# Artifical, Dead or Alive Bait



## smitty (11 mo ago)

Which do you prefer to fish with. Artificial or Bait? I find bait to be a bit boring so I primarily use artificial. How about you? Do you have more success on bait or Artifical?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)




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## leon jones (Jan 13, 2022)

offshore it'z dead and artificial

inside the barrier islands/in the Laguna Madre it'z dead or alive

on inland(fresh) waters it'z all of the above


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## Drifter (Dec 13, 2018)

Bait fishing is so easy….on the fly most the time but if I get snuffed enough I’ll catch a pilchard and push my boat into the mangrove and catch a snook from like 6 feet away. Hookin is hookin up!


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## karstopo (Nov 28, 2019)

When my kids were little, I’d take a cast net and throw that in the surf and then put the small mullet on the circle hook alive and cut up the big mullet and put a chunk on the hook. Sometimes, we’d take a minnow seine and drag that and see what we’d get and then put that on a hook or in the aquarium if it looked extra nice. Most of the time the kids would play on the sand, but I’d get them to reel in fish and they loved the catching of the bait. Seems like I was always busy catching bait, putting bait on, casting out rods, reeling in fish, re-rigging, rinse, repeat. Sure was fun, but a lot of work too.

My buddy and I will go out and catch something in the cast net, mullet, maybe some big shad or menhaden and then run out in his Blue Wave and fish around the mouth of a river, bars, drop offs, maybe get some big bull reds until the sharks move in. Fun enough for a while.

Way back when, another buddy and I would run out late in the afternoon in the jon boat with some mud minnows and fish 8 rods around a particular reef in a particular bay and catch redfish. We’d stay out after dark and it was always fun being on the bay at night.

Offshore when I did that it was a mix of lures and mostly dead bait. Catfish on trotlines live bluegills. I’ve put a single live bluegill or tilapia on a rod with a circle hook off the dock and see what it gets. One time, I caught a lot of small crawfish and fished the surf with those and caught a ton of whiting.

But, for every time I’ve fished bait, there’s been many more trips fishing artificials. Artificials seem like a lot less work to me. No stops for throwing casts nets or stops and lines to wait in for buying bait. No keeping it alive or cutting it up, no dragging around bait buckets, no rebaiting after every fish.

I think it is fun making targeted casts and presentations with artificials. That doesn’t seem like work to me and fishing with bait can kind of feel like work at times. If I make a hundred or more casts with artificials on an outing, that was a great outing because I saw a hundred or more things I wanted to cast to, structure, sign or fish.


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## loganlogan (May 8, 2020)

I tie a line around my toe, drown a worm and take a nap.


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## WC53 (Dec 2, 2015)

How windy is it and did the boss lady want to go?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Noted the proposition and the question attached.... My answer is yes to all of the above - whatever it takes baby... and there are days when we actually do all three - and with every different kind of gear around. I do draw the line at hand grenades and other explosives though (don't ask...). Each kiind of gear has its own advantages and disadvantages - the same with bait (live or dead), lures, and/or flies... 

Remember that above all - it's supposed to be fun. I doubt that anyone I know will go hungry tonight because they didn't catch fish today... but we're just plain fortunate. I can think of quite a few places where a fish is the difference between hunger and getting fed...


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

There is a level of satisfaction teaching a 4-5 year old to catch fish on artificial lures and the fly that is unmatched by soaking bait IMO. Instant gratification mentality has ruined many aspects of life.


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## Kirc (Jan 18, 2020)

All work, all have their place (as said),........one big advantage artificials offer is you can cover more area quicker.


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## m32825 (Jun 29, 2018)

Kirc said:


> All work, all have their place (as said),........one big advantage artificials offer is you can cover more area quicker.


... and you don't have to stop at the bait shop on the way to the ramp!


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

Fly and artificial for me but during summer vacation I'll get some shrimp and let the kids catch a bunch of snapper or whatever. They also like to catch some pass crabs and we usually keep them to use. During the evening they use artificial.

