How do you keep live bait alive on the hook?
Submitted by Likc on Thu, 2010-02-25 15:55
Hi all.
I went to Grant St. yesterday night, as the weather was beautiful, to try my luck. Pretty quiet, but I caught a herring which I decided to put live on the hook on my heavy gear. So I pierced the hook through the poor thing, pretty much half way between the dorsal fin and tail. The fish didn’t shake or anything so I expect, that the hook went through the meat not through the spine or so. Fish was alive when I thrown it back. When I reeled in after some 10 minutes, herring was dead. So I am wondering, if it’s normal or if I did something wrong. Nothing touched the bait dead or alive.. Is Grant St. good spot for sharks/rays anyway?
fishing fanatic
Posts: 809
Date Joined: 01/05/09
hook it in the flsh just
hook it in the flsh just behind the head. usaully if they can swim free and the hook isnt to big they can last for hours and u can even release them
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
if you put the hook thru the
if you put the hook thru the lateral line it wouldnt help, hook size is important and a decent trace to allow it to swim a little will also help you, herring are very hardy
buschy
Posts: 626
Date Joined: 27/11/09
Yup...I've found my herring
Yup...I've found my herring stay alive for an hour or more. I put the hook in about 2/3 back, behind the dorsal and in the top 1/3. This also seems to help with missed bites....previously I have reeled in half a fish.
Try to get them back in the water ASAP....and when you catch the fella if he is foul hooked, bleeding, etc of course this will make a big difference in how long he survives when you throw him back in the water!
Likc
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 09/08/09
It was nice lip hook up, so
It was nice lip hook up, so he wasn’t bleeding. I was using 6/0 hook, because my 4/0 was getting straight when I hooked up something decent. I was spewing when it happened 3 times in a row… I have about 0.5m trace so he could swim a bit.
JohnSorrell
Posts: 137
Date Joined: 28/07/09
Straightened Hooks? You got
Straightened Hooks? You got to look out for those cheapys :) If you can bend a hook using just your fingers then throw it in the bin... I recommend high quality 6/0 thin guage ocky circle hooks for live baiting, as the thinner the hook the less damage you are doing to the fish :)
Here is how i rig my live bait ... the second hook near the tail & the sinker keeps them from swimming back towards you and keeps them off the surface :) gota love photoshop
Also make sure you dont have scales stuck in the hook after rigging...
Gone Fishing...
Likc
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 09/08/09
Yeah, it was combination of
Yeah, it was combination of cheapies and decent stingrays in Lancelin.
I’ve got better gear now. Thanks for the picture. This rig makes much more sense than what I was using. Great!!
thebear
Posts: 246
Date Joined: 09/06/07
Between the eyes.
I go between the eyes. That is at the very top of the eye cavity I gently slide the hook between the eyes without piercing the eye. works a treat and they stay alive for ages.
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