Live or Artificial
 

So in hopes of learning something about freshwater fishing this year (as well as get some people talking on this section of the board) what is your go to (Live or Artificial) for the spring/early summer season when targeting bass/trout/perch ?

I know there are folks out there that swear by nightcrawlers, shiners, minnows, etc....Then there are the spinners, spoons, worms, cranks, shads crowd as well....

So what is your preference and how do you fish it ?

I rarely use live bait for any freshwater species as most tournaments don't allow it.

But with the lures the one thing that I've learned is to match the lure with the area's available food source.

I've had terrific luck with lizards over the years on Largemouth, and they've become my go-to lure almost every time.

But I've never caught a Pickerel in saltwater on a lizard.....why? Not an abundance of lizards living in the Magothy I guess. On the Pocomoke River? Hell yeah; tons of them.

7" Zoom Trick Worms have landed me 100's of bass and Pickerel.

In the springtime, minnows work great for landing Pickerel and Crappie on most Eastern Shore rivers.

Back in the late 70’s early 80’s when I was fishing in the bass tournaments and a lot of them I used a 1/8 or 1/2oz skirted jig with a Gary Yotomoto? SP 4” Pumpkinseed grub or a 1/2 white spinner bait with willow leaf blades. I know a couple of guys that still fish tournaments and they still use the same thing we used back them….

Always wondered about pumkinseed color for worms...Do you stay away from the bright, neon colors and focus on the grapes, balcks, etc. ?

Texas rig the worms and float them or weigh them down and drop them through the column or along the bottom ?

If it don't eat a shiner; I don't fish for it. I love watching a bobber. Even when we had a bass boat and used artificial baits, I always took the back of the boat just so I could drag a shiner behind me.

Now that i'm just a "bank" fisherman; it's either shiners or mepps spinners. If it swims, a mepps of some sort will catch it. 5th (Marty)