Conference wahoo::fishing

    I think it's all relative to what you're fishing for....

    The ONLY thing I ever seemed to catch with shiners were Calical
    Bass.  Never caught any largemouth with 'em, although I've heard
    of some monster bucketmouths hitting them.
    
    Now I strictly use rubber worms.
    
    cheers/km

        SHINERS VS LURES
    
       I HAVE BEEN USING SHINERS AND RUBBER WORMS FOR LARGEMOUTH.
     SO FAR THIS YEAR I HAVE CAUGHT 8 BASS ON SHINERS AND 0 FOR WORMS.
     THIS IS NOT TO SAY WORMS ARE NO GOOD BECAUSE I WAS CATCHING THEM
     ON WORMS LAST YEAR AND I CAN BET I WILL CATCH THEM THIS YEAR.
    
     JUST MY OPINION ON WHAT I HAVE DONE THIS YEAR TO DATE.
    
     P.S. Sorry for the loud opinion. forgot to take caps off.
    
                       Bartender
    

    
    I seem to have done better with shiners than lures, but it all depends
    on conditions etc. etc. I do get bored easier with shiners, but
    I have caught bigger fish (to date) using LARGE shiners.
    
    And I still have two tackle boxes packed with every lure ever invented!
    
    Erik

    I've been fishing quinsig for the last few weekends, and if it wasnt
    for bad luck i wouldnt of had any luck at at all.. i've been using
    spinners,rubber worm's etc, so i took my son out last weekend
    determined for him to land a few, since we've been skunked 2 times
    before and he was getting ready to take up tennis with his mother,
    So off to the bait shop with him we picked up 1/2 doz shiner and
    a few worms, while i was using spinner's etc. he landed 1 large
    mouth and a small mouth within a 1/2 just before dark, they were
    a good 14 to 16 '' one med shiners, so that made his day, 
    It wasnt a total waste, till i got hit by the game warden, on my
    way out, so dont fish quinsig without a license handy.
    

    My thoughts on live baits.
    
    	Websters Dictionary says that an ANGLER is one who uses artificial
    tactics to achieve a goal. A fisherman is one who fishes. I like
    to think of my self a an angler. As much as I fish, I would get
    board using live bait. It is so much more rewarding (to me) to fool
    a fish into hitting an artificial bait as apposed putting a hook
    in its dinner plate. 
    	Dont get me wrong... I have and will use live bait when the
    situation warrants it. I will not use a bait that is foriegn to
    that body of water. If a shinner with eggs gets of the hook it can
    very easly spawn and forever change the eco-cycle of that pond or
    lake. That is not my job.
    	If we as responsible fishermen (anglers) are carefull I see
    no problem with shinners. 
    
    I also like to brag about My fishing skills. My largest bass 12=
    lbs was taken on a 6in plastic worm.
    	
    
    		Father BUCKETMOUTH      
     

    Last summer up at Winnepesaukee, my wife's cousin caught a 16"
    smallmouth using a small PERCH for bait. He caught the perch with
    a worm first, then tossed him back and let him swim around until
    this bass thought he looked like lunch. It was the biggest bass
    of the year taken off the dock UNTIL I caught a 19" on a good 'ol
    RUBBER WORM (yay!) in November. 
    
    Take your pick...
    
    Ed

    
    
           Live bait works and when it is a hot summer day and you
           want to do some fishin but don't want to move around,I 
           suggest you get some lounge chairs,a radio,and your fav-
           orite beverage,toss out a couple lines and relax and bake
           in the sun.There is no better way to get away from the wife,
           and working around the house.
    
    
    
                                            Lindsay

    
    
          re .7
    
              I agree with you.If I am fishing and see a pike gathering
              bait fish I catch kivers and beatem a bit (to slowem down)
              throw a bobber on and toss them out there.I haven't caught
              one of them this way yet but I guaranty if it ever catches
              a pikes eye all hell is gonna break loose.
    
    
    
                                        Lindsay 

Don't get caught using "spiney-backed" fish as bait!  Most states prohibit 
the use of these fish as bait and, if caught, can result in hefty fines 
and/or loss of license.  Perch and sunfish (kivvers) ARE spiney-backed fish. 
Usually only minnows, dace and shiners are considered legal.

