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Old 11-16-13, 12:42 PM   #1
Thornback
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Default Shiners For Bait

Anyone here ever use shiners to fish for bass?
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Old 11-16-13, 01:39 PM   #2
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It will catch you fish without a doubt but it's not something I do. It results in too many gut hooked fish for a recreational, catch-and-release anger (that's me) that only fishes for fun. Now if I was looking to put bass on the table (and there is much better table fare to be caught) and were going to kill my catch and eat it, I'd use live bait, like shiners or crawfish.
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Old 11-17-13, 08:10 AM   #3
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I have.
Actually we used to use shinners under baseball size round bobbers for pike.
You know, the ones shore fisherfolk put an angle worm under.
We rigged them under unweighted line, hook 1/4 in. in front of rear tail fin so they kind of free swam. We used circle hooks (old time catfishing trick).
The Pike didn't seem to hook themselves like the cats did though.
A person may be surprised how something that sounds so simple actually can take some real practice. Can't tell you how many HALF SHINNERS I reeled in after the Pike swam around pulling that big arse bobber around for like 5 minutes plus.

Bass would also take the shinner.

Been awhile but only thing I know is that if a bass took the shinner it was a biggie.
We used 5in plus shinners.

When a Pike took we would watch it swim for what seemed like an eternity before it would swallow the shinner and you could have a successfull set.
The Bass seemed to just kind of lightly engulf it and slowly swim away with it.
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Old 11-17-13, 10:28 AM   #4
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Shiners work but fatheads last longer on the hook,for other species than bass generally as they do sometimes take it deep(catch and release if keeping no problem)
If not available large creek chubs work wonders
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Old 11-17-13, 11:41 AM   #5
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I have used many artificial lures over many years. Caught a lot of bass but a shiner will produce more bites and larger bass. My bass fishing friend once told me, "Anyone can catch a bass with a shiner." My reply was, "Then why use anything else." Bass fishermen are always looking for the best artificial lure and their tackle box is full of them. Wild shiners are the best lure, hands down. To those who have never used shiners for bait I will tell you that you are missing out on some exciting fun. I think many fishermen don't use shiners because of the expense and I can appreciate that. In North Central Florida a dozen wild shiners will run you from $10 to $20. But when you see the explosion back in the cover, then the float go under, then the line began to play out, you have to agree it's a beautiful sight and sound. Later you bring a nine pounder to the boat. Of course I always release it after a photo.
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Being an old timer it saves my shoulders and arms a lot of work when I just make one cast with a shiner and then set and watch for the action. Beats continually casting a lure over and over.
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Old 11-17-13, 06:54 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thornback View Post
I have used many artificial lures over many years. Caught a lot of bass but a shiner will produce more bites and larger bass. My bass fishing friend once told me, "Anyone can catch a bass with a shiner." My reply was, "Then why use anything else." Bass fishermen are always looking for the best artificial lure and their tackle box is full of them. Wild shiners are the best lure, hands down. To those who have never used shiners for bait I will tell you that you are missing out on some exciting fun. I think many fishermen don't use shiners because of the expense and I can appreciate that. In North Central Florida a dozen wild shiners will run you from $10 to $20. But when you see the explosion back in the cover, then the float go under, then the line began to play out, you have to agree it's a beautiful sight and sound. Later you bring a nine pounder to the boat. Of course I always release it after a photo.
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Being an old timer it saves my shoulders and arms a lot of work when I just make one cast with a shiner and then set and watch for the action. Beats continually casting a lure over and over.
Different strokes for different folks. Sure shiners will catch fish and I'm sure there is more to it than just casting it out and waiting. I just don't enjoy that kind of stationary fishing. For me, it's more fun to go to the fish and make them bite than it is to wait for them to come to me. I don't have a problem with people using whatever bait they prefer though.
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Old 11-17-13, 08:36 PM   #7
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Well said Jrob78. It's still a free country and I'm thankful fishermen don't all use the same technique and that they don't all fish the same day
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Best I ever did with "stationary fishing" was me and a friend fishing with shiners and we boated 54 bass in four hours and never moved the boat from the spot we first selected.
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Old 11-17-13, 09:46 PM   #8
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They are great around here if you like catching tons of bass under 3 lbs.
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Old 11-18-13, 12:07 AM   #9
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Quote:
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Well said Jrob78. It's still a free country and I'm thankful fishermen don't all use the same technique and that they don't all fish the same day
Couldn't agree more.
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Old 11-18-13, 10:20 AM   #10
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I catch them on shiners all the time. No reel just a cane pole and small bobber.
This year I got some pretty big ones on shiners. But for me it is a spring thing before the grass and pads come up. I did try to use them on a LGMouth one fishing trip with some novice clients. They did not know how to cast so I put two rods out for them each. They mostly got catfish and yellow perch. A few LGMouth but the loss of baits was high as they swam right into the pads each and every time. Had to instruct how to keep them on the edge of the pads and anchored up.

