# Does anyone else catch, rig, fish natural baits



## wide spread (May 22, 2011)

I've caught fish on Ilanders, Mold Craft and many other lures but when I have a extra day before heading out I love to catch some silver mullet and take the time to either split tail or debone them and rig them with egg sinkers under their chins so they swim perfect. Most of the time when we pull all natural baits we pull a seven line spread off of the outriggers, center rigger, planer and transom with teasers. Of course it is a lot more time consuming and work but it feels more rewarding when you catch that big blue on a mullet that you caught off the dock the morning before with a cast net and rigged yourself to out swim a Manns Stretch 30. Seems to be a lost art nowadays but not on my boat.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Mackerel mostly. A spanish mackerel, when rigged right, is just about the sexiest thing you can drag. If ballyhoo show up decently ill try to stock up on some. If I'm in the keys, I almost always use fresh ballyhoo I caught. I take an immense amount of pride in natural bait rigging. I'm not the greatest with every form of it for sure, but I'll always strive to perfect it. 

I agree it's a lost talent with many


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## team_A_II (Mar 31, 2009)

If I have the option, I almost ALWAYS drag naturals only.. meaning mackerel or live tuna/bonito. Like Chris said, a perfectly swimming or even skipping mackerel is just a beautiful sight.


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## ashcreek (Oct 4, 2007)

The hard part for some of us is finding someone willing to teach. I have spent plently of time on you tube and reading magazine articles but they leave a lot to be learned on the fly sometimes it's very difficult to tell whether or not its running right in your spread without someone to say "yep that's how its supposed to look". I am sure I have used many many gallons of gas learning lol


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I don't want to be "that guy" because there are several on here who could help as well if not better, but I am always willing to show someone how to rig a bait and this time of year is the best time, because it is much slower around the shop.

As far as on the water, that is either learned through trial and error or by hiring someone to come aboard and show you. I'm sending you a PM


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## Capt. Alex Pinney (Jan 23, 2008)

I know alot of the boats have slimmed down on bait pulling because of tournaments making circle hooks on natural baits mandatory. We pull alot of mullet and ballyhoo as dredges and I have them rigged up for pitch baiting but hardly do we ever pull any with a hook already out except when we are white marlin fishing. But a correctly rigged mullet , spanish , or dolphin looks really good. I made a daisy chain this past year out of split tail mullet put a lead in front of it and it ran right under the surface and looked amazing . The wahoo sure liked it .

And ill add to what chris said , Hire someone to take you out there a couple times and show you the ins and outs , in the long run it will be alot cheaper and alot less time consuming than trying to do it yourself. I actually would hire two different people on two different trips to learn how different people do different things. Not one person knows it all.


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## ashcreek (Oct 4, 2007)

Good words from both of ya....
The first time I caught a chick dolphin I immediately wanted to figure out how to rig one and make it look good. It seems like the most colorful and best tasting bait out there...

Chris I will take you up on that offer as soon as you are ready. Even if I just pay you to hop on the boat and we ride back and forth in front of the flora bama until I get it right that will work for me....


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## wide spread (May 22, 2011)

I don't know if it is just a coincidence or not but seems like when we are pulling a spread of natural baits we usually have more hookups at the same time than with lures. This past season we hooked five fish at the same time on rigged mullet. Three of them were Mahi from 20 up to 35 lbs each and two wahoo one 74lb and a 82lb. We were pulling a seven line spread and there was only two of us on board that day. Needless to say we didn't have time to think about turning the GoPro on.


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## wide spread (May 22, 2011)

Your right about the Spanish. Adding that Spanish rigged right in the spread will get more attention than a short skirt on a blonde on Friday night over at the FloraBama. Well maybe.


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