Carlene Medlin from Pure Fishing recently asked the AREA listserve a question regarding bait. I told her I would post the question on the blog for your feedback.
"We are trying to make some decisions about which types of baits would be of interest for the youth program. So far we are looking at the Power Bait dough baits, the Trout and Crappie nibbles (Jar baits) and maybe a few soft baits (minnows, worms, etc).
Do you have any suggestions on what types of baits you would prefer to see offered for Youth programs?
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When you work with kids, you may not want to end up baiting all their hooks for them. Anything that is alive, or was alive usually requires an adult to bait the hook. Some of the Power baits are good. I have used baits that come in jars and look like worms but are really man-made and more like rubber bands. They work well for panfish and bass, at least in the lakes I am on.
I fish for carp, and probably use baits that may not work as well for you, but I seem to catch other species of fish as well as carp. Sweet corn is hard to beat. Frozen sweet corn is tougher and stays on the hook better than can corn does. You can make a project of flavoring the sweet corn. Add anise extract (from the baking section of the food store) to sweet corn, many fish love the smell of anise. You can also flavor the sweet corn with Kool-aid powder and a small amount of water.
Field corn covered with water and left for 2-3 days makes a good bait, and it isn't as hard as corn straight from the field. It also stays on the hook better than sweet corn. I usually boil the field corn after soaking it for the 2-3 days. Try 30 minute boil time. During the soaking period, you can flavor field corn also with a variety of things including various extracts used in baking, Kool-aid, bacon grease, peanut butter that has been melted to liquid form, etc.
Along the same line, cut up a new sponge into small pieces and soak pieces in various flavors. After the sponge has absorbed the flavor put the sponge on a hook, or use what is called a hair rig. (Hair rigs have a thread coming off the bend of the hook and the bait is threaded on to the line there. I have always used yellow sponge, but other colors may work too, experiment, that is part of the fun.
Dough Bait works well, is fun for the kids to make and it isn't something that they would be afraid to touch when baiting the hook. For dough bait try:
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup cornmeal or quick grits
1/4 cup of karo syrup
1/4 cup of peanut butter
6 oz of water
Heat the liquid stuff including the peanut butter until there are not lumps. Mix in the flour and corn meal. You might add some cotton balls that you have pulled apart, the fibers help the dough to stay together on the hook.
Chick peas (dried), soaked a couple of days in kool-aid then boiled for 20 minutes makes a good bait.
The good thing about the baits that you make, is that it becomes a project for the kids in itself. If you give the kids a general idea of what to do they may come up with things to mix together that work better than anything you might suggest.
Bottom line, is that there are many inexpensive things that can be used for bait. The list could go on forever, but using dog and cat biscuits works also, just experiment.
When I go out, I usually stop to by some red worms and/or leaches. I have had great luck fising the places we do in Wisconsin with just using worms, but then again, all we are fishing for are pan fish to feed my 4 year old!
I have really taken to northern/bass fishing as well and invested in many different spinner baits to use for this. Many different colors and spoon designs makes this a great challenge to find the correct combination. Give them a try!
We fished for catfish, so our bait may be a little different. I got everything I could think of, it helps that catfish eat everything. We had worms, liver, and crickets for the brave ones. They caught most of the fish. We had stink bait, frozen shrimp, and hotdogs for the squeemish. I think every bait caught at least one fish.
We gave our kids a choice they could bring their own bait, dig worms at school or use alternate baits. We caught a ton of pan fish on cotton balls. (a small piece of cotton was ripped from the cotton ball and placed on the hook it work for those to squimish for worms or meal worms. I am looking into making a worm farm/Mulch Pile on school property there is plenty of food from the cafeteria to help make it work and it helps the school to be green less refuse!!
I to have thought about doing a worm farm. Didn't know if I would be able to keep enough food for it though. Maybe contacting the local grocery store and they could "donate" the old produce that would just get tossed anyway. I think I might be onto something. I am trying that later today! I will keep you updated. I did find this site though for worm farms. Take a look!
http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com/
Check this out!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,446686,00.html
What kind of bait would be used for this?????????
New Fishing Regulations Expand Opportunities, Limit Smelt Harvest
Michigan anglers will have several new opportunities, but also will face a new restriction, because of fishing regulation changes approved at the Nov. 6 Natural Resources Commission meeting in Lansing.
Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries signed fisheries orders that extend the spearing season through the ice for pike and muskellunge in certain waters, extend the whitefish spearing season on the Great Lakes and connecting waters, allow all anglers to use three rods, and establish a two-gallon limit on smelt.
The spearing season for pike and muskie will now run from Dec. 1-March 15, instead of just January and February and the whitefish spearing season will now be open year-round. The new seasons are the result of legislation enabling the DNR to set spearing regulations. These regulations take immediate effect.
Anglers have been allowed to use three rods when fishing for salmon on the Great Lakes for a number of years, but were restricted to two rods elsewhere and when pursuing other species in the Great Lakes. A survey of anglers showed overwhelming public support for three rods. The new regulation, which takes effect April 1, 2009, allows anglers to use three rods on all waters and in pursuit of all species, though the DNR retains the authority to reduce the rule to two rods if necessary.
The two-gallon limit on smelt, which historically have been unregulated, is designed to prevent waste during periods of high abundance and offer some protection to smelt as an important forage and sport species. The limit applies to both dip-net and hook-and-line anglers. This new regulation also takes effect April 1, 2009.