They had fun but would not do that again as we went thru 6 dozen shiner for maybe 8 LGMouth and 20 cats.

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Old 11-18-13, 08:25 PM   #11
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Capt Mike -- Do you catch your shiners or buy them?
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Old 11-18-13, 11:32 PM   #12
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Quote:
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Capt Mike -- Do you catch your shiners or buy them?
I catch them with a credit card in bulk. Keep my own bait tanks too.

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Old 11-19-13, 04:22 PM   #13
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Back when I was younger, I used to use shiners some in Florida, especially on those week long trips where you happen to hit some dead fishing....but they never really bailed me out.. You would catch a few more, but a lot of mudfish and a few pickeral and it gets expensive and then they all get hot and die in the cooler, and its not really as fun anyway as just flinging a spinnerbait.

But I know some people are better at it than me, and they have their community type spots like water outlets where they anchor down and watch bobbers for hours. Different strokes is right I suppose.
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Old 11-20-13, 08:44 PM   #14
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Don't let shiner fishing strike you as dull/boring/cheating/un-sporty/childish/simple/one dimensional/skill-less/ or in any way shape or form beneath your dignity.

Am I willing to commit 100% to learning every nuance of this technique or not? Will I make judgements about it based on one styrofoam bucket of dead bait or just my perceptions derived from a dud trip, you tube vid or magazine write up or will I devote two or three + seasons to the effort.
Do I currently fish or can I get access to one or more bodies of water that have little or no main lake structure(standing timber-logs-stumps-brushplies)? Do these places have abundant milfoil/coontail type vegetation? Do these bodies of water have open water stretchs over the above mentioned grass
that will allow for drifts of 1/4 - 1/2 - 1+ miles?

Do I have ready and reliable access to a bait dealer that will always have big fresh local Golden Shiners whenever I need them? If not do I already know how to throw a castnet proficiently or am I willing to learn? Do I have a professional quality large round baitwell in my boat along with a high capacity aereation system, one that pushes air through a stone like an aquarium? If not am I prepared to put one in? Am I willing to keep the water temps in the well at least 10 or 15 degrees cooler than the water I'm fishing? Am I willing to freeze the same water that I caught the shiners from and convince my wife that I need 1/2 of the space in the freezer for my frozen pond water and that she's going to just have to deal with it? Do I really understand all the salt and chemicals it takes to keep 2 dozen 6-10 inch shiners alive, hard, fresh and ready to fish all day during a hot July outing? Am I willing to spend the money to buy quality bait or spend the first hour+ of the day baiting shiner holes and casting the net over and over again to fill the baitwell?

Have I learned the free-lining technique which involves long 8'+ rods/high capacity baitcaster/10 lb line/2/0 tru turn through the lips/no sinker/no bobber/long drifts in free spool inside and out? Have I learned how to control the general depth my free-swimming shiner is swimming by gently feeding it a tiny split shot or two and or adjusting the drift speed? Do I understand that I can encourage the shiner to swim shallower by adding a sweet pea size piece of candied red or yellow pineapple (the kind you buy to make fruitcake) to the hook after he's impaled through the nose(from bottom up) and that this will also add a little color attraction and keep him from wiggling free during a long drift?

