish them under corks. You should have seen the walls at his house. Looked like the walls at a taxidermist shop.

That was a great pond too. At one time I bet you that half the people in town that had a bass mounted on their wall caught it at that pond. There was a 13 lb 12 oz bass caught out of that pond. Sadly the damn broke on it and it completely drained away decades ago.

I have live bait fished all over the state of Florida for many years. Live shiners, bream, suckers, and shad all work well. Huge baits for big bass! I use a 5/0-6/0 Kahle hook under a balloon and almost never lose one. The Stick Marsh/Farm 13 area has made a great come back and is an outstanding place for live baiting.