The Live Bait Secret Most Bass Anglers Won't Admit Using

Hey—Keith here.

Challenge-seeking anglers know that fishing unfamiliar water can waste precious time and lead to frustration. Without knowing the hot spots, you're fishing blind regardless of your tackle or electronics.

What if there were a method to quickly map out the best sections of any pond or lake?

As a kid, I'd throw my father's seven-foot cast net off the dock, the shrimp transforming our success with speckled trout and redfish. 

What I learned was something tournament winners already know: You need to know where fish actually live and feed, knowledge that typically takes months or years of trial and error.

Today, I'm going to teach you how to use baby bream to easily take stock of your favorite new fishing pond or lake.

BEST LINKS

What I looked at this week

• Ever use a bream for bait to catch a big bass? (Bass Resource)

• Live bait basics: Hook'em right (The Fisherman)

• The legality of using bream for bait (Catfish 1)

• BEST minnow trap bait – dog food vs bread (Fish Hawk)

• Fishing for bass with bluegill (Catfish and Carp)

Deals of the week

• Calcutta Outdoors has its 16.5" South Bend Minnow trap marked down from $21.00 to $10.99.

• Discount Tackle reduced a 10-pack of Gamakatsu Black Octopus Hooks to $3.78 from $4.39.

• Bass Pro has the Bait Cooler With Aerator marked down to $59.99, normally $79.99!

DEEP DIVE 

The live bait revelation

I learned this lesson early in the lakes and ponds of southeast Louisiana. When I became a teenager, I refined the approach. 

I'd set a simple minnow trap in shallow sections near the bank of our local pond. Within hours, I'd have around ten small baby bream—perfect live bait that would go on to teach me everything I needed to know about that water.

Everything bit on those small bream—bass, crappie, catfish, you name it. But more importantly, I started noticing patterns.

Certain areas consistently produced bigger fish. Others showed more activity at specific times of day. Within weeks, I had mentally mapped the entire pond's productive zones.

When I switched back to artificial lures, I already knew exactly where to focus my efforts.

Why this works

The live bait approach works because it eliminates multiple variables simultaneously:

• It removes presentation doubt. When a bass ignores a live bream, you know it's not about your lure choice or retrieval technique.

• It reveals true hot spots. Fish will travel to take an easy meal, showing you where they actually patrol.

• It demonstrates forage preferences. How they attack live bait teaches you what artificial presentations will likely succeed.

• It builds confidence. Knowing fish are actually present keeps you fishing productive water longer.

Many professional anglers secretly employ this technique during pre-fishing periods.

They won't admit it publicly, but using live bait to locate fish concentrations before switching to tournament-legal artificial lures has helped numerous pros cash checks. It's the fishing equivalent of using training wheels before riding a bike solo; it accelerates the learning process dramatically.

How to use the live bait mapping technique

If you're willing to set aside your "artificial only" pride for just a couple of fishing trips, here's how to implement this approach:

1. Obtain legal, appropriate live bait (some states don’t allow using live bream for bait).

• Use a minnow trap in the same water you're fishing. 

• Focus on collecting small bream (2–3 inches), which make perfect bass bait.

• Keep them lively in an aerated container.

2. Rig properly for live bait.

• Use a simple Carolina rig with a 2/0 circle hook.

• Add just enough weight to control casting distance.

• Use a 12–15-pound fluorocarbon leader to reduce visibility. (I use P-Line Fluoro Clear.)

3. Fish systematically and build your mental map.

• Divide the water into sections and fish each thoroughly.

• Make mental notes of where you catch your bass, releasing them as quickly as possible. 

• After 2–3 trips, you'll have identified the key feeding areas in your mind.

• Look for patterns in these productive spots (similar depths, structure types, etc.).

• This mental mapping is often more valuable than any written record because it forces you to truly understand why fish are using certain areas.

4. Switch back to artificial with newfound confidence.

• Target the proven hot spots with artificial lures that match the forage. (I explain my full lure selection system in this video course, if you're interested.)

• You'll find your catch rates remain high even without live bait.

• Continue refining your understanding of the water's patterns.

The ethics conversation

Now, I understand the objections. Many bass anglers view live bait as "cheating" or less sporting. I get it—there's undeniable satisfaction in fooling a fish with an artificial presentation.

But here's my counter: This isn't about permanently switching to live bait. It's about using it strategically as a learning tool. Plus, you're throwing the fish back.

Once you've mapped your water's potential, you can return to artificial lures with much greater success.

Think of it as reconnaissance, gathering intelligence before executing your mission.

The pros do something similar when they spend days graphing and identifying fish before tournaments, where they'll use only artificial lures.

Results you can expect

A friend of mine, Jeff, was struggling on a new 80-acre private lake, catching only small bass despite the excellent location.

After one weekend using our live-bait mapping technique, he identified three primary feeding areas he hadn’t even thought about fishing because "they just didn’t look fishy."

The following month, using only artificial lures, he landed his personal best 8.5-pound largemouth from one of those spots.

That's the power of knowing where the fish actually live—not where they're supposed to be according to generic fishing advice.