HELP !!! My 3rd grade son is trying to conduct a science fair project on "WHICH BAIT (minnow, worm, stink bait or spinner bait) WILL CATCH THE MOST FISH IN A STOCK POND?" My wife thought this would be a good topic for him and I to do here in Texas. I think she's just trying to get out of helping him with the project. So here's my question(s).... Does anyone know of any articles/information that talk about using any of these types of baits and how effective they are in stock ponds?

Does anyone know where we could look for the information?

Help??? Tim

Will you or your son be doing any of the actual research yourselves? Or are you just looking for the observations of others? Sounds like a fun science fair project. My youngest daughters science fair project starts with the following hypothesis:

By measuring the diameter and weight of a vegetable, it is possible to estimate the size of the seeds contained within, however you cannot estimate the number of seeds.

Needless to say, I've been cutting open a lot of pumpkins.

Tim,

I've got a better idea. I've just recently finished stocking a "kid's" pond with the famous Georgia Giant hybrid blue gill. The pond is small, less than 1/4 acre, and created specifically for my grandchildren and other kids.

Your son is welcome to measure first hand in that pond this spring...heck if he is up to it, he can even try one or more of my other ponds. I'm in East Texas...send me a PM if interested.

Tim, I don't have scientific evidence but my experience is to rule out the spinner bait. Although almost all fish will hit an artificial bait, no artificial will catch as many fish as live bait.

One of the keys to the test is to define or narrow down the species and sizes you are going to study. For the purpose of a childs report, I would go for bluegill as the object of the study. They are more cooperative and plentiful than other fish.

If you are close enough, take Meadowlark up on his offer. If not, let us know and I'm sure someone will be close enough to help.

Stink bait is good only for catfish. Any catfish that will eat stink bait will also eat a minnow or worm. However, catfish can smell or sense odors and go to their source like a shark can distinguish blood. They are pretty amazing.

All sunfish will hit a worm but only larger ones can mess with minnows. My bet would always be to go with nightcrawlers.

I am not aware of any reports dealing with all the items of your topic. The topic is too broad and can involve too many types of fish that would respond (bite) in a pond unless there is only one type of fish in the pond. Then your idea could work. One of the points of good scientific method is to design the project to reduce the number of unknowns or variables.

If I had to pick one bait to fish with for all species of fish you normally encounter in a warm water pond,it would be nightcrawlers.BG,LMB,CC and Crappie[sometimes]will eat worms.Plus they can be fished in different ways,i.e. trolled,on the bottom or with a float.A spinnerbait is great for LMB and the occasional Crappie,but not too effective on CC or BG.

I always thought the most dependable universal bait to be night crawlers. In the past 10 years I have changed my mind. I've noticed that almost any live bait, properly sized and presented, performs just about as well. Tent caterpillars and gambusia are the bottom of the barrel, but I've caught lots of fish even on them.

Proper sized golden shiners are the hit of my pond. Bass, channels, bluegill. For years, this pond had nothing but shiners and BG. It is still the favorite of the BG. I have caught them on shiners I thought were too big for them, while trying to sample the LMB growth.