There are two successful ways to catch fish in Pennsylvania, with bait or a lure. Although there is a 3rd way, not all fish listen to your commands well enough to just jump out of the water and into the boat or net. For the casual fisher and even the experienced, it can be downright overwhelming to sift through all the lures and bait on the market and to learn the whens, wheres and hows of the appropriate conditions and situations of use.

The job of a lure is to attract the fish, to appeal to its hunger to dine. Each lure is created to act differently in the water, to look and act like the real deal under the water. Crankbait lures are a hard lure with a lip designed in the shape of a bait fish, typically allowing it dive underneath the water. Crankbait lures have at least 2 sets of hooks, known as treble hooks. Some are designed to dive deep and others to stay in the shallows. There are also lip-less Crankbait lures that work well in rocky or weedy conditions.

If your looking for a fishing experience with more action then a Topwater lure might be what your looking for. Designed to be very light to remain on top of the waters surface, these lures feature very lifelike characteristics that are irresistible to fish. Great for novice or experienced fisherman. Spinnerbait or Buzzbait lures work differently, they have spinner blade attachments that attract fish readily to the attached baitfish decoy as it is reeled in.

Live bait can be just as tempting to fish as lures. Worms, grubs, leaches, crayfish and minnows are very attractive if hooked correctly. You want them to maintain their natural look, avoid containing your bait in non-vented containers. Proper air circulation is key. The idea of live bait is that it is presented to the fish alive. These choices work well in almost any situation and if all else fails, do as Granddad did and throw some dough balls on your hook and see what happens.

Whatever the situation, play around with the different lures and different live bait combination’s. Experience is 90% the game when it comes to understanding what will work for your favorite fishing hole, be it a river, lake or pond. This was only a quick overview of a few options available, there are hundreds more to choose from.