Live Bait or Lure???

For those who want to catch Mr Big this Easter, and by that i mean a big F@#k off jewfish, the perennial question always is Live bait or lure??? Obviously both techniques work, i grant that, but will one technique give you a better chance of catching one than the other???

If you read the marketing hype on the packets of plastix these days you could convince yourself that lures with out perfrom live bait every time. With blurbs like "outfishes live bait" splashed across them novices can be tricked ino thinking this is fact not fiction. I will conceed that in the right scenario and in the right hands, lures will outfish live bait sometimes. In saying that, put live bait in the hands of a true pro and watch the fish succumb! Lure anglers would shiver with jealousy.

As much as i'd hate to admit it, it is fact. Bait or lure is a lie told by a fisherman to a fish. This is a popular quote from one of Austs most well respected journo's, David Green. But Greeny refers this to lures. I tend to expand that out a little and refer it to bait as well. I mean, a dirty big 8/0 will go a long way to marginalising the concept of free swimming prey. And let's put things into perspective, live bait is a dead ringer for the real live thing...cause its the same bloody thing! All we need to do is convince the fish the live bait is infact an easy meal and not connected to 30lb nylon. Doesnt seem so hard now does it??

Now let's look at plastix. The very definition of how plastix work can translate to live bait. The whole concept is to create the illusion that a live prey item is an easy meal. So now you have to convince a fish that a piece of plastic moving in just the right manner is in fact real. Your behind the 8 ball before you even start. But the concept is still similar, we want fish to react to our live bait and our lures in the same way. Therefore a lure can be referred to as a live bait. But will it outfish the real thing??? Its hard to comprehend it will when one is real flesh and blood and the other is petro-chemical based or scented food starch!

With scents these days the line of demarcation is blurred. There's no doubt that scents like Gulp and S-Factor are closing the gap, and the way fish react to lures is changing. Fish seem to be more aggresive, more willing to hit a lure or they are tempted to strike outside of peak fishing times. This is a positive thing for lure fishos. But a fish will still hit a live bait similarly. A free tucker is still hard to turn down, even for us scavengers:)

In the end, when all is boiled down live bait is still live bait. It smells like live bait, It looks like live bait and swims like live bait. It even sends off tempting distress signals. Most of these things can be recreated in a labratory but the essence of life is lost. I cant see how lures will ever outfish the real thing. But im more than keen to try and find out for myself!

If you want Mr Big and you are not a lure convert already, learn live bait. It will be your best chance. For those of us who prefer to take the road of most resistence, welcome to land of a thousand casts.