Best Bait For Fishing

How many times have you heard the question, “What are they biting on?” or “What is the best bait for fishing in this or that body of water”? If you spend much time fishing, these types of questions seem to come up a lot. Well in this article I will draw upon my 20 plus years of fishing experience fishing for various species of freshwater fish all over the United States and Canada to outline some of the best baits that can be used for fishing.

As we all know there are many different types of bait that can be used for fishing from live and synthetic baits to artificial baits of all kinds, so how in the world does one determine the best bait for fishing. It’s obviously not possible to pick one particular bait and call that bait the best, but it is however possible to pick four or five of the top baits and “the best bait” will probably be among them depending on the particular fishing situation.

That is exactly what I will do here. I will list the four or five top baits that have performed well for me over the years, and depending on your particular fishing situation or style, the best bait will probably be among them.

1. Live Worms – Live worms have been known to be an effective bait for fishing for many years and has to be mentioned among the best baits that can be used for fishing. Worms are effective for all types of freshwater fish species and work in all types of fishing scenarios. A great tip, especially where trout fishing is concerned, is to use a set of gang hooks to rig your live worms. This type of fishing hook configuration enables live worms to be presented in an outstretched and natural manner, which is an advantage to the angler.
2. Swim Bait Hybrids – This bait is fairly new to the fishing scene and is a type of fishing lure. This fishing lure has a hard plastic head with a soft rubber body. This makes this fishing lure incredibly realistic when being retrieved. Because of their realism, swim bait hybrid fishing lures certainly have to be among the best baits that can be used for fishing.
3. Synthetic Baits – Synthetic baits can include anything from Powerbait trout fishing bait, to all of Berkley’s “Alive” products. These baits are synthetic because they have been manufactured by human beings, but are impregnated with fish attracting scent’s to make fish want to bite them. It is even said that Berkley’s “Alive” products will out fish live bait in many fishing scenarios and when trout fishing for stocked trout Powerbait is a very effective bait to use.
4. The Original Rapala – The Original Rapala fishing lure is a very popular and effective bait for fishing for all types of freshwater fish. This balsa wood fishing lure imitates a minnow as much as a fishing lure can in my opinion and is certainly has to be in the running for the best bait that can be used for fishing. When the angler adds some “twitching” to their retrieve this fishing lure imitates a wounded minnow perfectly.

The answer to the question of the best bait for fishing is more than likely among the above choices. Are there baits that I have overlooked? No doubt, but over the past twenty plus years the above baits have all performed beautifully for me in various fishing situations.

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 25 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his five year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.

Trout Fishing Hooks