Thoughts on Live Bait

Live bait is still regularly used by many anglers and at times with excellent results. It is not always the easiest bait to obtain, especially when there are game fish around, and it can also have a distinct 'mind of its own' as to how and where it wants to swim.

Harders (aka Mullet) make superb bait - Dead or Alive!

But, friends and fishermen, the simple reason a hooked 'livie' does not squeal like a 'stuck pig' isn't due to any sensory deficiency but the inability to vocalize its discontent. Back in the water with ample awareness of its predicament and indeed a mind of its own its first reaction is flight - but when the predators of the blue appear the survival tricks come out. Many live bait anglers have had those touching moments when a bait decided 'not today' and some of us have used these to reflect...

Our age old hunting ethics are not confined solely to conserving a 'resource' but are in fact centered around the concept of a 'clean kill'. The respect shown to mammals and birds in that regard is rarely extended to fish and certainly not to any live fish swum as bait. Sport angling starts with choosing rod and reel as a tool as much as a constraint and we may challenge ourselves further by fishing light lines, lures or flies. Saying No to live bait is so easy. Please reconsider your tactics and don't lower your ethics but raise your angling skill - there are always alternatives to live bait.