AbstractWhether or not baiting influences stickleback catch per unit effort (CPUE) remains a matter of debate among stickleback researchers: While the opinions about the impact of baiting onCPUEdiffer, supporting quantitative data are scarce. The effect of baiting and trap type on nine‐spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius)CPUEwas studied in a field experiment conducted over four consecutive days in a small pond in northeastern Finland. The results show that baited traps yielded better (meanCPUE = 1.24 fish/trap/d) catches than unbaited traps (meanCPUE = 0.66); however, there were also differences inCPUEdepending on the type of collapsible trap that was used. The trap type effect onCPUEseemed to differ among age classes – the finer meshed trap caught more young‐of‐the‐year fish than the coarse‐meshed one, whereas the opposite was true for the older and larger individuals. The results agree with those of an earlier more restricted study conducted in the same locality: Together, these results provide strong evidence for the positive impact of baiting on nine‐spined sticklebackCPUE.