Crickets

[Cachuma]

umm well i have never used crickets..and many of you say they are the best live bait for gills..so i would like to try some..

but i have not a clue in the world..as how to

-keep them
-hook them
-fish them....

and the most important thing i was wondering is..how do you keep all of them from jumping away from you when you grab one.....

thanks

,cachuma

[Barnacle Bill]

They make tubes and pails for them. The pails have a metal insert that they can't climb on. You just reach in and grab one. I like the tubes better. They are a round metal mesh. One end you can remove a cap and one will come crawling out.

[crappiefarmer]

Keep them in a cool place and put a small piece of potato in with them and they will last a while. I really have no favorite place to hook them. i just stick em wherever I can because they are a little aggrevating to hold. They ain't exactly volunteering to be bait!CF

[dixieangler]

I like the tubes better. They are a round metal mesh. One end you can remove a cap and one will come crawling out.

Ditto. Me too! Cage tubes are the only way to go for me. I've had them jump straight up from the bottom of a pail through the top hole and out but they don't do that in a tube. The tube has a small hole (with a cap) on one end that they can crawl out of or you can shake one out in your hand but you do have to grab him to hook him or he will get away. The other end of the tube has a large hole (with a cap) and is where you put them into the tube.

As for fishing them, you can thread them on the hook, hook behind the head, or just about any way you want . I like to thread them on (not through the head) like a live worm so its harder for them to get stolen off the hook. Fish them as is, with a split-shot, under a float, or just about any way you want .

I wouldn't say live crickets are the "best" bait but they are "one of the best" baits :D. I like live earthworms worms too. Other folks like maggots, wax worms, etc.

[CatchumDeep]

I hook them from back end and impale the barb of the hook into the head. We've found that if hook shows the southern bream will not bite....not sure about bream in other parts since never fished anywhere else. I also think that crickets are the best bream bait. During the spawn in early May the bream were hitting crickets and we ran out. One of us tried a cricket colored rubber grub to hide the barb of the hook and continued catching large bluegill and redears (shellcrackers)....about 80 keepers caught in two hours. There's few things more fun that catching big bream when they're bedding!

Dan

[CatchumDeep]

Catch from that day...jpeg file attached.

[Cachuma]

dang..did you eat all of those???...that would last me a month..

[wrwest]

catchumdeep, That is one nice bunch of fish ya got there.

[CatchumDeep]

"dang..did you eat all of those???...that would last me a month.."

We still have some of them in the freezer and I gave the smaller ones to the guy who runs the boat dock at the lake where we caught them (he likes whole bream...not filets; it pays to keep him happy). We've been catching lots of crappie and eating them instead. We're having a large group of friends for a fish fry next week and will finish off the bream and shellcracker filets then.:D

The shellcracker (redear) taste almost a good as crappie filets!

Dan

[Cachuma]

cool...fish fry's are fun