If youre tippin on fo fos you get the best of both worlds

live bait...usually used by a fisherman who wants to catch fish. i.e. a person who's only chance to fish is on weekends because he or she has to work during the week in order to provide for his/her family. I can't blame a guy who wants to catch fish and know his chance will increase if live bait is used. Go for it.

yes artificial takes skill...but any slap nut can throw into a school of hungry trout and catch.

so it depends...

They dont have to be schooling or under birds, drift reefs you will see what im talking about i have caught them with no tide movement just drifting till i find the section of reef they are holding on

Ask a Bass fisherman if he throws live bait......all in the way you're brought up.

damn right my pops threw on the shiners....he was raised by an alabama redneck!!!LOL!!

you catching fish or you ain't gotta fish fry!

When it comes to trout, NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!

As someone who makes his living in this industry, I can say this. We struggle everyday to build the better bait/ mousetrap/ the new "holy crap I can't believe we haven't thought of this before!!!" As far as soft plastics goes, our best producing baits are close cousins, in color, to their real life counterparts.

As far as which type of fisherman is better, depends on your perspective. What's the objective? Catch fish? Not sure that a line can be drawn if the end result is the same.

I fondle more plastic baits before 9am than you will in your life... :)

If they are schooling, a crome plated turd with hooks will catch trout. Lol!

Sorry, that last line didn't come out so good now that i read it. Was meant to be a joke. I fondle squishy fish how 'bout that.

HAHA mo betta!

Some days you just gotta have it over here...I've been at multiple well heads or rigs where I could see thousands of trout beneath the surface just killing shrimp and threw every bait in the box at em but nothing and throw dead shrimp still nothing then hung 75 trout in a hour on live shrimp....I don't use live bait until it's absolutely the last resort but that sound is alot further run than big lake and I'll be damned if 100+ on gas is ever gonna go to waist....

I prefer artificial 10-1 over live bait. I won't say it takes more talent to use artificial but I guarantee it takes more patience. I'd rather throw plastic all day and not catch shat than be unhooking hardheads all day. To each his own...

To catch fish, one must learn.....You have to crawl before you walk......Then a A REAL deer hunter doesnt put out CORN...TRY ART. CORN....CLETUS....

Haha artifical corn lmao!!!

I don't put out corn either ;) learn how to fish & learn how to hunt!!!

Well there you have it, and im with HUSTLA, If have friends with kids, or its the last resort ill use them ill buy them on the way out incase they dont want my bait they can have some of their own...I only get to fish about once maybe twice a week so dropping 75 in gas...Im coming home with something...Went cast netting one time in Grand Chenier and didnt catch squat, what did i do hit up a Dyson friend and went and got some...lol...:D

I will get in the boat w/ anyone in GI and let you go wherever you want and throw your arties. I wont fish till you catch your first 3 and i promise that i will out fish you once i start throwing live shrimp.
Done it to many times . Pulled up next to someone catching on plastic and as soon as the shrimp hit the water their bite is over

no doubt about it

That makes 2 confused Bob's ........queastion wasn't who catche's more. Its who's the better fisherman

I like to throw artificial, live bait cost too much unless you catch it yourself, plus if you learn what to throw in certain conditions you can have better success, I'll swap from using plastics to throwing hardbaits like a sinking twitchbait, or a surface walker when the conditions change, it works with bass fishing too, if the wind picks up and it blowing I usually throw a spinnerbait around structure, if the wind is light and I'm having to finesse fish I throw a soft plastic, If its summer and I'm trying to catch fish in deeper water I use a crank baits or I drop a carolina rig. I try to remember conditions and what lure or technique caught fish so I can use that as a future reference.

Start keeping a log of your fishing trips just started doin that and it will def make next summer a little easier for me:D

if i win the starr with REAL bait do i win the boat...........ummm yes suhhhhh...but art. takes more skill.....take that to the bank....and agree....the truth will set you freee...lol.


That is the way Wayne won the starr last year with live bait, fishing at night and he sure came home with the boat.

Off subject here but tightline were did you get that pic in your avatar? awesome picture have a link?

I can out fish live shrimp half the time.... You might catch more fish...as,trash and smaller trout.....if trout are their u can catch them on plastic...

I have been outfished by live shrimp in Big Lake last year. Boat next to me was catching 4 or 5 to my 1 fish.
But I have been in the boat with live shrimp fishermen and out fished them with artificial, both in Big Lake and in Grand Isle.
I think it all depends on what the fish prefer at that time and how you present the artificial lure.
Last time I went fishing in Grand Isle, I outfished 2 live bait fishermen in the boat with a glow salty grub. The faster I moved it, the more hits I got.
If they are schooling, artificial will get you more fish faster. Artificial fishermen don't have to dig in a live well for bait.
I don't like trash fish, I don't catch near as many as a live bait fisherman.

