Best fishing bait traps according to redditors

mvw

Bait bag from a crab trap

It's a broad and general question, so you are likely to get similarly broad advice.

I am assuming you are talking about spin-fishing rather than fly fishing. I'd say:

Get a spinning (not casting) rod, and a spinning (not 'baitcasting') reel. Match your rod to your fish, your reel to your rod, and your line to your reel. The easiest thing to do is buy a combo LIKE THIS because the components are matched already.

If you want to roll-your-own setup:

ROD The rod will say what "weight" it is: ultra-light, Light, ..., heavy). Trout are usually light or ultra-light depending on the size they grow where you are fishing. Unless you know the trout are > 2 lbs. in weight, go with "Light"

REEL The reel should match the rod, look for a 1000 series for Light, or an ultralite for UL. More important though, the spool of the reel will list the how much of which line it can hold in terms of pounds of test. and length. e.g. My ultra-light reel will hold 100 yards of 4 lb. line (still on Imperial measurements here in US). For a Light rod, look for a reel that shows 6 - 8 lb test. About 150 yards of 6 lb is a good target.

LINE Get what is listed on the reel. Monofilament is fine, don't worry about flourocarbon, coated or braided lines.

TIPPET Do get some flourocarbon "tippet" and the smallest barrel swivels you can find. Trout have excellent eyesight, and the tippet is much harder for them to see because it is smaller and flourocarbon is invisible in water. This makes your terminal tackle less 'spooky.' 5x tippet is a good match for 6 lb test. 6x for ultralight. Do this even if you bought the combo above.

RIGGING Generally you will put your main line on the reel's spool and out to a swivel, then a few feet of the lighter, more expensive tippet to your terminal tackle. e.g. My ultralight setup is 4 lb. mono main line to a size 7 swivel and 7x flouro tippet to the terminal tackle. You probably want 6 lb to 5x, and 8 lb. to 5x is totally fine if you buy a combo with 8 lb.

TERMINAL TACKLE For reservoirs you want to use floating bait, tubes/jigs, and lures (inline spinners and/or spoons) from shore. From a boat, same, but more emphasis on spoons. Lures are a blast, but will cost you a LOT of money to acquire a good variety of them. I recommend bait and tubes/jigs if you are just starting out.

Floating Bait If you are shore-fishing, this is going to be your friend. Get some floating bait (real worms, dough, nuggets, etc.) and set up a Carolina Rig. Real worms are the best bait IMO, but they do not float naturally. You have to put air in them with a hypo. If you are just starting out, the artificial baits are fine. Rig it up, throw it in, take the slack out of the line and wait for the lunkers to come get some.

Tubes & Jigs These take more skill, but can produce a lot of fish. If you are fishing snaggy, moving water like rivers I recommend these as the top way to fish (lures are expensive and easy to lose in rivers.) Get a Trout Magnet or Crappie Magnet kit and you have everything you need.

Lures Inline spinners like Panther Martins (esp. the black/yellow dot & yellow/red dot) and Mepps Algias crush Sierra trout, not sure what their Eton comrades prefer. Keep the weight between 1/16 oz. and 1/8 oz. unless the trout are big (match the lure weights that are often listed on your rod) Good spoons here include the Acme Kastmaster, Thomas Bouyant and Super Duper. The rule here that the heavier the lure, the better it casts and the more potentially off-putting it is to a smallish fish like a trout.

Lure Selection The specifics of lure size, color and action can have a big impact on whether you get bites. What works one day may not work the next. This is how you can end up buying a LOT of lures. In general, you want to use light/bright colored lures in clear water and/or bright days and dark lures in turbid water or dimly lit days. THIS THREAD as well as THIS OTHER THREAD has some more detailed info on lure colors, sizes and brands I recommend.

You may also want to check out Fly and Bubble fishing which lets you use a spin rod to cast flies. It's a hoot and pretty effective: Get some adjustable spin floats, some flies and start fly and bubble fishing. Elk Hair Caddis sizes 12 - 18 are good, as are nymphs, and Mayfly imitations. Talk to local fly fishermen to see which bugs are good for your reservoir.

GETTING THE STUFF THAT WORKS Talk to the fishing outfitters near where you fish. They will tell you how the bite is, what the fish like, and where to do your fishing. Invaluable advice to prevent buying the entire world to cover all the bases.

HOW TO FISH This is super situational, but in general trout want to ingest more energy than they expend, i.e. they don't want to die. They like cold water near sources of food (bugs) and cover (rocks, brush, etc.). If you are fishing moving water, take the time to learn to READ THE WATER. Trout use moving water as a conveyor belt that brings them food. In reservoirs, you want to look for spots that are shallow enough to support plants and bugs, with deep water and/or good structure/cover nearby. Trout here will generally be cruising slowly or hanging in the water. Ideally, you will put your bait or lure near enough to entice without spooking them. If the trout are jumping or rising through the surface, they are eating insects from the surface film (emergers or fallen fliers), this would be a great time for the fly and bubble technique mentioned previously.

