Fishing with artificial lures can be tricky at best. Some require you to dance them along the surface of the water in a jerky pattern. Some require you to bring them back quickly and smoothly. Others must be cast out far and deep and then brought up to the surface in a hopping motion. Sometimes it is enough to make a fisherman to just give up and take up golf!

Live bait can be a little easier to deal with, adding the wriggling motion that will bring your game fish out for a closer look with only minimal help from you. There is no one set perfect live bait for all fish, each fish has their own regular diet preferences.

Of course, some fish will bite on nearly anything that gets in the water anywhere near them, as well as the fish that would not nibble on anything less than fillet Mignon, (whatever that would be for their species, that is). Make sure that you know a little bit about the fish that you are after and what he likes to eat before you spend a lot of money on live bait. And, make sure that you know how to safely handle your bait as well as hooking them.

1. The cheapest and easiest live bait is the night crawler. Some people will chop the bigger worm into two or three pieces (each piece will still wriggle), while others prefer them whole. Regardless of how you approach your worm make sure that you transport them to the fishing site in a small container filled with dirt and keep them cool.

Push the hook into the worm in whatever style suits you and fish with the worm until it appears that you have drowned him. After fishing, either keep the worms for another day or toss them to their freedom. (If you do keep them, keep them cool and covered in dirt or you may discover what one of the worst smells on the planet is.)

2. Minnows. Little bitty fish of all varieties usually get to be referred to as “minnows” or “minnies”. Make sure that you use care when hooking your minnow and when casting him out. The hook should be through the fish enough so that your target can get hooked as well, but not so far through that you just tear it out when you cast.

3. Crawfish (crawdads) should be transported in damp leaves or moss rather than in water. Your crawdad should be hooked in the tail area so that he can still get around pretty well. Be careful when handling crawdads, they will pinch whenever they get a chance to do so.

4. Grasshoppers or crickets. These are less durable than the other baits and are more susceptible to being torn off the hook during the cast. They also tend to drown quicker.

Make sure that you know how to handle your live bait choice, as well as how to avoid being injured by it if that is a possibility. Also know that you cannot just toss anything that you want to out into the water and hope to catch a killer fish.