Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Bait is something all fishermen need to pay attention to all the time. But before anyone gets all uppity and declares that they only fish with artificial lures and, therefore, don’t need “bait”, let me point out that there are two categories for bait; that which folks might buy in a tackle shop and eventually put on their hook, and that which is normally referred to as “natural bait” which resides in the waters the angler is fishing. And while the former provides the important task of attracting a fish onto someone’s hook, natural bait is just as critical to angling success because it’s what attracts fish to the general area in the first place. Without the presence of natural bait, it can make little difference what one hangs on their hook because there simply might not be anything around to eat it, so even the most ardent lure fisherman should appreciate finding and fishing in the presence of natural bait.
In the eat-or-be-eaten world beneath the waves, what an angler might consider to be natural bait is all relative to what they are pursuing, and I guess, what’s doing the “eating” at the time. A back bay flounder fisherman might observe schools of shiners or minnows and decide that he’s found a good place to drop his line in the same way that an offshore angler hoping to snag a giant blue marlin will see schools of yellowfin tuna and figure he’s found the right conditions for his own quest. What’s bait to one might be prime table-fare to another!
Finding natural bait can be as simple as scanning the horizon for feeding birds or as arduous as driving all over the ocean with one’s eyes glued to the screen of their fishfinder. But knowing a few basics about bait can help anglers locate it even in areas they’ve never fished before.
First, anglers should keep in mind that small fish are constantly under threat from predator fish patrolling beneath them while birds are always a threat from above. Therefore, given the chance, bait will often locate in areas where there is a dramatic change in depth, so that when pursued by big fish from below it can move up into the shallows and if attacked by birds it can retreat to deeper water. This is why bay fishermen will often observe bait at the edges of marshes or sandbars. Bait will also find refuge under docks, bridges and bulkheads. Offshore anglers are accustomed to finding bait under surface debris and weed-lines and will usually observe it on their fishfinders on the slopes and sharp edges of shoals.
Any bait, at any time or place, could have a predator fish dogging it while looking for an opportunity to strike, but not always, and it’s to the fisherman’s advantage to recognize signs that indicate bait fish are under siege when they aren’t. Bait that’s close to the top will ripple the surface. Known as “nervous water”, this sight is an indication that bait is present but not necessarily that it’s being chased or followed. Schools of small fish that are actually being preyed upon will often move erratically through the water making dramatic changes in their speed and direction of travel. When something down below is really pushing them hard, bait will often jump out of the water or rush the surface. Known as “showering”, this activity is exactly what anglers want to see because it’s an indication of very actively feeding predators.
Having a lot of bait in the area can be both a blessing and a curse because while lots of bait can bring larger predator fish into an area and give them a reason to stay there a while, it can also make it difficult to catch those fish when clouds and clouds of tasty, and relatively easy to catch food surrounds the fish you’re trying to catch. It can be really hard to make them switch to something with a hook and line attached to it and anglers who find themselves in such a dilemma will often try to imitate as close as possible what the fish are feeding on by possibly catching some of the same bait and then putting it out on small hooks, light line and fluorocarbon leader. In this case, the plan is to “match the hatch” as close as possible and hope to fool your quarry into thinking that your offering is what they’ve been feeding on.
When they are working baitfish, big fish will usually hang around the perimeter of the school and pick off individuals that wander to far from the security of the group, so it’s not necessary to try and fish hooked baits right in among the actual schools. Rather than trying to precisely imitate the natural bait, which is sometimes impossible, another tactic is to fish a bait or lure that is totally different from what the fish are feeding on. Bigger, smaller, different color, cut chunks of bait or anything out of the ordinary is sometimes the ticket to getting otherwise unresponsive fish to bite. This is often a last-resort technique, but it sometimes works.
In one way, shape or form, bait is just as important to a kid on a dock with a can of worms chasing bluegills as it is to a fly fisherman pitching tiny feathers to trout. Whether you’re using it on a hook or using it to locate your quarry, being around bait is always the first and maybe the most important part of successful fishing.
Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and Captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
