# catching live bait... WHAT A MESS!



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

Well I don't exactly know what im doing wrong.. Hell I went out to the pass the the bait fish looked so thick like you could walk on them...

Im throwing an 8foot net, I dont know how much weight/foot it is, but it dosent feel very heavy...

I would throw the net over the top of a school and they would scramble and leave me coming up empty.. 

the mullet are so boat shy we coulden't get close to them in the boat and they are staying just far enough off the beach to where I can't net them wading..

my pinfish trap produced zero results in the grass beds and then it was stolen so who knows, maybe it did produce..

I find im wasting entirly to much time searching for live bait the morning of a trip, if anyone can give me suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.:banghead:banghead:banghead


----------



## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

We have a salt water tank in the garage that I keep bait in for trips. Helps plan a head. You still have to catch the bait in the morning, but it only out of the tank.


----------



## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

To catch those baits around the pass, you are going to need to use a sabiki rig. It's too deep for a cast net there. As for the mullet, well, you just have to be patient and really stealthy.


----------



## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

bait boat, much faster and you usually end up with better baits. i like to spend my time fishin rather than wasting time (trying) catching bait. IMO


----------



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

So thoes fish I see in the giant school near the waters surface will eat a sabiki??? And what are thoes exactly hardtails?


----------



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

> *Realtor (6/23/2008)*bait boat, much faster and you usually end up with better baits. i like to spend my time fishin rather than wasting time (trying) catching bait. IMO


Yea we passed a blueish/green boat that said "LIVE BAIT" on the side, we pulled up next to him and he said he had no bait haha ;<


----------



## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

we spent about 45 minutes getting some yesterday, small hardtails, threadfin and I think the others were leather jackets. Only the hardtails are alive once put on a hook. from what I have seen.


----------



## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *Immyz (6/23/2008)*So thoes fish I see in the giant school near the waters surface will eat a sabiki??? And what are thoes exactly hardtails?




The ones inside the pass are usually threadfins and crazy fish with hardtails mixed in. Yes, they will all eat the sabiki. The threadfins are hard to keep alive, the crazy fish are no good as bait. The hardtails are good. Outside the pass is usually where you will find the cigar minnows and more hardtails.


----------



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

It sounds like im going to have to dedicate a single day to learning where to catch bait =)


----------



## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

NO, take a light tackle spinning combo, use the smaller size sabikis. Go out side the pass and to the bouy by the mass. Cut really small pieces of squid and attach to each hook. Put a 2oz weight on the bottom and toss over schools of bait. They will hit it while reeling but let it fall kind of like an easy jigging motion. Once you feel one on start reeling SLOW so that the others in the group will get excited and bite. That will make sure you have at least 4 on. Repeat until full. It usually takes us 20-30 mins if we catch bait. I prefer the bait boat!


----------



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

thanks for the advice, keep it coming!


----------



## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

One more thing. If you want to "kind of" target hard tails we have found working the beach can be productive.


----------



## Fishermon (Oct 19, 2007)

when inshore (mostly like)we anjoy chasing bait and trying to net a few is part of the fun in my opinion. I personally don't see trying to catch your own bait as a waste of time at all.. my boy is learning how to cast his 4 footer and hes getting good at it. But I could understand if you are going 40 miles out and have your time limits. Bait boat is a good alternative, but likesome one say you can use sabiki rigs for hard tails or just about any kind of small hook with a flashy tail with a little flavor at the end. If you are around the pass go to the north side of the island on shallow water and lookaround there, in fact you can catch lots of bait at the boat ramp. here is a pic of a hard tail:


----------



## sailmaker (Dec 10, 2007)

The boat canals and bayous are LOADED with bait size pinfish, finger mullet, mehaden, etc. I only get down there once every year or so but I have no trouble catching as many live baits as I can use in two days in one or two casts. I do use a bigger net [ten footer] but as in real estate it's location, location, location. The boat canals way in the back of Destin harbor are so full of bait that I could go into the bait business while down there!!!!!!! Look for dark water about 3-5' deep and flashes way down deep. In one spot back there it's the norm to catch 45 2-3" pinfish in each cast, no matter WHERE you cast! The schools of finger mullet will be cruising through too but not always on top. Check it out.


----------



## PompNewbie (Oct 1, 2007)

Great Info...Keep it coming!!


----------



## WW2 (Sep 28, 2007)

if I sibiki bait and I'm getting a mix of threadfin and crazy fish I put threads in the livewell and crazy in the chumchurn...lol

also, keep a 5gal bucket to put the threadfin in when you catch them, fill it with salt water and then put the baits in there, when you get the number you want carefully pour them into the livewell, being careful not to dump in all of the lost scales, and through the day make sure you are keeping an eye on the outflow of the livewell, those scales can get it all clogged up.


----------



## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

Man, it's helpful replies like these on catching bait that make reading this forum worthwhile for this old fisherman!! I don't abide by most of the smartass answers that pop up on many of the threads but more helpful threads like this are always welcome!! :clap


----------



## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

A question for fishermon, I notice that you hooked that hardtail through the tail with the leading hook and put the stinger hook into its nose. What is the reason for rigging your bait backwards like that?? 

