Tips For Success With Live Bait
By Mike Frisch

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column about fishing live bait as opposed to fishing artificials. In that story, I said that I didn’t think that walleye anglers would be giving up the use of live bait anytime soon. With that in mind, there are some things to keep in mind when fishing live bait for walleyes. Here are some of those concerns.

Find the right bait

Walleye anglers typically use leeches, night crawlers and minnows for their fishing. A key is finding which of those three baits will produce the most bites. Common wisdom says that minnows are best in spring and fall, with leeches and crawlers taking over during the summer. 

Those are solid guidelines. However, they certainly aren’t rules to never be broken. In fact, I have seen several situations in the spring and fall where leeches or crawlers out produced minnows. In addition, I have had excellent results in the heat of summer fishing minnows.

Therefore, my suggestion is to use the fall and spring-minnows/ summer-leeches and crawlers guideline as a starting point and to experiment from there if necessary. Having leeches, crawlers and minnows in the boat at the same time is usually sound advice for those serious about their walleye fishing.

Find the right bait, again!

Having several bait types in the boat can help anglers find the best bait for a specific situation. However, sometimes finding the “right” bait doesn’t guarantee a successful fishing day. 

For example, I have seen situations in the fall when red tail chubs produced good walleye catches in the morning. When the bite slowed, a switch to night crawlers triggered several more bites. When the bite again tapered late in the day, switching back to minnows produced more fish.

This shows that the preferences of the fish can certainly change from day to day, but also during the course of the fishing day.

Keep your bait lively

Live bait often produces because, well because it is alive. For that reason, I do all that I can to insure that my bait stays as fresh and lively as possible. In fact, some of my fishing partners feel that I go overboard at times in selecting and caring for my bait.

I rely on Min -0-Life Aeration Systems for transporting and keeping my minnows lively. These buckets have great aeration systems that do a good job of keeping my minnows as lively as possible. 

When purchasing leeches I always check to be sure they are fresh and lively. From there they go in an iced-down cooler to make sure they stay good throughout the day.

I keep night crawlers fresh and lively by placing them in a Lil’ Fisherman insulated worm container filled with Super-Gro worm bedding. This uniquely designed bedding supplies the perfect environment for worms to thrive in. Like my leeches, I keep my crawler containers in a cooler when not in use.

Keep you live bait lively, again!

Keeping live bait fresh and lively on the way to the lake and once in the boat is important. Another key is making sure the bait stays lively when placed on a hook or jig. A leech, crawler or minnow that’s been dragged around for an hour or more is probably dead or close to it. For that reason, I like to check my bait often and I won’t hesitate to change it if it shows any signs of distress.

I hear anglers often say, “that’s good enough” when they inspect their bait. For me, it’s only good enough if it’s as lively as possible. Fishing trips are too short to waste time with bait that’s not at its fish-catching best.

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Fish catching is an angler’s obvious goal. A great way to increase your odds for success when using live bait for walleye fishing is to find the right bait and to keep it as lively as possible. The tips offered above will hopefully help anglers do just that this summer!