We mostly use worms and some years the students are braver than others to put the worms on, last spring the girls were the more adventurist. Some good ideas to think about as far as bait goes. I always thought it was illegal to put corn out there.
Here is an idea that gets the kids to thinking. We have been having a contest to see who could get bread to stay on the hook the longest. We of course use bread as bait for carp, but it would probably work on other types of fish.
One of the big problems with using bread as bait is that it comes off the hook fairly easy after it is in the water. My kids have been brain storming and testing their own ideas on how to work with bread as bait. They now have a contest to see who can keep bread on the hook the longest.
One of our school board members is a nurse and she thought that using a "topper" (type of bandage) might work good to hold the bread. One of our science teachers suggested using "Scotch Guard" on the bread.
This little project has a lot of folks thinking about bread, what a simple project to get people interested in our classes.
So we took our group fishing again yesterday and I finally deceided something. The slip bobbers from Cabela's called "Easy On" Slip Bobber, ARE NOT SO EASY!!!!!!!!!
I wanted to try and offer different set ups and thought these would be EASY as advertised. Well not really. To get the line into the channel and then twist it to keep it locked in, not too easy. Just a heads up if you were looking at them. Guess I have to try something different.
Vance, Thanks for the great dough bait recipe. We just always use worms because they are free and the kids can dig them up in their backyards the night before.
Tammi,
I have a project that is not a for a beginning teacher, but one that does an excellent job of bringing attention to your program if you have tenure.
Have the kids all turn out to dig worms in the school administration building lawn. It works especially well on an night that there is a school board meeting. If your school is like ours, there are often news reporters at the meetings, so it is just good press. You might also get some board members into showing kids how to use a shovel.
It is something to think about anyway. It sure beats dough bait making and sticking in the same job in the same old school district for years.
The bait the works best for my special needs students are power bait nuggets and salmon eggs. The kids are able to bait their own hook and feel successful. We have tried worms, but my students were always asking for bandaides for the worms. So, we stick to power bait and salmon eggs.
We use worms mostly. We have a worm farm. The kids love feeding and checking on the worms often. I get some of our food from the cafeteria and fellow teachers bring left overs from home. Beware.... they multiply fast! I also use a recipe for a fattener that make them plump!
Just recently the librarian gave me info on individual small worm farms for the classroom so I have many of the teachers either starting them in their classes or bringing supplies in for the classrooms who want to start one. Our library has some good books on raising worms and the teachers are using this info for their science lessons.
I got our supplies from Happy D Ranch. Just google it and the address will come up. The lady there is wonderful and willing to help.
When we use bread, i have found that the potato rolls by Martin's stay on the hooks a bit longer than regular bread.
Bonnie,
Does the power bait stay on the hook well? Are the nuggets you use the Crappie nuggets that are small yellow pea size balls?
What type of fish are your kids catching using the power bait?
I haven't gotten into fly tying with the kids yet. However, many of the rigs used for carp fishing require being tied by the fisherman himself, since they aren't available in stores. The fly tying vises come in real handy for putting together the rigs used for carp.
i will probably use rubber worms or something of the sort for my special education students. Most have limitations with their manipulative skills but it would be a good way for them to work on those skills without the added challenge of moving bait.
We use good old nightcrawlers for bait. They seem to work good all-around: stream or lake, panfish, trout, whatever... Plus, then we feel our students can see that they don't have to purchase bait. They just need a shovel and a little bucket/container. With high school age kids, they can put the worms on themselves or help each other.
We talk about all the different types of bait that can be used for fishing, but when we go fishing we will be using worms. The majority of the students live on farms and they will dig worms and bring them along. Some kids won't like to touch the worms but others will have no problem. This is where parents will help out. Plus, I will take my 2 kids out of school and they will help with worms on and fish off.
Teaching high school students I have found that live bait is o.k. I buy small red worms and wax worms so we can fish for pan fish in our local lake with great success. In my lessons concerning lures and lure selections we discuss how to bait a hook. Most of the students have no problem with this, however you do get a couple that think it is gross but oh well. Along with live bait we have small plastics, spinners, and jigs. It all seems to work well. Good luck to all.
I know that I keep pushing the carp fishing, but here I go again. This weekend when I got together with some carp fishermen, I couldn't believe the set up the home owner had, where we met.
"Come here, Vance, I want to show you something." Andy, openned a folding door in his basement, I figured I would see a closet. Much to my surprise, behind the doors was a room twice the size of my sons' bedroom. It was full of plastic pails with screw off lids. Each pail was full of something used in making carp bait. He openned a couple of pails and each contained bread crumbs. Each pail had a different type or coarseness of bread.
There were pails that contained calf feed and chicken feed and lord knows what else.
He had scales to weigh each part of the bait that he was making. He had shelves full of different flavors to make different baits with.
I could go on, but the science lab in your school should be so well equiped. I could see having students learn to make different baits from things that are available in the grocery store. I know that doesn't sound like a p. e. project, but how about some other classroom that you cooperate with the teacher in.
Think of all the measuring, weighing etc that you could do in a class like that. Then unlike the normal science project that gets dumped, the bait could be used to catch a fish that could turn out to be a students personal best. Sounds like fun to me, my kids will be working on that type of project this spring.
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