There are many myths that surround using live bait instead of artificial, and most of them are not true. Live bait is still used by many anglers. The one factual part of live bait, which no one can dispute, is that it is often messy, and it smells terrible. If you can surmount these two factors, you will be in good shape to try live bait on your next fishing outing.

There are some basic principles that should not be ignored when using live bait:

1) You should never handle live bait when your hands are dry. Bait has a slimy layer on the outside, which is protective as well as inviting to predators, and if your hands are dry you will risk removing that layer.

2) Be careful of the weight that you put on a line with live bait. Fish are going to spot a weight if it is too heavy and weighting down the bait. Your weight or sinker should be light enough to give the bait the appearance of free floating in the water.

3) Keeping the bait alive will be the hardest obstacle for any angler in the summer. In order to keep your bait living in hot months, you will need to change out the water regularly so that the oxygen can keep flowing through to the bait. However, you can’t just stop at changing out the water.

4) There is also a bait shortage during the summer months on things like shrimp and live croaker. You will save yourself a lot of time if you call the bait shop the night before to ensure that the bait you want is available.

5) The shrimp are the most common bait in the summertime, but they are not as effective as you may think. When everyone is using shrimp, the fish are not as excited by them because they see them everywhere. Try using a baitfish that is not as often used in the summer months and guarantee a better chance of catching a fish.

6) Never hook your live bait in the eyes. The reason is that you want the bait to see the fish approach them because they will become more excited and it will cause the fish to latch on better.

7) Combining a quality rod and reel with live bait makes you a bass fishing powerhouse! The Daiwa Dendoh Seaborg SB500Fe Power-Assist Reel, for example, is described as the “best investment” by fishers who say it performs well and is great value for the money. The Daiwa SB500Fe is great for shallow or deep fishing so it’s easily the best fishing reel around.

Live bait can come in handy when you are trying to have a big day out bass fishing. Reason and logic will tell you that any fish would be more attracted to real food as opposed to faux food. However, the live bait does increase the workload so make sure you are prepared to deal with the entire package before committing to fishing with live bait.