Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | Golden shiners are best bait for trophy bass
If you’re looking for a true Florida trophy bass this spring, you can try your favorite lure or put the odds more in your favor by live baiting. For consistent trophy catches, nothing beats a wild-caught golden shiner which can grow up to pound and as long as 16 inches. Can a jumbo bass eat a shiner that big? Definitely!
A wild-caught shiner must be active on the line putting out distress vibrations as it struggles and swims against the hook, attracting the attention of predators lurking nearby.
Here are some shiner tips worth repeating and will help you save time and money when it comes to buying, catching and housing expensive, wild-caught, golden shiners for your next trophy bass hunt.
When purchasing wild shiners always inspect the bait as well as you can without making the bait shop owner upset. No one wants some “dang tourist yahoo” rummaging through their bait tanks, so ask to buy a shiner or two and give it a lite rub. Be assured it won’t grant you three wishes but a healthy live shiner will have retained its slime coat after being caught, handled, transported, then finally housed in its current location. Rough-feeling shiners might make it to the ramp but aren’t long for this world and certainly not what you need for that lifetime, trophy bass, bucket-list trip.
Like with any live bait, don’t overcrowd your live wells and provide plenty of aeration. There are several commercial water additives available that help shiners stay healthy during the day and worth the cost.
Shiners can easily suffer shock sickness or die with sudden changes in water temperatures, such as the difference between the stores bait tank temperatures and your live well temperatures, so keep that in mind when buying expensive bait. Learn to acclimate.
Catch your own shiners by baiting a weedy area with oatmeal for a few days then catching them on tiny hooks and oat flakes, cast net them, or simply buy them. Whichever method you choose, using a big, healthy, golden shiner is one of the most consistent ways to get a jumbo Florida bass interested in eating.
I received emails asking about the jumbo bass residing in California reservoirs that typically grow to larger sizes than Florida largemouths on a diet of stocked trout. Many of these original fish are actually Florida strain bucketmouths that were transplanted to these western lakes and obviously liked the conditions and now grow to enormous sizes. Google tells us “Largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, were first introduced into California from Quincy, Illinois, into Lake Cuyamaca ( San Diego County ) in 1891, and are now found throughout California.”
“Two subspecies are recognized, the northern subspecies, M. s. salmoides, and the Florida subspecies.”
Florida certainly has its share of big bass but if you’re shopping for a fish over the 20-pound mark, California is the place to be looking.
Long lines, broken tail lights, police interventions, dock damage, dented fenders, scratched hulls, public drunkenness and family screaming matches are just some of the events I witnessed twice this past week at a popular Miami boat ramp as boaters tried to get on the water and just “relax.”
Sixty percent of these incidents were caused by rude ramp hogs that parked and loaded or unloaded while clogging up the ramp, driving experienced ramp users crazy. The other 30% were new boat owners that were clueless about trailer backing and 10% were clearly alcohol-related resulting in multiple arrests.
Practice handling or backing your boat in an empty parking lot first! Stay far away from boat ramps till you have backing a trailer figured out. Set up cones in the parking lot to practice with. Go slowly when backing.
Only enter the launching ramp to put the boat in the water then quickly exit the ramp. Never load or prep your boat in the ramp. Don’t drink and drive.
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-579-0461 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.