Years ago friends and I zipped away from a boat ramp at a North Florida lake during a bitter-cold dawn that left little doubt we were in for a tough day of bass fishing. We were in about six bass boats, and we fished long and hard that day, using lures and only lures, at the insistence of our fishing hosts for the day.

We fished deep and slow, and tried different tactics and techniques, but by day's end we had done little to dent the great lake's big bass population. At the ramp that morning I watched a pair of elderly men who were launching an old, battered aluminum boat. They were grizzled and moved slowly, but had a live bait tank in the boat and knew exactly what they were doing. I snickered before my trip with the lure crowd that the ol' boys probably would fair much better than we would with our fancy boats, high-priced rods and new-fangled lures.

Twice that day I saw the old men on the lake, pushed far up into thick cover and soaking live shiners in deep pockets of vegetation — just the sort of thing to help negate a cold front for Florida largemouths with live bait. At day's end, as we loaded our big bass boats onto bright-colored trailers, the old geezers putt-putted into the ramp area. I walked over and we chatted about the day's events. If memory serves, we'd caught only a handful of bass on jigs and small plastic worms that day, nothing over 2 pounds. The old men had eight stout bass, weighing 6 to 9 pounds. They had 'em on a stringer, not for show, but for food. That was close to 20 years ago, and catch-and-release for big bass wasn't as prevalent as it is today, though I doubt the two ol' boys cared much for catch-and-release. For them, dinner was more important, which is precisely why they used live shiners that bitter cold winter day.

In retrospect, we should have used baits that day, too. And, frankly, I often do when big bass are the target, especially when weather and water conditions leave much to be desired.

The best artificial lure ever devised is never more lifelike than the natural bait it was meant to imitate. In truth, there are many times when top-water lures, crankbaits, spinner-baits, plastic worms, jigs and all the rest come in a miserable second place to live bait in putting bass in the boat. Live bait fished naturally in proper areas by someone who knows what they're doing, is absolute death on bass, especially big, mature fish that have learned to be wary of lures and the ways of fishermen.

Live bait is, in truth, the "great equalizer." By that I mean bait is the best bet to equalize any negative attitude bass have about hitting. When bass are shallow and moving well they can be caught on a wide variety of lures. But when bass are turned off, often only a live bait will draw a strike. Bass frequently become semi-dormant when holed up in deep water or thick cover, usually when water or weather conditions are poor. But even under such adverse conditions, natural baits can produce limit catches of heavyweight bass.

Wild Shiner Wonders

There are many effective live baits for bass, but none is better than live shiners, especially so-called native or wild shiners. Live shiners are available about everywhere in bass country, but most such baits are raised in hatcheries. They generally are 2 to 4 inches long, silver in color, and are not particularly hardy.

Wild shiners, however, are a different story. Such baits are not raised in hatcheries, and have a darker, copper-like color to them. They are native to area lakes and rivers, and they are among the friskiest, liveliest, most effective bass baits available. They are also one of the most expensive bass baits because it takes a lot of work to catch them, and skill to keep them lively for long duration. Ideal wild shiners for bass fishing measure three to six inches long, and they cost $5 to $20 per dozen. Expensive, but worth it if big bass are your target.

There are a number of excellent ways to fish live shiners for bass. In fact, it's almost impossible to work shiners wrong for bass. Slow-trolling shiners may be one of the most effective methods. Shiners should be hooked through the lips (from the bottom, up) on size 1 to 5/0 hooks (depending on bait size). A standard sproat style plastic worm hook is good, but a Kahle-style offset-shnak bait hook is the preferred model for many veteran shiner fishermen. Two or three baits can be trolled simultaneously without tangling lines, so long as anglers are careful making boat turns and when hooking and playing bass.

There are three basic terminal rig set-ups for trolling shiners, and it's wise to rig a bait each way when first trolling to learn which one is best for that day on the water. One way is to simply free-line a bait 50 to 75 feet behind a boat, which allows the shiner to swim deep, shallow or somewhere in-between. A second method is to position a bobber about three feet above the bait, which keeps the minnow close to the surface. A third way is to use a Lindy Rig sinker set-up (1/4 to 1/2 ounce weight is sufficient) above the bait to take it deep. By fishing one shiner each way, a slow-trolling angler is effectively covering the water column, and soon learns at what depth bass are holding.

Trolling with any natural bait should be done very slowly. An electric motor is ideal, and the speed should be just enough to keep the boat and baits in proper fishing position. Sometimes in current an electric motor is used simply to control boat drift, not actually pull baits. Work shiners close to brush, lily pads and grass edges, points of land, channel drop-offs, underwater islands, and other prime bass-harboring structures. By trolling shiners, anglers quickly learn where bass are located. Often, trolled shiners dart around, swim frantically, even jump out of the water if bass are nearby. When shiners act in such a manner it's best to continue trolling steadily along because bass frequently follow a trolled bait for many yards before striking it. If the bait settles down, turn the boat and troll back through the area. Sometimes several trolling passes must be made through an area to trigger bass into hitting. If several bass are caught from one place, or if baits continue to become nervous in one spot, anchor and still-fish the shiners for a time. Sometimes only still-fishing with bait produces bass, especially when the water is cold, the sun bright and high, and bass are not particularly aggressive.