Ya gotta remember that I am a lifelong freshwater fisherman and am almost totally ignorant about fishing the salt so go easy on me, eh??


----------



## bluffman2 (Nov 22, 2007)

swimming action and easier for him to swim


----------



## Drainage Girl (Jun 15, 2008)

Wouldn't you be dragging him by the tail?


----------



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Wharf Rat (6/23/2008)*
> 
> 
> > *Immyz (6/23/2008)*So thoes fish I see in the giant school near the waters surface will eat a sabiki??? And what are thoes exactly hardtails?
> ...


throw one in front of a yellowfin and see what happens.


----------



## Immyz (Mar 26, 2008)

So I went out the pass today, and pulled up to number 7 bouy I believe it was, using a sabiki rig i caught many many bait fish... Not exactly sure what they were but they looked like a cigar minnow to me.. 5-7inches long, yellow tail almost..

One problem they didn't seem to stay alive very long in the "livewell" maybe I need some kind of air circulation for thoes type of fish.


----------



## Fishermon (Oct 19, 2007)

Framerguy that particular 'live' hard tail was rigged that way to be teased on the water from a fishing kite... vertically in and out of the water head in first, untilI decide to drop the bait using a release clip. Im trying diff, techniques with a kite see what wks. best. Thank you for the observation though. Usually rig them from the nostrils/mouth and back....


----------



## Gone Fishin' Too (Oct 3, 2007)

I always thought that crazy fish were trash fish also, but one day that was all the live bait I could catch, so I threw them in the baitwell. I threw a crazy fish on and Wham!!!!!, a nice AJ!!!, So I tried it again, and another AJ, one after another. I tried it again on another trip just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. And I had the same results with AJ's and even caught Snappers. I'd rather catch cigs and threadfins, but after my last two results I won't throw the crazy fish back!!!!


----------



## pcolapaddler (Sep 27, 2007)

What is a crazy fish? Got a picture?



Thanks,


----------



## Danno (Oct 17, 2007)

About how Fishmon has the bait rigged, its how I rig bait when fishing my baitrunner. I rig it a Carolina rig, with the line sliding through the weight. This gives the bait a chance to swim naturally. Its always seemed to work for me.


----------



## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

Thanks for the responses on the rigging of that hard tail, guys. I do most of my fishing inshore and up to a mile or so out in the Gulf (I guess in the "driveway" to the Gulf!) so I have to pick and choose what would work for me fishing from a kayak.

But I am interested in other rigs and the hints and tips that go with using them since one day I will venture out on a big boat again to test whether that nasty seasickness is still with me!! I used to get so sick that I always spent the entire day on my back staring up at the sky and wishing to DIE!!!

Those of you who have not tried this little seagoing experience don't really know what you are missing! hotsun:boo


----------



## sailmaker (Dec 10, 2007)

I too would like to know what a "crazyfish" is? That's a moniker I'm not familiar with. Having seen how they act at the end of the jetties my guess would be a leather jack.


----------



## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *sailmaker (6/27/2008)*I too would like to know what a "crazyfish" is? That's a moniker I'm not familiar with. Having seen how they act at the end of the jetties my guess would be a leather jack.




Also known as moon fish. Looks similar to this:


----------



## sailmaker (Dec 10, 2007)

Framerguy, I agree whole heartedly with you. Although I have had some things to say to some of the younger, macho fisherman types on this board who do nothing but brag and take offense [guilty conscience?] to what that THEY might consider "smartass answers", it's a great site for knowledge and has many helpful individuals contributing. The continual, gratuitous swearing on some of the threads REALLY turns me off!!!



FWIW, I'm 53 and caught my first redfish on a cane pole when I was 5, lived in Hawaii from 15-17, learned to surf and built boards for me and my friends and have been around the block a few times. As my nickname suggests I'm a sailmaker and just because I live in Arkansas doesn't mean that I haven't spent 1,000's of hours fishing in saltwater and fresh [a good portion of that time on piers], AND the same could be said of my boat, small as it is. As in other areas of life, it's not how big it is but how you use it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



:usaflag


----------



## sailmaker (Dec 10, 2007)

Thanks wharf Rat. Never too old to learn something new! I'm familiar with the fish, never heard that name.


----------



## true-king (Oct 2, 2007)

I've had luck with the bait lately. I've been throwing my 12 foot net in the pass/sandbars. Got a150+ threadfins the other day outside sherman's. The trick is to look for them in shallower water and be ultra quiet while approaching them. When they start popping on top in casting range, hit them with the net. Also, if you can find the cigar minnows on the beach in 10 feet or less, you can get them. I guess an 8 foot net might be a little small.

If you do it right, you can load your livewell in under 10 minutes.


----------



## true-king (Oct 2, 2007)

> *WW2 (6/24/2008)*when you get the number you want carefully pour them into the livewell, being careful not to dump in all of the lost scales, and through the day make sure you are keeping an eye on the outflow of the livewell, those scales can get it all clogged up.


Thats the only problem with netting the threadfins. The net pulls off a lot of their scales and it gets the drain in the bottom clogged up.


----------

