Fish Food VS Fishing Lures

There’s nothing like the thrill of the catch. The excitement grows as you reel the fish toward the pier or shore as it fights and thrashes. However, there is nothing more disappointing than yanking up to snag a nibbling fish only to find that the fish has taken the bait but not the hook. The old debate rages, fish food (worms, shrimp, shad) versus fishing lures, which is better?

Fish Food vs Fishing Lures

Sport fishing has two categories; catch and release, and tournament fishing. In tournament fishing, the fish are in a live-well too long to be returned to the water, while catch and release will return to the fish immediately. However, catch and release is not always successful if the fish is hooked too deep, or the hook tears too much flesh from around the mouth, they will die. People that practice catch and release know the odds are always against the survival of the fish, so that most fishermen are prepared to eat what does not survive.

Fish Food

Fish food can be anything from a night crawler to a large bait fish depending upon the type of fishing you're going to do. The cons of fish food or bait fishing are that it is messy and it can be difficult to get a minnow on the hook without breaking its spine and rendering it incapable of motion on the hook. Fish will eat almost anything if it’s moving but once it stops even the target fish gets suspicious. Dead in the water is not appealing to a fish although there are the few that will strike anything. The pros to bait fishing are that the hook is single-barbed, and can be small enough to avoid ripping and tearing inside the fish or around its mouth. If you hook a turtle, as has happened in land-locked lakes, be prepared to lose the hook.

Lure Fishing

Lure fishing does not require the use of live bait, although many people use a combination of the two. Lures are bright, even under water as they catch sunlight from the surface, have parts that move as they trail through the water and they have treble hooks. The cons of lure fishing are that the size of the lure will determine the size of the fish you will be able to catch, and there are a good many strikes that do not hook a fish. The pros of lure fishing are that once the fish is hooked, it will not be able to get loose. There is also the constant motion as long as you continue to move the line the lure will continue to spin, which attrachs fish.

Fish Food vs Lures

It’s not a good idea to use lures if you’re fishing to release. However, if you want to ensure that you do not lose the fish, use a lure. Fish food is a messier proposition, while lure fishing is fairly clean and there’s no need to worry about ruining the bait.