Another excellent method of fishing shiners is "running" them under floating weed beds or floating docks or swim platforms (an excellent smallmouth tactic, too). In many places huge islands of floating weeds exist, and their root systems are alive with small baitfish, freshwater shrimp, crayfish and other aquatic goodies that attract bass. Effectively fishing such floating weeds and docks is difficult, but working them with live shiners is a snap. Simply barb a bait with a large weedless hook just above the anal fin. Then pitch the shiner to the weed bed or floating dock. Frequently the bait automatically swims under the weed island or dock, and the farther it runs under vegetation the better, since it's more likely to encounter a hungry bass. If the bait swims out from under weeds or dock it's probable the shiner saw a bass, so the bait should be tossed gently back to the weeds or dock again. Repeated casts should be made with the shiner until the bait finally runs far back under the cover.

Some anglers who troll live baits off the stern of a boat also cast baits from the bow as they work a shoreline, weed edge or deep structure. A weedless jig tipped with a small shiner is a superb bass combination, particularly when working cool, deep water. Shiners about two or three inches long are ideal. Hook shiners securely through the skull or eye sockets so they don't pull off a jig hook easily. The added scent of a shiner makes a jig more attractive to turned off bass. In addition, a bass holds a jig with bait attached much longer than a bare jig. This is a big plus because it allows more time for hook setting in finicky, light-hitting fish.

Alternate Baits

Where it's legal, small bluegills, sunfish, even crappies can be productive bass baits. Shad also are good, though they're extremely difficult to keep alive.

More than one bass angler has been frustrated trying to catch bass feeding on big schools of surfacing shad. Many times rampaging bass refuse to hit any artificial lure when they're gorging on shad. A cast net or even a tight-mesh dip net sometimes can be used to catch shad, which then can be live rigged to a small hook and cast to bass. Another good way to fish shad baits is with a 1/4 ounce, all-white marabou jig. Often a jig-and-shad is too large for small bass at the surface to fool with, but bigger bass down below hammer the lure-and-bait.

"Bullhead" or "Caledonia" minnows (a type of killifish) are a popular Southern baitfish, which are especially productive when fished on spawning bass beds. Baits typically are used with a Carolina rig, then tossed onto a clean bass bed. Anglers often can watch a bass come to a bait and take it, and a quick hook set is needed before the bass drops the minnow outside a nest.

Other natural baits that are effective and commonly used for bass in some regions of the country include crawfish, leeches, nightcrawler worms, salamanders, water dogs, sirens and American eels. Crayfish are excellent baits readily obtained throughout much of the country. River bass are most vulnerable to crayfish, particularly smallmouths and spotted bass, and especially if soft-shelled crayfish are employed. Crayfish should be fished slowly on bottom, and remove their claws prior to fishing so they can't crawl under rocks and debris to avoid bass. Hook crayfish delicately through the tail, or under the carapace. They also can be fished well with a jig, especially a weedless jig model of the same size and color as the crayfish employed.

While crayfish are the most popular smallmouth bass bait among many anglers, a live leech is even better. Leeches almost never are refused by bronzebacks, and largemouths love them, too. Trouble with leeches, however, is that they're not available everywhere. But they're hardy, and are easily fished with a small hook and split shot or slip-sinker. Hook them through the suction cup, and fish slowly along bottom.

Salamanders, frogs, water dogs, sirens and eels can be cast or trolled and all should be hooked through the mouth or head. American eels are probably the most hardy natural bait for bass fishing. Eels are abundant in most East Coast and Gulf Coast rivers, and baits 6 to 8 inches long are superb when fished like a plastic worm. When barbed through the eyes they stay lively for hours, even with repeated casting and retrieving. One eel even can be used to catch several bass, and big fish love them. Once, years ago while fishing live eels for striped bass in Florida's St. Johns River, I caught a 9 pound largemouth on an eel from a deep spring hole that was jammed with striped bass half that size.

An often overlooked yet great bass bait is the nightcrawler worm. The bigger the worm the better for large bass. A nightcrawler should be used with a short-shank size one or two hook, and it should be barbed just once about 1/2 inch from the tip. Some savvy nightcrawler fishermen inject a worm tail with air from a hypodermic needle. This way, when fished slowly across bottom with a weight, the worm's tail rides high and enticingly wiggles as it's bumped along. Large nightcrawlers also keep many small bait-stealing panfish away from a bait intended for bass.

There are thousands of anglers whose driving passion is to have good, lively bait before they go bass fishing. At times they may spend the better part of their fishing day locating bait and caring for it properly, so that it's lively and productive when needed. And if baits are less than lively they simply do not fish.

That may be over-doing the baiting game a bit, but seldom do these anglers head home without bass, big ones. They believe that if live bait doesn't tempt fish, nothing else will.

They're usually right.