Are you still fishing with worms or lures? Why not add crickets to your stock of baits? Fish respond rather uniquely, and abundantly, to crickets. While female crickets home in on males with 'trills' most stimulating to them, fish are thought to be attracted to crickets because of their scent.
Another theory also goes that the sound crickets make create vibrations in the water that lure fish. (Crickets need not be sank too deeply to attract fish; a fishing bobber is put in place to keep that from happening.) Crickets have also long been part of the freshwater fish diet, as sometimes some of the former fall off the trees and into the ponds and snapped up by the latter. Whatever the reasons, crickets have always proven to be effective baits.
The only challenge with using crickets as fish baits is to keep them from falling off the hook and getting them alive on the line, a skill that requires a bit of practice and a lot of patience. Crickets have to be hooked using their collar as getting the hook in too deep would kill them before they are cast. If done properly, fishing with crickets could even out-fish worms or minnows, and lure members of the sunfish family and other freshwater fish species like perch, bass and bluegills. These critters also come affordable, and could last as long as you keep them out of heat and direct sunlight. Ideally, you would want crickets that don’t carry parasites, like those that live in the wild, especially if you are fishing for food. Get these critters from retailers instead.
To make fishing even more productive, understand that fish move depending on the temperature of the water. If the water is too warm or too cold, or too low, the fish will move elsewhere, usually under the canopy of vegetation like lily pads. Water thermometers make it easier for you to identify even minute changes in temperature that fish can detect and respond to by moving to waters with an ideal temperature.
Fish don't like to linger too long in bright light (because predators could easily see them), which makes fishing in shallow, sunlit waters an exercise in futility. Bright light also makes fishers more visible to fish, which could easily detect sudden movements that scare them away. Fishing at dusk or dawn usually yield better results.