W can't throw a castnet is why he doesn't use live bait:eek:

You bash on live baiters and then come out and say you are going to use live mullet? Make up your mind

I think most people start off using live bait and switch to artificials for the sport/ease of it. Not having to mess with trying to locate live bait and keep it alive all day is a pain in the *** sometimes. There is nothing like jumping off in the water waist deep as the sun is popping up chunking topwaters and watching trout blow up the bait...

This is a good post, most the time I have people with me who rarely saltwater fish and just want to catch fish, and don't care what they fish with. They taste the exact same no matter what they are caught on. If I am after redfish, 90% of the time I have a cork and a finger mullet on, and watching that cork go down is pretty dang exciting.

Ya.. but offshore or inshore??? Still the same then?

Agree with that.

When I go to fish, I go to bring fish home. Im not there to out fish anyone, or show up anyone. If they are biting on live bait, thats what I use. If they are hitting artificial then thats what it will be. I deff dont think it makes a better fisherman one way or the other. A better fisherman knows how to catch fish with what they are biting on. A good fisherman knows how to use each and when to use it.

This thread can go on for days, this is a matter opinions...who right, everyone is....lets just go catch sumoe...

Live Bait: Just cast and wait, great for new anglers, great for finicky fish, Used mostly with spinning gear, expensive, takes extra time to change/re-rig, trash fish magnet, takes special preparations/ live wells, etc.

Artificial: Match the hatch, Faster recast, lots of options to choose from, angler creates desired action, used mostly with baitcasters, helps to have confidence in lures to grind out fish in tough conditions, can be cheap or VERY expensive depending on your propensity for buying every type of lure option.

agreed.... ready to slang some trout. Arties all day!!! cant bring the baitwell in da yak is all i am saying.

Def Plastics are more difficult to consistantly catch trout

This is not to make fun of one way or the other....some are getting bent out of shape..

on the bad fishing part...Its not that every guy who uses live bait can not fish or is a bad fisherman with no respect ...>it the higher percentage of people who use live bait are....NOT ALL just more

Like with T-Top boats...Not all who have a T-Top is a bad fisherman but the higher % who have them are....They seem to be the ones who mess up people the most...NOT ALL

also live vs artificial

I know several guides personal who will not use live bait and the only exception for them to ever have it in there boat is...KIDS or Senior citizens fishing

IMO..If your a guide and can not put a good number of trout in your boat on plastic all year long...your not that good

I have seen guides throwing live shrimp at sunrise....WOW.. That shows me a few things about him right off the bat...#1 Lazy #2 has no confidence in his ability to catch fish on plastic #3 lack lots of knowledge

There should be no reason for a guide to be throwing live shrimp at daylight or even the 1st 3 hours....

all my years on Big lake...I know for a Fact there is one month and one month only it is hard to catch lots of numbers on plastic and that is August....every other month you can load them up....

If im a guide I want to teach people how to fish...Not go set anchor and throw crickets under a cork and say reel in...That is not teaching them anything ,,,and there is a reason why they hired you or your company....so teach them how to use plastic and catch fish

I take guys all the time who never fish saltwater...I always show them how you use plastic and teach them why and what we are doing while fishing....they will leave my boat knowing more than they came on it with.....

You just have a love affair with guides, I think you should become a guide and your slogan could be:

We NEVER fish live bait (excecpt for August when its hard to catch fish), and $100 for fisherman who can throw a cast net:*****:

Im not good at artificial bait at all.
never seem to catch much.
But dead shrimp or cut bait, just throw it out and wait about 10 seconds and you feel that bump. bump, bump, pull. zing.. there you go.
sometings gonna bite.

Croaker/Hardhead city. I'd rather catch nothing than fish with expensive saltwater crickets and catch trash.

Mines bigger than yours, i can jump higher, i got more money than you, my noats bigger, faster, and more confy, my kids are smarter than yours, zi hate live bait, i love art.........the point of this is........:...













SO WHAT.

Agreed, well said. This thread was started by somoene that wanted to get a big debate started and mess with everyone which is fine. They got what they wanted.

.........the point of this is........:... You spell like "W" :rotfl::rotfl::eek::rotfl::rotfl::p

So what.....im taller than "w"......so what.....lol haha. Rotfl.....

Point taken!

We just need to make a bait that starts out artificial and becomes alive...kinda the same principle as sea monkeys. Solve the debate haha

Did you just say seamonkeys. lol
I forgot all about them.
When i was a kid my dad got me some of those seamonkeys aka little brine shrimp.

Flyfisherman are better than any one! Especially ones that tie there own flies. ( like me) You start making your own baits and catching fish, then come talk to me

You just knocked that one out of the park!


Sent from my EVO

One upper.......

Dats right boy! You tell em!!!!
We need a like button!!!!