Can I easily tell the difference between a shiner pulling line off the spool because I thumbed the spool for just a quick second to jolt him and when he's scared for his life? Can I see that when a bass eats him that no shiner in the entire world can swim that fast? Can I exercise enough self control to let the bass run with his shiner for 15 or even 20 feet so that he's definately got it positioned head first before I engage the reel, point the rod directly at him (or at least where I think he is since he may well be 150-200 feet away depending on what point during the drift he ate) before I set the hook with authority?Once I've hooked him am I up to the task of fighting and landing/netting him alone(and I often will be because even my hardest core fishing buds can't hang with 150+ days of this a year)?

I've got many many more pages of these questions but I hope the point is clear. Whoever said different strokes is spot on but not for the reasons many of you believe. I spent 3-4-5 + years doing it this way back when I lived in S.Ga/N. Fla and it was just as exciting and just as challenging as any artificial technique I've ever learned and enjoyed. As a matter of fact it was so exciting, challenging, fun and addictive that it was one of the main (not only of course) reasons my first marriage ended in divorce. I kinda lost my mind a little......some of yall might remember a post of mine where I explained about me sending all of my "shiner" rods out to some guy in Cali that put custom Ground Mole skins on the handles for me at considerable expense......that may have been the last straw for her.
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Old 11-20-13, 10:10 PM   #15
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Hey Ken, on the free lining technique. Did it work best with some sort of current?
Were your rods heavy action or off shore rods?
What kind of actions?

Again our target was pike. Not necessarily by choice but the river kind of breeds them heavy.
The challenge I always seemed to have is without current they wanted to head to any structure or would tire and bottom out.
We also thought if tail hooked they could swim free-er and breath easier.


We did some nose hooking but a 5in. shinner and a non wide gap truturn hook seems like a feat in itself.
The circles are kind similar to a wide gap. At least that was our logic.
Did you experience any hook bending because the tru-turns are light wire hooks, right?
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Old 11-20-13, 10:33 PM   #16
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Wind was really more key than current, most of the places we fished down there had minimal current like Kissimee and Toho. The St Johns had current but we just floated downstream (upstream S to N really)

We started out with 8' Fenwick Flipping sticks and overcame the heavy action with a light touch on the drag, plus mono was all there was back then and most of the time you could have 50 or more yards of line out when you set the hook anyway........we'd engage the reel and let the fish literally pull the line TIGHT before we set the hook......they almost never spit out. The 2/0 tru turns were the hooks the guy who taught me all tis stuff used because he said he had tried everything and settled on it because it was light.....didn't impede the natural action of the shiner and could be sharpened to the extreme----mandatory trying to get the hook in a fish 150 ft away with 10lb mono. During those years I can honestly say out of hundreds of fish caught and dozens between 8 and 14 lbs(my pb) never straightened the hook. Definately lost a few and a few unsuccessful sets etc but never a bent hook and rarely broken line.

The challenge I always seemed to have is without current they wanted to head to any structure or would tire and bottom out.
We also thought if tail hooked they could swim free-er and breath easier.


The constant drift at the right speed was the key.....artificial current if you will...(a dead slack day was what prompted us to rig a reostat to the low speed of the troller.......pre digital and the slow speed was often too fast on a calm day) if you pull them too fast they will die pretty quick......definately definately not tail hooked.....all that does is drown them within 5 minutes plus shiners never ever swim backwards in real life. We practically never used bobbers but some of the guys we knew that did still nose hooked them.

**edit** We of course didn't know nuthin about no dang pike down there but we would sometimes get in an area with Chain Pickeral (we just knew them as "Jacks") and Gar......lots of times your shiner would freak for a second or two then slack line........either reel in cut line or 1/2 a shiner.....hateful bastards.
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Old 11-21-13, 12:42 PM   #17
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Ken, you have detailed the many sections of shiner fishing. Like many subjects the more you delve in it the more complicated it can become. It's obvious you have lots of time on the water with a shiner on the end of your line. The first time I went shiner fishing I thought it would be boring -- but afterwards I was hooked (pun intended). Folks, don't knock it if you ain't tried it. And if you try it go with someone who has the knowledge to show you a proper technique.
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