When bass fisherman are pitching at the dock I usually ask them how the fishin’ is…If they respond “slow” or some such I usually like to say “Geez, I thought anybody could catch a bass”… 
While I am 
, those oversized sunnies can be very difficult to catch as well!! Isn’t the idea of tourney fishing to showcase your angling skills?? Anyone can go out and sling worms around… 
, but to do it soley on artificials makes a statement.
sixer? 
While live bait will take walleye (sometimes) I don’t think bass eat live bait unless 
they feed on large chartruse muskrats with two spinners coming out thier [censored] 
Don’t forget Slop, those Walleye guys are allowed to troll too. Something we aren’t. I guess they need all the help they can get. Trolling live bait, now there’s a concept.
Livebait only. Artificials only. A combination or both with or without trolling. As long as everyone in a tournament is playing by the same rules it’s all good in my book.
The use of bait in tournaments doesn’t make things “too easy.” It actually complicates things be adding in another option that must be considered. Rarely will you have a good artificial bite and a good livebait bite in the same area at the same time. So both must be considered and one eliminated which chews up time and energy.
Some guys are really good with live bait, but wouldn’t know how to slow-roll a spinnerbait if their life depended on it. Some guys are good with artificials but would blow the hookset on a crawler harness every time. Not many people are good with both presentations. Personally I’m good at turning live bait into dead bait and not necessarily catching anything with it. I think having live bait as an option in a tournament would really complicate the decision making process.
Rootski
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Personally I’m good at turning live bait into dead bait….
Amen to that.
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Just been browsing the forums today and noticed that the walleye tourney’s allow live bait….
Why don’t’ walleye guys use artificials only in tourney’s?…No offense, and the same lies for us bass guys, but live bait makes it to easy doesn’t it?
Just provoking some thoughts/discussion.
#1. Who left the darn bass forum gate open?? Now we have rif-raff like this frequenting the walleye forums!!! 
#2. In the old days, was trolling allowed for bass tournies?? If so, where did you mount the kicker motors??
#3. Ok, so live bait may catch fish, it doesn’t guarantee anyone fish. I bet it’s even the same for those goofy bass. I always liked frog fishing the stock ponds back home. Those bucket mouths would explode out of the cover when you threw out a live frog. I’m betting a slop frog would produce a similar reaction. Which leads me to believe bass are goofy!!
One question, why did the bass tournaments go away from allowing live bait? When did this take place??
John
Sloppy, I noticed that too. I’m confused on the whole thing. I guess I catch bass with live bait, but never really nice ones like I do with artificial. The eyes now, I take some nice ones with both. I don’t really know what the deal is…anyone that is a pro may have better input. I mean it is nice to troll and cover more area…. 
I mean I hate sitting and having to throw at the same strech of lilly pads and rock bars….. you got me?????? 
I love using live bait for bass. The 12″ and under taste pretty good in the fry pan, in the winter time……….
YES I TO LIKE TO USE BASS AS LIVE BAIT….OOOPS DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD
I FISHED LAKES A LOT IN THE PAST, PULL A LEECH ON THE WEED LINE WITH A 18″ BAIT RIG AND ITS LIKE FISHIN THE RIVER , YOU WILL NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS TILL IT IS IN THE BOAT.
LOTS O FUN. 
JUST BECAUSE IT IS REAL YOU STILL GOT TO PUT IT IN FRONT OF THEM
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Sometimes you need live bait. Walleyes are tricky to catch, unlike those oversized sunfish you fish for.
Lenny Jamison
so are trout!
Swany 
Hey Slop
I’m all for it bring it on.
I haven’t used live bait in a month and a half.
I’m not getting record fish..But I got a limit of eaters Saturday and Sunday……..
The only big things I can get are those damn 18 and 19 inch bronze backs they are such a nuisance 
It has been my experience, in my area, that the bass fishermen do not exhibit nearly enough patience to fish live bait. Slower presentations do not work well while skidding into a pile of brush, pitching once or twice, and flying out at 70mph. My point, live bait fishing is slow and meticulous, not up the alley of the type A personality bass guys around here.
John
I thought I heard live bait was NOT allowed in bass tourneys, because the bass will (a lot of times) swallow the hook, and die. Im not sure why they allow live bait it in walleye tourneys. Maybe there trying to finaly get rid of those toothy critters, and are hoping they will die.
Most fish that die from deep hooking when using live bait is most often the result of lack of experience on the part of the angler. I know I kill or injure far more fish in a season fishing crankbaits than I do dragging jigs n’ bait or fishing 3 ways n’ bait for walleye. I can’t recall ever deep-hooking a smallie fishing jig n’ leech or crawler but I’ve had some VERY bad things happen to smallies when they’re aggressively attacking stickbaits.
On my last bass trip with DeeZee I had a 20+” smallie that we did not take a photo of as I was so concerned about its ability to withstand any further distress after it took a tube deep into the pie hole. 
After some careful extraction work and some patient time boat side I think she ended up all right.
My point is… no matter how you fish, you will hurt and kill a percentage of the fish you intend to release. Even bass. As you gain more experience you’ll find ways to reduce this to a minimum but it will never be completely eliminated.
But let’s be brutally honest about the real reason bass tournies don’t allow live bait. Tournaments won on crawlers or softshell crayfish aren’t worth thousands of dollars in subsequent sales to the companies sponsoring the events.
I have no idea how it happened but the use of live bait is much more engrained into the sport and culture of walleye fishing and has been harder to shake in the tournament environment. We do have some artificial only events from time to time but they are almost always hosted by a company limiting the participants to the use of their products.
Slop it might surprise you to know that some of the RCL and PWT Pros rarely if ever use live bait. Some of them can tell you to the minute how much time each day they would waste repacing minnows,crawlers, shinners,chubs, leeches. I personally use just about everything and anything it takes to get the job done. But it might be interesting to have you fish the IDA walleye tourneys next year with artificials only. I wouldn’t be suprised at all if you did quite well. Then you could be a muti species Jedi.
I’ve caught some of the biggest smallies of my life on a slip bobber and a leech.
I would love to try a walleye tourney sometime with someone who is a good walleye fisherman.
Resume includes proficiency casting, good conversation, and willing to learn. Knowledge of walleye limited. Am a good troller. 
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