My first fishing experience, like that of many anglers, involved a worm on a hook suspended under a bobber. To this day this is still an effective method of catching fish. Live bait of many types whether under a bobber, fished on the bottom with a slip sinker, tipped on a leadhead jig or some other type of a lure is, by nature, food to the fish, instills confidence in the angler and can be easy to present.
In today’s fishing environment it can also present a number of problems. Transportation of live minnows and leaches can be difficult or impossible due to regulations meant to prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species. No live minnows are allowed on Colorado’s west slope or anywhere above 7,000 feet in altitude. Night crawlers can be difficult to keep alive and usually come packed in messy black dirt. Wax worms. Larva and other worms and grubs can be difficult to find. So what’s an angler to do?
Twenty years ago when I was still fishing walleye tournaments and heavily involved in the Professional Walleye Trail, none of the touring pros would have fished a tournament without live bait in the boat. As recent as 10 years ago, I would not have venture out ice fishing without live bait. Over the last couple of decades, lure and tackle manufacturers have become extremely proficient at making soft life-like imitations, and infusing them with scent and flavor. I can honestly say, I don’t remember the last time I purchased live bait. Not that I haven’t “borrowed” a minnow or euro larva from a fellow angler on occasion or had a situation where I wondered if having some live bait might have improved my success that day. It’s just that I have developed such a level of confidence in modern artificial baits, I rarely feel a need for live bait.
If you follow my television and radio shows you hear my rave about the Gulp! minnow in 2 ½-, 3- and 4-inch sizes. I can honestly attest to occasions where we had live minnows in the boat and hardly used them because we were able to catch more fish with the Gulp! minnow. Now unlike a live minnow, you do have to supply some action to the bait, but they stay on the hook much better and don’t get torn up every time you get a bite. While filming a television show in Minnesota, we boated more than a hundred walleyes — 90 percent of which were caught on a lead-head jig tipped with a gulp minnow even though we had live minnows in the boat.
For several years while ice fishing, I have relied on a number of small artificial baits — most less than 2 inches in length — and have had great success. One that has really stood out is the Gulp! Mini earthworms from Berkley. You get about 40 of them in a small jar for around $5. I recently have been using them in open water for panfish and trout, usually on a small jig under a bobber. These baits are a good imitation of a bloodworm, which is a common food source for a variety of fish in most waters. So here we are back to where we started fishing under a bobber, but with none of the hassles of live bait. It takes some time to develop the confidence to leave the live bait at home, but give these modern soft bats a chance. I think you will be very pleased.
On my radio show, last Saturday, I did a tackle talk on using these baits.
https://soundcloud.com/1043thefan/tackle-talk-gulp-alive-angle-worms-terry-wickstrom-outdoors-31117
Information on Berkley Gulp can be found on their .
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