natural or artificial angler???

[grumpymoe]

i've wanted to post this for awhile to see what you consider your expertise. in my early years being raised at the lake, we caught and fished exclusively with natural bait; be it minnows, crayfish, worms, leeches. in recent years, i have reluctantly started using some of the expensive crankbaits, but mostly in summer.what prompted this post (i'm not being cheap either) but looked over the new supply of hardwater jigs etc. the new storm minnow jig was $4.99 cdn for 2--i can buy 2 dozen live minnows for the same price and have a hoot catching fish and alot more for the same price. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A NATURAL BAIT ANGLER OR AN ARTIFICIAL BAIT ANGLER ??

[Oldfart]

I'm split. I love to go natural with 6 tipups, , but if its slow I'll pule one up and hit em in the head with a pimple.

[fishercat]

Give me a place to sit and 5    with live bait and I am all set. Somthing to eat and drink would just top it  off  

[acsacmboy]

im the same with olfart but only 5 tipups here in NY the pimple is the best spoon or lure ever.

[Barleydog]

Moe, Gotta go with the split.  Dead baits on the tip-ups and artificial lures for jiggin.  Produced more fish jigging today than on tip-ups  Some days you just need that extra flare!

[asphalt_kid]

Artificial , you mean people still use live bait, where do you get this stuff at.  Everywinter the local baitshops here in my hometown shut down for the winter I gotta drive 20 miles or more to find minnows and other bait.

[rgfixit]

Whatever will work!  I'll try anything...live bait usually wins.

RG

[iceguy]

 I prefer to go artificial, but I'll also change if the fish are fin-icky!!

[ComplexSimon]

I'm a natural angler.  None of these gortex outfits that are good to -50 degrees. I prefer my skivies, let the wind blow right through...oops, you were referring to bait  

Seriously, I have to say that I'm of the split nature myself.  I like to have both tip-ups with live bait as well as jigging raps.  Here in PA we are only allowed 5 total lines [sigh - coming from NY where we could have 7 - much more enjoyment] with no more than 2 hand lines, I usually run 2 jigging rods and 3 tip-ups.  Seems to be the best of both worlds.

[Fat Boy]

I jig nearly all of the time.  So, I start with artificial and use live bait if that doesn't work.  That way, I can determine how aggressive the fish are.  If they're aggressive, I'll have some on the ice before my fishin' buddies are baited up.  If they aren't, I have a clue on what to do next to tempt 'em and I'll have a rig ready for some maggies or waxies. 8)

[Mugz]

I am split on this as well.....the difference is live bait does it's own thing. Artificial takes a little finesse and a little more patience I think. Just because you drop a jig down into a hole doesn't mean you'll catch fish. You need to experiment with depths, locations, bottom contour, jigging technique, etc. The only thing you need to do with live bait is drop it to a certain depth (which may take some experimenting as well) and let the bait do the work.
I mostly use shiners on tip-ups but it is fun to feel the strike and fight of a nice fish on your jigging rod the size of a large toothpick on light line.

[fishingking]

all depends in open water  some places only live works best and some places only artifical works personally i like using live bait better    for icefishing i dont tipup hardly at all anymore i find jigging for panfish works so much better and thats mainly what i fish for    a jig tipped with a spike works great for me

[Polar]

I use whatever is working the best at that time.

[olds-Pa]

Although i know artificials work well for walleye, i prefer to use live bait. That way i can keep my hands warm while waiting for a strike. I also like to stay off the ice while waiting for a flag to keep the noise factor to a minimum. It's just what works for me is all.                   olds