Joey Pounders has a passion for flatheads and part of the passion includes live bait. He uses an X-Treme Bait Tank on his boat to ensure that his live bait stays alive. Often, he simply hooks on a live bait and gently places it near the structure he wants to fish. Other times he believes that trimming the tail and fins can improve your catches. Especially in those circumstances where you are looking for a faster bite.
“I recently started trimming the tail on live bait,” says Pounders. “Sometimes I just trim the ends and sometimes I trim it close enough to the body so that the bait continually bleeds.”
There are pluses and minuses to the technique. A quicker scent trail is developed to attract the fish. And the shad itself becomes more active but it does tire out or dies quicker. When it does die, it is replaced immediately so the bait is changed more often.
“This is a technique usually used in heavier structure where hang-ups are common. The idea is to get a quick bite before I get hung up,” Pounders says.
