Powerbait Vs. Nightcrawlers

[fish-hound]

Hey all I had a day off from work today and decided to escape the warm weather and head up to Hemet Lake for the day. I went to my spot and got 2 poles in the water by 6:30am with Chartreuse powerbait on one pole and pink sparkle on another, both floating from the bottom. Long story short I used the same setup til I left at 1 and was only able to land 4 rainbows. Now to the point... in your own experience which has proven to produce more trout... Powerbait (if so what color/s) or live Nightcrawlers? Also, floating bait from the bottom or hanging down from a bobber. All input is appreciated and I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who will use the information shared.

Thanks all and tight lines!!!

[socalbassboy]

wild trout will hit crawler better than powerbait thats for sure...and when i do fish bait which is rare...i fish nightcrawler just because nightcrawler will catch anything! :) my dad uses powerbait when going for trout..and the best hes tried have been peach salmon egg and yellow corn
hope this helps

[Thisfool]

i like the night-crawler over power bait any day.

but in my opinion when it comes to stocker trout. for the first few days after a plant they probably key in on the power bait more since they grew up identifying the round pellet looking thing floating in the water is food. Not to many worms find them self's in a concert fish pin.

the night crawler is so much more versatile you can hang it under a bobber you can inflate it and float it off the bottom you can and a gulp egg to it to make a power mouse

with that said i only go to power bait when im desperate and i usually do very well with only using plastics such as a power mouse (gulp egg + trout worm). and i should and will use a night crawler more often this up coming trout season

[mjc89]

From my experience it really depends where you are fishing. Every day is different. Sometimes the trout prefer nightcrawlers and some times nothing but powerebait. I use both and when the fish hit both i will sometimes get 50/50. Nightcrawlers a are a good all around bait because you can pretty much catch anything. I caught my 10# trout on an inflated nightcrawler. So usually where ever i go fish i take powerbait and nightcrawlers and see what they prefer that day.

[ben0606]

You cant knock the trusty old nightcrawler. That's the fail all bait, the last lucky try, the one that saved the day. Inflated works great, use a syringe needle and don't waste your money on the store bottle inflators that have huge needles.

Power bait is awesome but there is never just one to take to the lake. I take up to 15 different kinds, plus I have certain lakes dialed in on certain colors. What was great at one lake sucked at the next and so on. I'm big on rainbow, but then there is the power worm power bait combo as well which can be jigged. Rainbow is my go to at all lakes including hemet lake, irvine is garlic or rainbow, corona is rainbow, garlic, orange, green, pink or white ha ha, Dixon is rainbow, silver wood was rainbow. As you can tell I'm very confident with rainbow which has an underlying message.....hint hint.

Like mj said though nc works and pb works, just dial them in that day. Ill try pb on one pole and nc on the other. Whichever is getting hit more and what color or model is what takes over eventually on other set up. Still say ya can't beat a good ole nightcrawler though.

Ben

[Marley]

Nightcrawlers, baby! If they're not biting 'crawlers, they're not biting. Which actually is true almost all of the time. When it's not true, I fish (slight blush here) original yellow or rainbow PB. As others have said, just about everything will eat them and they can be fished effectively a number of ways.
My go-to bait is the head end of the worm pinched off just past the yellowish band (called the "clitellum" and yep, that's what it's for), blown up and fished Carolina-style 16" off the bottom. 6 feet under a bobber is deadly and if you get into super-clear water or the lake has a lot of traffic on it, you can fish the same half a couple of feet above a single BB-size splitshot with just enough air injected into it to get a foot-a-minute sink out of it. Gotta play with the air 'til you get the sink rate right, but it will get the bait to the suspended fish that are still hungry but spooky enough to hold out of the traditional zones.

[CrownTown]

Nightcrawlers for sure. I've had days where I use power bait for hours and they won't hit it, but they hit the meat a few minutes after I cast. Also, I've noticed that if the fish are hitting powerbait, they will almost always also hit worms. And if you are fishing a lake with browns, golden, brookies, etc... they seem like they only hit worms.

[sum_of_all_parts]

A fascinating thread, but I wonder if one can generalize. Sometimes fish show a preference for just one lure. When trolling Lake Cachuma with some some buddies (three years ago), I had a golden hued, suspending, Rapala. The trout went crazy for that lure and my buddies who were trolling other lures, never got a bit. Our Captain (if one can have a captain on a 14 foot skiff), decided we should anchor up and throw out Powerbait. No one got bit on the Powerbait, but by casting and retrieving my Rapala, I still managed to catch a few trout. Weird day and something that never happened to me again. But it sure annoyed those fishing buddies that did not have a golden hued Rapala. Interesting enough, I loaned one of my buddies my floating Rapala and it did not get bit. When I loaned out THE LURE, the other lendee got trout.

[smokehound]

The only real attracting benefit of powerbait is fish oil.

That's it. No secret formula. The rest is simply buoyancy.

Try breaking a fish oil capsule into the pb. You'll be amazed how effective that is.

You see all sorts of gimmicks like garlic but the truth is the fish oil is the seller.

Corn works for stocked trout because they're fed pellets with corn meal used as a filler.

Its the same with those trout dips. Simply fish oil dressed up and sold at an inflated price.

[Tubbytuba]

Crawlers are great because of the wide rang of fish they will catch. if you inflate a crawler and float it just like you would powerbait, you can catch the fresh stockers, and you have a chance at the hold overs plus catfish would never pass up a juicy worm. no freshwater fish in their right mind would pass up a night crawler if presented correctly. the only exception maybe larger predatory fish. im talking 20plus pounds. my biggest catfish was 17lbs, and my biggest trout was 6lbs, both on inflated night crawlers.

[ben0606]

I'm gonna try the fish oil pills, good idea. How bout this though.......people do the pb with pb worm, what about pb with a night crawler? I'm rich!!!!!! Patent pending
:)

[castle]

I never fished Lake Hemet, but I like the powerbait for the trout. You can try a nightcrawler 3ft. under a bobber though and see what bites.

[ben0606]

I never fished Lake Hemet, but I like the powerbait for the trout. You can try a nightcrawler 3ft. under a bobber though and see what bites.

At lake hemet, that's a mystery prize ha ha, carp bluegill trout or bull head. That or a box of chocolates, ya never know what ur gonna get literally.

[plumbertom]

The only real attracting benefit of powerbait is fish oil.

That's it. No secret formula. The rest is simply buoyancy.

Try breaking a fish oil capsule into the pb. You'll be amazed how effective that is.

You see all sorts of gimmicks like garlic but the truth is the fish oil is the seller.

Corn works for stocked trout because they're fed pellets with corn meal used as a filler.

Its the same with those trout dips. Simply fish oil dressed up and sold at an inflated price.
I make my own attractant using 3/4 Menhaden oil (very inexpensive) and near 1/4 anise oil.
I add small amounts of a few other essential oils like cheese extract and crayfish shell oil to make it more effective.
The fish oil is the main thing no doubt. The anise oil is more to mask the scent of handling the bait and the other oils are just to try and make it more interesting to the fish.