Bait and Tackle

You can spend a ton of money on rods, reels, and line, but if you don’t have the right lure/bait at the end of that line then you’re wasting your time.

Live Bait:

It’s hard to go wrong with fresh live bait, just about every fish in freshwater can be caught with a nightcrawler. Minnows are another super common bait that will catch alot of predatory fish. In most cases, the bigger the bait the bigger the fish applies. Find a deep hole in a small creek and you’ll be able to catch a few creek chubs in no time! Other great live baits are:

  • Crawfish

  • Leeches

  • Flies

  • Shiners

  • Grubs

  • Mealworms

  • Grasshoppers

  • Frogs

Soft Plastics:

Live bait can get expensive, especially if you don’t have a way to keep it alive when you go home. One of the ways around this is to use soft plastic baits. There are thousands of different variations when it comes to soft plastics. They are designed to mimic live bait. Flukes, paddle tails, curly tail grubs, wacky worms etc. Every single one has a place and time of year that they work best. One of the benefits of soft plastics is that they last longer than live bait and they are made in hundreds of different colors!

Lures:

Much like soft plastics, lures are designed to mimic baitfish. The best thing about lures is that they are a buy once cry once solution. They don’t go bad and they won’t die. Lures can get expensive especially when you get into high quality lures for big fish! Some of the most common lures are crankbaits, rooster tails, and poppers.

Flies:

Flies are a super effective way to catch a multitude of species. Flies range from super small gnats, to 3in streamers that mimic baitfish. Due to the super small size and light weight of flies, they are only able to be fished with a fly rod.