Baits for Individual Fish
Carp
can be caught from deep streams to marshes using a variety of baits from pet food to dough-balls and canned corn. They are also caught using a bow and arrow!
Largemouth Bass
seek protective cover such as logs, vegetation, rocks, and even man-made structures. They prefer clear, quiet water but will survive in a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Summer is the best time to fish for largemouth bass with the best success in the evenings or mornings using minnows, artificial baits, earthworms, and even frogs.
Smallmouth Bass
prefer cool streams as well as clear, cool reservoirs and lakes. Crank baits, jigs, minnows, or crayfish (artificial or natural) are excellent baits to use when trying to land the next smallmouth bass state record. Most smallmouth bass activity occurs at dawn or on a summer night around rocky areas. (In fact, many enjoy catching this fish for the "scrappy" fight they give.)
White Bass
stay in larger rivers but are also found in reservoirs with clear water. Minnows, jigs, spinners, and plugs (small and medium) are excellent for white bass fishing. A schooling fish, white bass are good fighters but are less desirable for eating.
Walleye
are river fish preferring large, cold water rivers and lakes. Walleye are found mainly in the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. Effective baits to use when fishing for walleye are nightcrawlers, minnows, plugs, spinner combos, and jigs. Being a schooling fish, if you catch one, chances are you will catch another.
Bowfin
are considered by many anglers to be one of the most aggressive fish to hook while fishing. The bowfin prefers sluggish, swampy bays of warm rivers and lakes. Bait used for catching a bowfin includes worms, nightcrawlers, minnows, frogs, crayfish, or artificial bait.
Channel Catfish
are active at night in streams, rivers, oxbow lakes, and ponds. These fish are caught in a variety of ways including hand grabbing, jugs, limblines, rod and reels, and trotlines. The best bait to use is liver, stink baits, cut fishes, and worms.
Redear
prefer clear quiet waters with abundant vegetation. Fishing near the bottom using natural (not artificial) baits and worms (earthworms and grubs) is effective when trying to hook a redear.
Bluegill
give a scrappy fight. These fish prefer vegetated waters of shallow lakes and ponds. Crickets, earthworms, and small artificial baits (spinners and flies) are excellent to use around the shore near vegetated areas, but do not fish after dusk since this is when bluegill stop biting.
