ARE ARTIFICIAL LURES BETTER THAN LIVE BAIT OR WILL LIVE BAIT CATCH MORE FISH THAN ARTIFICAL LURES?

A few weeks back, I wrote I would give my opinion on what bait would be better (live or artificial) but thought anglers need to know where to find fish under the ice before choosing a bait. Those that do not agree with this writing on what bait to use keep reading. Again, this is just my opinion so let’s get into different types of bait for ice fishing.

I believe both are great for not only ice fishing but year-round fishing, period. But there are cases when one can out preform the other. There are a few things you have to consider. These are convenience, species targeted, equipment used, location/transportation, fishing conditions and the type of ice fishing.

As for CONVENIENCE, anglers have to drive to a bait shop and bring a bait bucket to place the live bait.
For the SPECIES you’re going after, live bait can work much better if you know fish are there but won’t bite.
The amount of EQUIPMENT used can also make a big difference.

If you are heading to a location and are using a snowmobile transporting a larger amount of equipment is not a big deal. But if you’re walking to a location, you can only carry a certain amount so a small tackle box with lures is better than adding a bait container to the equipment used. Then FISHING CONDITIONS is huge. The weather can be below zero and handling live bait can make it a long day. Keeping your hand warm and the bait alive can be challenging, just saying. The last is TYPE OF ICE FISHING. Tip-ups work much better than lures, because the bait keeps moving. While using lures the angler can control the movement of different lures.

So, is using live bait better than artificial? My opinion is YES and NO. Not much of an opinion, right? Well water clarity can dictate what bait you are using too. While fishing in stained water lures can out fish live bait. But in gin clear water live bait can out fish lures. Again, if the fish are not biting live bait will out preform lures. But if the fish are aggressive lures can be better.

Let me add this. The new soft plastic lures look lifelike, and some are infused with different scent. Other artificial lures glow so in low light conditions these can catch fish. Spoons and some hard plastic lures rattle so these can attract fish. Then again, using live bait is more natural when they are trying to escape and will get more fish to commit.

So, of the two I would say, both have an advantage and disadvantage. How about using both. Tipping artificial bait with live bait can be the answer.