Abstract: A device carried by a fisherman for dispensing live insects, e.g., crickets and the like, used as fish bait. The device includes a bait container for holding a limited supply of the crickets and a bait dispensing head attached to the bait container for facilitating the act of empaling the cricket with a fishhook and for subsequently facilitating a gentle unrestrained removal of the cricket therefrom. The head includes a pair of jaws which entraps the cricket and constrains it as the fishhook is being thrust therethrough. The jaws are movable to an open position which releases the now hooked cricket allowing it to jump free of the dispensing head. The head also includes a movable gate for enabling the dispensing head to effectively constrain various different size crickets selectively therein.