Let's face it, you want the easiest way to catch fish, use natural , and live baits, you throw you bait out, and wait for the fish to find it.  This type of fishing is where most anglers start, and many anglers stay, they rarely ever use lures, they know that natural, and live bait works, and in most cases, better than lures. This type of fishing is relaxing to the max. There are techniques, that make this type fishing more productive though, we will start at the basics, and get down to some neat little tricks that make it even more fun, and rewarding.

Natural baits, are those found in nature, and are the regular diet of the fish species you are going after, these are generally the best, but other natural (organic) baits also work very well, depending on the fish species.

Truly natural baits include all kinds of insects, from the larva of wasp,  maggots, meal worms, wax worms, crickets, grasshoppers, mayflies, caterpillars, and of course all types of earth worms. Nearly every species of fish will hit insects, and some huge fish have been caught on small insects. (I have caught a 22 lb flat head catfish on a single cricket, while bream fishing)

We also have those animals that live in the water, that fish feed on, such as minnows, small fry of big fish, fresh water shrimp, leaches, crayfish, frogs, eels, helgamits, and other underwater insects

 Some of other of  what we call natural baits include such things as cooked corn kernels ( for, cat fish, carp, trout, bream, and suckers), a can of Nibblets corn, can provide a days worth of fun, for the least amount of money.  Process meats, such as hot dogs can be used as an effective bait, cut into small pieces. Dough balls, made of bread, or special bait formulas, chicken livers, or other chicken parts, even raw bacon can be used effectively for some species of fish.

One thing cat fisherman have learned, is natural salt water baits, can be used very effectively for fresh water cat fishing, such as squid, and shrimp