bait

fishing

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June 18, 2026

Quick Summary

Bait is anything used to attract animals, often to a hook or into a trap. In fishing, bait is used to entice fish to bite. Historically, fishing began as a method for survival, but it has evolved into a popular sport.12

Fishing involves using various types of tackle, such as rods, lines, and hooks, to catch fish. Bait can be natural, like worms or cheese, or artificial, designed to mimic a fish's natural food. Different fishing methods, including bait fishing, fly-fishing, and trolling, utilize bait or lures to attract fish. The goal for anglers is to understand the environment and the fish's behavior to successfully tempt them.21

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commercial fishing
Pole-and-line fishing
…vessel by chumming, throwing live bait overboard. The bait is kept alive on board in special tanks in which seawater circulates constantly. Bait can be an expensive problem for tuna fishermen; to catch one ton of tuna, roughly 100 kilograms of live bait fish are needed. Sometimes the hooks are…
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…vessel by chumming, throwing live bait overboard. The bait is kept alive on board in special tanks in which seawater circulates constantly. Bait can be an expensive problem for tuna fishermen; to catch one ton of tuna, roughly 100 kilograms of live bait fish are needed. Sometimes the hooks are…
Read More

fishing
Methods
A bait is impaled on the hook, which is “set” by the angler raising the tip of the rod when the fish swallows it. Common baits in fishing include worms, maggots, small fish, bread paste, cheese, and small pieces of vegetables and grain. The bait may…
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A bait is impaled on the hook, which is “set” by the angler raising the tip of the rod when the fish swallows it. Common baits in fishing include worms, maggots, small fish, bread paste, cheese, and small pieces of vegetables and grain. The bait may…
Read More

fruit
Animal dispersal
…and seeds can serve as fish bait—those of Sonneratia, for example, for the catfish Arius maculatus. Certain Amazon River fishes react positively to the audible “explosions” of the ripe fruits of Eperua rubiginosa. The largest freshwater wetlands in the world, found in Brazil’s Pantanal, become inundated with seasonal floods at…
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…and seeds can serve as fish bait—those of Sonneratia, for example, for the catfish Arius maculatus. Certain Amazon River fishes react positively to the audible “explosions” of the ripe fruits of Eperua rubiginosa. The largest freshwater wetlands in the world, found in Brazil’s Pantanal, become inundated with seasonal floods at…
Read More