My skiff doesn't even have a plumbed bait well so we'll use an a aereated 5 gallon bucket during this trips.


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## karstopo (Nov 28, 2019)

I’ve been on trips were we did it all on one outing, bait, live, dead, artificials and flies. Bait fishing, you still have to rig it right and throw it in the right place. I guess there’s almost automatic spots or situations and fish, but there are some pretty technical bait fishing spots with complex substrates, structures and currents that the set and weight has to be spot on and there’s a narrow payoff zone, the boat or line has to be positioned just so. I know there are some pretty technical bait fishermen out there that really understand how to rig things and where and when to place their sets. They really know their stuff and consistently outfish other bait fishermen. Anyway, I don’t see fishing with bait as necessarily non-technical or less demanding or anything. Maybe bait fishing can give someone that understands very little about fishing a better shot or opportunity at sort of randomly hooking up with fish, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some really skilled bait fishermen out there that can pull out great fish from places few others have figured out.


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## bcblues (Apr 10, 2018)

Live bait fishermen have to catch twice! Once FOR the bait, and again ON the bait! 

Different techniques require different skill sets. But there is a lot of overlap among those skill sets.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

After throwing artificials or flies all day I will park in the channel on an outgoing tide and throw out a big cut bait just to see what will take it, while I relax and grab a bite and maybe drink a cool one. I am building a special casting rod just for that, kind of light offshore one, because I have been spooled a few times doing it.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

I do it all. There is a great sense of satisfaction plopping a 10ft net on a pod of bait 18 feet deep that you read on the sonar. Hell some days just finding bait is tough. I’ll throw my arm off casting arti’s and flies all day long as well. As @lemaymiami stated, fishing is supposed to be fun.

Has anyone caught a hogfish on fly?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

leon jones said:


> offshore it'z dead and artificial
> 
> inside the barrier islands/in the Laguna Madre it'z dead or alive
> 
> on inland(fresh) waters it'z all of the above


Bwahaha ok Leon!


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## The Fin (Sep 28, 2021)

Megalops said:


> I do it all. There is a great sense of satisfaction plopping a 10ft net on a pod of bait 18 feet deep that you read on the sonar. Hell some days just finding bait is tough. I’ll throw my arm off casting arti’s and flies all day long as well. As @lemaymiami stated, fishing is supposed to be fun.
> 
> Has anyone caught a hogfish on fly?


There are times that finding bait just might be the highlight of the day!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

As already noted.. I'm not exactly a purist... I was taught and/or learned to use every kind of gear (short of hand grenades... don't ask...) and that's how we roll each day. Yesterday my anglers were into spin and fly gear so we started out tossing small lures at mangrove shorelines out of Flamingo. Our best fish was a slot sized snook that did it's best in shallow waters to snag us up. After it tethered itself to a downed tree we quickly moved in, raised the branch that had our line, did some quick branch snapping -and had the fish in hand (photo on Instagram until I can do a regular report).. Later on we went tarpon hunting to some small river spots and found a bunch of them - that weren't eating our lures or flies... On one cast one of my anglers caught a small ladyfish that tried to eat a plug that was more than half its size... Instead of releasing it I dropped into our livewell "in case"... Sure enough an hour later, still no bites with tarpon in range of sizes rolling around my skiff... that ladyfish was set out - and the first fish it saw nailed it. Twenty minutes later - a very nice 80lb fish at the boat in a river less than 100 feet wide... 

Like I said everything goes if necessary... That tarpon just made our day.


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## bcblues (Apr 10, 2018)

That's called "improvising". AKA: "Fishing"


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

One of my favorite "fishing trips" is taking a couple kids fishing up in the delta.
On my way I'll pick up a couple dozen minnows and a box of night crawlers.
Out comes the bobbers...



lemaymiami said:


> it's supposed to be fun





Kirc said:


> All work, all have their place


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## Tom11255 (Aug 12, 2020)

m32825 said:


> ... and you don't have to stop at the bait shop on the way to the ramp!


