Clockwise, from top left: minnow, crayfish, sunfish, shad, frog, and grasshopper. Fathead minnows, leeches and worms are mainstays in bait-shop refrigerators across the country. These old standards ...

This story, “Getting the Bait’s a Bail,” appeared in the May 1970 issue of Outdoor Life. The morning sparkled as bright and shiny as a new dime. The river was clear and purling along, its voices ...

When you absolutely, positively have to catch a fish, live bait is the only way to go, period. While artificial lures are variously new, improved, or otherwise hyped worldwide, the lowly worm and its ...