-HSJ-

    Good point .10
    
    My favorite channel CAT bait is a dying sun-fish. Sort of cruel,
    but I have landed some very healthy CATs this way. Last year I boated
    a 9+ CAT, after gutting it I found a 7ish inch carp in its belly.
    
    Check your state laws, before they check you.
    
    The locals here (in MD.) catch 2&3 inch bullheads for bass and walleye
    bait. They drop corn on a dip net and just hoist em up. They work
    great.
    
    Dip net fishing is legal in this state. Bass Walleye and Pickeral
    are OK to HARVEST this way. I dont like it a bit. The state record
    BASS is 11-1/2 lbs, Thats frickin' wimpy. 
          
    
    			BUCKETMOUTH
    

    	As has been stated in other notes, "Be CAREFUL what type of
    live bait you're using and what body of water you're fishing." 
    In Colorado, it is ILLEGAL to introduce any fish into a body of
    water that is NOT already present in that water.  So, if you are
    using something for bait that isn't already in the lake, it could
    be a VERY costly mistake.  It is also illegal to use ANY type of
    live fish for bait in any water west of the continental divide.
    I just use NIGHTCRAWLERS if I want to use live bait.  Slip bobber
    rigs with air inflated NIGHTCRAWLERS work great.  
    	Also clears up the air in the NOTES FILE.   ;-) 

    
       The original note is gone but I guess from the replies that it
    questioned the worth of using shiners as bait.
    
       In general, shiner fishing will produce the larger bass on a
    consistent basis as long as certain conditions apply. They are
    best for fishing in heavily weeded, cat-o-nine tails kind of cover
    where water is shallow (<12 feet). They are exellent for warm weather
    fishing (july,august) when things are quiet. They take time and
    patience and a hit may take several hours before a wandering monster
    passes by. The size of the area you are fishing will have a lot
    to do with it. Smaller areas will produce more quickly than larger
    (inlet versus lake shore). Using big shiners in New England means
    1-2 inches and using bigger ones has not brought in bigger fish
    for me.
    
                               Mike
    

    SHINERS VS LURES
    I started this thing to get an idea how people did with either and
    I'm glad to see that I stired some interest.I myself have about
    a million dollars worth of lures but always seem to do better  
    with live bait.What better way to catch a fish than with a fish
    Plus it leaves more time for the 12 oz. curls.
    See ya by the water.
    
                             Rob

    Hook em thru the lips fer castin', and thru the back fer still fishin'
    & jiggin'.
    
    			   Sorry... I got the wrong idea.
    
    					BUCKETMOUTH
    

    My wife fishes with me alot, and only uses shinners. During this
    past summer I kept a track of our results. I only show keeper bass
    on the chart below. You can draw your own conclusions.
    
    Between 6-26 and 9-5 we went out together 14 times. Mostly for only
    a few hours and primarily the last few hours before sundown. We
    fished in the lakes, ponds and river(Nashua) in the Pepperell-Groton 
    area.
    
    My wife perfers to fish with "medium-heavy" shinners so most
    of her fish were caught on that size...in-between medium and large.
    When we fished I used mostly Gizzit's and 4 inch Gillrakers on a
    mushroom 1/8 oz Gopher jig; with smoke, smoke/blue and smoke/red and
    black being the predominate colors. A few fish I caught were on 6 inch 
    worms. I had no success, while fishing with her, on other artifical
    baits. (I think she put some kind of curse on me)      
    
    Here's the score:
    
    			Minnows		Rubber Baits
                          19                 23
                
    
    Now for size. She had the largest fish up to the boat. That's right
    she lost it at the boat it was in the 4-5 lb range. ( She claims it
    was bigger than that) She also had three bass in the 2-1/2lb to 3lb
    range. I had four fish in the 2-1/2lb to 3lb range. 
    			                  
    Twice I caught fish and my wife caught nothing(don't remember if
    she had any hits). And one night I caught 9 and my wife 3. 
    
    We sure had fun. I must say the combination of using both live and
    artifical bait worked well. There were several occassions when my
    wife caught the first fish, or the minnows were acting distressed
    causing us to stay in an area and I would then get a hit. 
    
    					Ed