Honestly, those savageGear shrimp have done as well as live shrimp for me when sight fishing the mosquito lagoon... and their pulse tail mullet works wonders for trout.


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## BLS FL (Apr 19, 2017)

I grew up bait fishing. When we got our first boat we’d sometimes spend the first few hours netting a live well full of pilchards to fish with. About 7 or 8 years ago I started fishing artificials almost exclusively and having enough success that I stopped depending on bait. I bought a micro skiff and found I enjoyed fishing out of that more than my tower boat which I eventually sold.

I don’t miss the bait grind, or mixing nasty chum, or throwing the net, or cleaning that big bay boat. I don’t have the days where I catch 30 snook or redfish in one spot because I’ve chummed them into a frenzy but I still have plenty of success. I find I value the fish I catch more now because of the process it takes to get one to eat a piece of plastic.


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## krash (Jan 9, 2007)

Inshore & Fresh Waters is 90% Artificial.. except when I go to Tampa nad fish with my son. It seems most people in Tampa Bay area seem to use live, cast net, bait and claim there is so much bait you have to.. I have to admit there is a ton of bait and its easy to find.
B-BAy, Choko, Flamingo its all artificials, and most ofteh a DOA Shrimp or Cal, but I always have a Spook tied on one rod too.

Offshoure its generally trolling for dolphin an 90% Ballyhoo. We make a trip every so often mainly just to net several dozen and freeze them up in bags of a dozen or so for each trip offshore. The other 10% is we troll a lure once in a while.


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## Psycho_Killer (May 7, 2011)

Fished 100% fake baits and practiced c&r (except a few flounders) for a real long time. 40+ Years? Have never turned on the live wells of my near 12 year old flats boat. I can’t stand throwing a net or cleaning fish. : )


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## rovster (Aug 21, 2018)

If I’m solo I’m more inclined to fish artificial. With family and kids it’s usually live shrimp or live greenbacks if they’re around.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

rovster said:


> If I’m solo I’m more inclined to fish artificial. With family and kids it’s usually live shrimp or live greenbacks if they’re around.


Teach them how to fish with plastic.


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## BLS FL (Apr 19, 2017)

rovster said:


> If I’m solo I’m more inclined to fish artificial. With family and kids it’s usually live shrimp or live greenbacks if they’re around.


I actually started looking for a bigger boat for this reason, my micro skiff doesn't have a live well and it is tough trying teach my young kids to cast and work a lure. If they aren't catching something they get bored pretty quick. Pinfish, ladyfish, a 1lb jack are just as exciting to them as a 30 inch redfish is to me. I've mainly stuck to fishing piers with shrimp when the kids want to go. It's the only time I miss my bay boat and it's 55 gallon live well.


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## csnaspuck (Apr 2, 2013)

I love sight fishing but it just depends on where I am fishing and what the fish will bite. As most know in the IRL and ML the fish are a PITA and most times are not interested in anything artificial. Plus you might only get 2 or 3 shots depending on the day so most days I will have 2 rigs setup. One with artificial I will try first and if i get a denial then follow up with the other rod with a chunk of ladyfish or mullet. Normally its the later they will take.


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## rovster (Aug 21, 2018)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Teach them how to fish with plastic.


My son has caught fish with plastic. He’s 11. Casts decent but accuracy and finesse is not there and if there’s structure and weeds forget it. He has caught a few trout on lures and likes it but has to be an open flat where he can just fling it out there. My daughter is not ready to sling plastic yet but one day!


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

My kids fish with artificial all but once or twice a year while we're in vacation. 

My son is 9 and daughter is 12 and they have been fishing since they were able to hold a rod. Get them something they can cast and wind, paddle tail, Rapala, etc. Replace any trebles and pinch your barbs. It makes removing hooks way less dramatic.


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