Generally THERE ARE TONS OF VIDEOS that cover whatever specific scenario you are going to pursue.

The most important technique is getting good at SETTING THE HOOK. It's hard to catch fish if you are bad at this.

FISH HANDLING

Trout are covered in protective slime:

• Wet your hand before touching them to help preserve it
  
• Use a rubber mesh net if you are netting them
  
• NEVER put them on the ground.
  
  Mash the barbs on your hooks if you are doing catch and release.
  
  Hemostats/forceps are the easiest way to remove hooks from fish
  
  Turning the fish upside-down will make them less frantic in their flopping.
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  
  I hope that helps, have fun!

Get yourself one of these and head over to Jericho peer.

Free crab!

I appears to be a clip to hold a minnow trap shut.http://www.amazon.com/Gees-G-40-Galvanized-Steel-Minnow/dp/B0033OI7V4/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_2_YE1C?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D9ZFBZCS09G2 QAS8S5P or http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/181447072943_/VINTAGE-GALVANIZED-WIRE-MESH-MINNOW-CRAWFISH-TRAP.jpgthis

I'd go for a spinning combo personally, but a push button may be more your style i find they always get tangled and make it a pain to cast.


Go to walmart/bass pro/gander mountian. But something in the $30-$50 range. Depending on the age of your kid, those cartoon flavored ones in the pack may work too.


Get hooks, Size 10 arberdeen grab some bobbers Personally I like the balsa slip floats. Like this


Youll need some bobber stops too.


Get some Split shot sinkers


I'm a fan of 4lb zebco fishing line. it's like $2 at walmart for 500 yards. It'll give you line for 2 poles.


Now you'll rig up with your bobber stop, then bead, then bobber, then a couple weights and then a hook. Try to keep the weights about 12-18" above the hook. The bobber stop you can slide up and down your line and set it to whatever depth you want. If your slip bobber isn't pointing straight up that means your weights on the bottom and you need to adjust your slip bobber knot.


Pick up some worms or leaches and go to town. You'll want your bobber to barebly be able to keep up your bait, so you can see the strikes. If you have a big ass bobber a fish will never get it down.


These tube jig kits are usually a great deal too and catch anything. If they don't have hooks, you'll need jig hooks too. Something like this you could throw under a bobber too and try to keep your bait going up and down. Maybe put a worm on it too.


Here's a video where he uses some little jig heads and sutff too


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmOiylyTltk



Should be able to get everything under $75. I added it all to a gander mountian cart. They had some specials on rod combos for $24.95. My cart total was $71.92


Rods :http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Competitor-Series-Spinning-Rod-Reel-Combo-56-Ultralight&i=694266


How to rig a slip bobber: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQUo7H4gYs

Go buy a 15 dollar minnow trap and put it flush against the wall. Use paper to prevent any gap against the wall.

Of the youtube channels I follow the G-40 trap seems to work best.

Most baitshops will carry some $15-$20, but here's one listed on Amazon.

I would also like to mention many native species thrive with high oxygen content so moving or well circulating water is a must. And log perch are bastards, they are fascinating fish but will make short work of any plant in the tank in their search of food.

When searching for species the tag you most want is "non-game species". Most game species grow too large or carry more restrictions but non game species tend to include minnows or Cyprinidae species.

Danielson traps. I have had good luck with them:
Danielson Pacific FTC Crab Trap-24in x 24in x 13in https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AYB5U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ydbOAb4CT6VDQ

It's a fishing basket. http://www.amazon.com/South-Bend-Floating-Wire-Basket/dp/B000BQW574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404705729&sr=8-1&keywords=fishing+basket

I use these to catch bait. Usuaully I catch chubs and craydads. occasionally minnows.

I have the Frapbill traps:

http://www.amazon.com/Frabill-Black-Minnow-Vinyl-Trap/dp/B002QFU5IO/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1377703011&sr=1-2&keywords=Frabill+bait+trap

I cut the inner holes to big a little bigger to catch bigger chubs instead of just minnows.

I also manufactured some of these:

http://suretrap.com/i/846239.jpg

Crab snare is a must have for nor cal. Great activity when you're soaking some bait. http://www.amazon.com/Danielson-CSNR-Crab-Snare-Small/dp/B002QFY3IM

Can never have to many leaders http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003D912MA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1415251396&sr=8-1

My favorite storage solution http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FPQRHV4/

The ones I bought were finesse worms, I’ll edit this with a link to them. And you hook them from the bottom with the hook buried in the nose.

Edit: Roboworm Straight Worm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003THLPU0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2XkZDb5K7YSCD

Find a rocky shoreline, pick up one of these, add some chicken legs, and throw to your hearts content.

I read online that there’s no licensing required as long as you’re in NV! :) and I most definitely will! Here is a link to the ones I ordered: ieasky Fishing Bait Trap,2 PCS... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P1RLRRZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share