Soaking Bait

If your not in the mood to use artificial baits there's always the option of soaking bait. It's called soaking bait because you simply put the bait on the hook, cast it out, sit back and see what happens. Soaking bait is nice sometimes because you can sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery while fishing at the same time.

Where to get bait?

There's a couple of options to choose from when wanting to get real bait

1. You can buy bait at local stores such as bait and tackle stores, seafood city, asian markets and even some Wal-Marts carry frozen bait. 
2. You can always catch your own bait such as mackerel, smelt and anchovies at local piers. All you need is a Sabiki rig a couple feet from the top and jig it up and down. If fishing for bait at night you will need a glow stick, a small hook, split shot weights and a small piece of squid or mackerel. Try to keep the bait a couple feet from the top. 

Frozen baits I've had experience with:

•  Mackerel - Cut small pieces of mackerel on a carolina rig or even a drop shot rig. Great for bass, halibut, stingrays, bat rays and sharks. The bloodier the better in my opinion. 
• Anchovies - Pretty much the same as mackerel. However, when frozen anchovies start to defrost they get very mushy and is harder to keep the on the hook. 
• Squid - Actually, I don't believe I've ever caught anything off of squid, but I do know that a lot of people catch stingrays, bat rays, sharks, and bass off of squid. Cut a small rectangular strip of squid and put it on a carolina rig or drop shot rig 
• Mussel - Mussel is a great bait to soak because it will catch a variety of fish
• Ghost shrimp - The ultimate fishing bait for fishing the saltwater of Southern California. I will cover ghost shrimp later. This bait is my personal favorite.