Live or cut chubs?

[grillking]

just wanna know peoples preference on chubs? live or cut up? had success on both. also what size and style of hooks? any input is appreciated. good luck!

[onlyriverfish]

Ryan,
Personally thats not my bait choice, but depends what predator your after where, when and what pattern the predator is suspected to currently be in when baits used.

For instance-Blues. then cut bait has a scent trail that they can hone in on from down current (in lake or river).

Flatheads like lively vibrations........

At any rate you could just use one live and one dead then see what happens and change to whichever produces best. You never know til ya try.

Good luck fishing:smile2:

[fishinjunky]

depends what your fishing for and where. like me i fish the mo. river 99% of the time. the only luck with live chubs in general (with my experience) are catching flats to 10 pounds in the humps on the outside bends. using cut is a different story, have never caught anything on cut chub, but could be fishing cut shad, or drum right next to it and have action on everything but the chub.

[fishinjunky]

as for hook and hook size i like the true turns, i use 4/0 for fish to 20 pound bait sizes and have 6/0 for 30 pound and up bait sizes. the good thing about these hooks is that they hook like a circle but you can still cross their eyes into the back of their head, and not worry about a fatal hook up, always in the corner of the mouth like a circle.

[kyhawk]

chub good choice of bait live or dead...i prefer cut chub if im out to catch the channels...they absolutely love cut...i've had decent success on live but mainly for flathead, but have caught some nice channels on live too...overall i would prefer cut...i use 3/0-4/0 circle hooks, self setting, dont get much easier then that....these circles i luv em they have workd great for me...well good luck

[nudimeyer126]

We have had some luck on cut chubs at lake Manawa in council bluffs.

[waleygator]

If you have some leftover cut bait, do you throw it away or have you tried to freeze it in freezer bags for the next trip?

What about the "jarred" shad sides? Know we use them a lot right after ice-out in the resivors, lakes and ponds, but have never tried them in the Missouri?

[suddawg]

Had decent success on Chubs. Live ones have caught a few flatties but mostly channels.

Can't seem to get ahold of any Shad this year...but I'll never use the canned stuff again. OMG...that is one of the worst smells ever.

SudDawg

[waleygator]

...but I'll never use the canned stuff again. OMG...that is one of the worst smells ever.


Man...I thought you "security types" were braver than that! Us "safety" guys must be tougher...

[suddawg]

It's the kinder...gentlier...Air Force Ha ha...lol

Actually last time I tried the can stuff, I was roughly 9-10 years old. Just remember the smell was ridiculous! Besides, now we just use fresh shad. It seems to work pretty good.

SudDawg

[Zombie76]

I've had better success with the cut than the live. I do most of my cat'n in smaller lakes in the south central region of the state. The live ones work pretty good too, but the cut just seems to do better for me. So far as hooks go, I like a 4/O to a 6/0 circle. Most often they give a good lip set rather than having the fish swallow it.