# pin fish trap



## HOOKEM (May 21, 2008)

I bought one of those pin fish traps that everyone on here swears about. Question is, what should I put in there for bait? Someone told me canned cat food, so thats what im trying overnight. Others have told me mullet. Any thoughts?


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## patsfan72 (Jun 1, 2008)

left over fish carcass


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## sel1005 (Jan 10, 2008)

Been using them for years and despite the meat approach, I get just as many if not more stuffing a loaf of old bread in mine. You can add some old meat parts, chicken parts, whatever, but I catch a couple dozen in the trap with a loaf of bread; usually augment them with an hour of fishing off the dock with dead shrimp for the bigger ones or croakers the night before, end up with 30 or so lively ones for the am departure.

I also find that if I take pliers and open the trap gates a half inch or so I get larger fish than usual. most gates are sized just a tad smaller than what we have here in FWB for optimal pin fish


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## saltfisher1 (Oct 8, 2007)

Mullet heads....anything that wont get picked too easy by minnows...I'd check it every 3 hrs.


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## Wade Schepper (Mar 11, 2009)

if you can get some bonita to put in them, your trap will be the fullest it has ever been. once they start tearing into that bloddy meat they go into a frenzy.


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## HOOKEM (May 21, 2008)

Well I put some cat food in there and there were about 20 or so Pin Fish in there, but the cat food was all gone. Ill try and add some other stuff in there tonight. Last night was just a trial run..Thanks for the replies guys!!


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## RUSTY (Oct 2, 2007)

Has anyone tried frozen squid?


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## KingMe!!! (Apr 25, 2008)

I tried the squid once. Wasn't very succesful. Not even a crab.


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## Sea Monkey (Dec 26, 2008)

The OLE bait for bait.

Fish carcasses work well. I would use chicken backs if no fish are available. Chicken will have you a trap full.


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## BJW (Oct 1, 2007)

I've always used whatever I had. If you are fishing several days in a row, the left over bait from one day is good. Cigar minnows and squid have worked well for me. Shrimp just falls through the holes. Someone once told me that you can use old shrimp if you have some kind of mesh bag or old panty hose leg to put it in but I have never tried it. Seems like the best is the leftovers from fish cleaning. And as noted earlier, never thow away a bonita if you have pinfish traps.


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## Trap Guy (Oct 6, 2007)

HOOKEM

I just noticed your post about what to use in the pinfish trap. By far the best bait I have used is cut up Menhaden. I use 2.5 lbs of Menhaden in each Offshore Model and it works great. If the Menhaden are not fresh then use Sardines. Both of these baits are cheap and work very well. Let the Pinfish dictate how much bait to use though. If you come back and your bait is gone and the trap is not loaded then add more next time. The goal is to get the trap loaded and have some dead bait left over. At this point you have found the best set up. Call me if you have any more questions about my traps and I will be glad to help you with them. I sent you a PM with my contact info.

Richie

www.catchlivebait.com


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## AaronBarnes (Sep 7, 2009)

I've had luck with most anything.

Frozen shrimp work great. I put a chunk of "chum block" sold from walmart and get lots of pin fish.


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

Let me put in a plug to the trap guy and his customer support - 

I sent him a PM saying that I got his $100 trap was loading up on only smallish pinfish.

He called me up - suggested a modification to the trap, and we talked for quite a while about how he developed the trap design, bait, time of day,and other trap tactics.

His suggestion worked - bending up the the tab on the top chutes, and really loading up with bait did the trick. Now getting large quanities of both medium and "scamp" size pinners. I find myselft throwing bait over board when I am done fishing at the end of even long days! 

Did not expect that level of customer service - welcome surprise - highly reccomend these traps for their performance and quality.

Keith


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## Island24 (May 12, 2008)

I have good luck with mullet heads also, but even better with some menhaden


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## Silver (Jun 18, 2009)

How long do you have to leave these traps in the water?

Since I'm landlocked I don't even know where i'd put them :/


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

You can use ANYTHING in your trap. Pinfish will even eat turds..!I found this out years ago when I had to jump in for an emergency dump. Bad thing is the current pushed the crap towards the boat. While I treaded water the Pinfish were having a feast..!!

Opening the metal flap is a no brainer.


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## Bill Me (Oct 5, 2007)

Way too much information!


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## prostreet78 (Mar 2, 2008)

sick:sick


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## Fajah (Apr 8, 2009)

I get 15lbs of dry dog food for $4 at Dollar General and pick up one of those net bags that are used to wash your lingerie in. I put the dog food in the bag and stuff the trap, it last quite a while, 12 hrs or so. 



For about 5 bucks I have a clean easy to use bait for the trap that probably reloads the trap about 20 times.



Good luck,


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## kalebk (Sep 27, 2009)

ckicken gizzards work nice


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