Well, I may as well toss in my two cents too.
I have used worms for years for catching panfish. And usually have some around when needing a few baitfish.
Then I have used crickets too and have done well with them also. But I don't always have then here at the house.
I watched Justin Johnston, catching some gills, crappie and both large mouth and small mouth bass with the one inch Gulp Minnow. Per Justin, color does not matter. He buys what is the cheapest So I tried them. I did catch several gills from my pond and got several hits that I didn't hook up on. But what was irritating me was that the tiny 1/64th jig head was still so large for this tiny minnow and that it got torn up too easily. The small, but still too large lead spike used to secure the minnow to the jig head just tore the bait apart.
Now, me being the "I can find a better way" kind of guy gave it some thought. I went to Wally World and bought a bag of Gamakatsu ( think #8) bait holder hooks. Eagle Claw has similar hooks also, just select the size for the tiny 1 inch minnow.
Anyway tiny hooks that have the two tiny teeth on the shank of the hook. I use a sliding float so I added it then I tied one of these hooks directly to the main line (4# test). This tiny bait holder hook made it easy to end up with a good bait security attached to a small hook. Then I crimped a small lead split shot on the leader right at the hook eye.
Now everyone fishes in their own way but I tend to fish in 7 feet of water or less. So I put a sliding very small styrofoam bobber on the main line with a string bobber stop about 6 to 7 feet above the minnow. When I cast and you can see Justin do the same thing, I let the minnow sink to the bottom. From then on it is twitch-sink, twitch-sink. I feel for a hit and watch the tiny float. Very very good bait.
Take two cents out of my account.
Good luck and take care of the bait you get also release what you don't need.
