Capt. C. C. Corey is a well-known guide in north Florida for trophy largemouth bass. His YouTube channel is filled with videos of him catching monster bass, and his No. 1 bait is a live wild shiner.

If you’d like to get started live bait fishing for bass, in Florida or elsewhere, then it pays to use a rod, reel and line suitable for this technique. Your standard fast-action, heavy-power graphite rod that works perfectly for pitching jigs or casting hollow-bodied frogs isn’t a good choice when fishing with wild shiners. 

As Capt. Corey explains, you need a rod with a strong butt section for pulling big bass from heavy cover, but it needs a soft tip to cast a wild shiner without tearing it off. A fiberglass or graphite/fiberglass composite rod is the best choice, and the good news is these rods are inexpensive. Capt. Corey prefers a Berkley Big Game Power Series baitcasting rod, and he matches it with a Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C3 6500C baitcasting reel, which features a free-spool clicker that is ideal when using large live minnows for bait.

He spools the reel with 50-pound-test PowerPro braided line in moss green color. Depending on bait presentation, he sometimes uses a large Styrofoam float, and he typically ties on a 5/0 or 6/0 plain-shank, offset hook from either Eagle Claw or Mustad. The one he mentions specifically in the video is an Eagle Claw 084AH. Finally, he places a tiny piece of rubber band over the barb to keep the shiner from sliding off the hook.

The video below begins with Capt. C.C. Corey landing a Florida largemouth in excess of 10 pounds. His You-Tube channel is filled with him catching bass to nearly 12.5 pounds. Watch and learn.

P.S. — If you’d like to book a day on the water with Capt. C.C. Corey, he recommends calling (386) 325-3743 and leaving a message. He says it may take him several days to get back to you because he’s often very busy.