By Andrew Ragas Bass fishing purists and elitists revile it. The professionals consider it cheating. Tournament organizers and circuits ban it, and its competitor jersey-clad fishermen laugh at it in haste. At the turn of the coldwater period, what’s an angler to do when nothing else in the tackle box works and the day is seemingly lost? It’s acceptable to lower your fishing standards and have no shame with the live bait game. The majority of anglers in the bass fishing community theorize that it’s not a good idea to pull bass through the depths on live bait rigs. Fall staging areas and wintering locations tend to be deep on most lakes, often in the 25 to 50 foot depth ranges. Gut hookings, which happen from irresponsible rigging, improper hook selection and letting the fish swallow, coupled with barotraumas and un-releasable fish can take a devastating toll on a lake’s adult bass population. Add in potential exploitation of the heavily concentrated schools of fish and there is a legitimate, serious argument against the practice of live bait fishing and targeting wintering smallmouth colonies altogether. Of great concern, exploitation of fisheries is a problem.