Live Bait

Bearbait · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:25 pm Post subject: Live Bait

During my last trip to PWS, twice I had large fish hit herring being caught on a sabiki rig. I have had this happen on numerous other occasions. I believe the cause is that the 10-15 seconds of frantic activity when a baitfish is first hooked is so violent that anything near can't resist eating the apparently crippled fish. I am working on a rig with sabiki hooks and a large circle hook close together to catch the larger fish when it takes the herring. I have a few ideas on how to do this but aren't satisfied with my current plans.
Has anyone tried or heard of a rig to catch big fish with a just hooked herring?

Bearbait · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject:

No takers Huh? Last night I got out the fly-tieing stuff and tied 2 small flies onto the bottom of the bend of some circle hooks with 1" leaders. The theory is that when a halibut or king salmon take a herring that is caught on a fly they will also injest the circle hook. I'm going to valdez in a week to hunt and hopefully I'll find some herring to try the rigs out.

lloyds · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 5:04 pm Post subject:

I took a guy out last sunday fishing for coho and he was using a hootchie with two hooks and the trailer had a jig looking skirt on it that was pale yellow with a read head, like the herring jigs. They went for that thing every time. He caught eight in just a couple hours.

Bearbait · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject:

It worked. I just got back and had a chance to try the rigs. I only found 1 small school of herring. I dropped the rig through the school and got a herring. I let the heering drop with 2 oz sinker and after about 10 seconds had a 30# halibut. I never could find the school again and never found another one. It was a good first try.

Captains Cat · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:25 pm Post subject:

Couldn't resist mentioning a great scene I saw several years back. A couple of cute teenage girls in short shorts standing in front of sporting goods place, right under a sign that said "LIVE BAIT"

If I'd only had a camera! Laughing

Charlie

flapbreaker · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject:

Bearbait · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 12:32 pm Post subject:

I suspect that whenever a school of herring is around their will be something hanging around waiting to eat them. The problem is that they don't cooperate, sometimes you find them and sometimes you don't.