Starting to Party Boat-"Hooked on Bait"

[BeachBear]

Would like to swallow any of these?


Probably not, and hopefully not. Then what makes a fish swallow a sharpened piece of steel? Bait. And how it looks, how it's presented matters a lot. Bait presentation can fill a sack or cause a lack. Let's use a sandwich for example.


The sandwich on the right doesn't seem right, doesn't look right, and sends up enough red flags to look like a Russian Day Parade. The sandwich on the left does looks nice, seems good enough, and can just be eaten. The only red flag is if the mayo is Miracle Whip or not.

On the boat they'll provide the bait. The bait is included in the price of the ticket. I always take a bait knife with me in case I need to help my bait presentation. Remember, if it doesn't look right, they aren't going to bite.

You can buy a bait knife for $2-3. You need to keep it sharp so you can cut the bait, not rip the bait. I don't use a lockback knife at all. Gunk, grease, and slime get in easy and get out hard. I throw away any cardboard sheaths and just place the knife carefully in my tackle bag. I prefer a blue handle because it's easier to see as it stands out against my black tackle bags.


SQUID STRIPS
Who likes candy? On the boats I really enjoy a cold Snickers bar. If the candy isn't cold I'll ask to put one in the freezer. To me a cold one isn't a beer, it's a Snickers. But, on the boats there's another kind of candy, a bait candy.

That "candy bait" is called squid strips. Lots of fish just love these and gobble them right up. With the right technique you'll get a strong flutter and allow the fish to swim right up the hook. This is Berkley Gulp, but I'll be using it as a squid strip. The blue part will be the speckled skin part of the squid and the white part will be the inside of the squid.

(General rule of thumb, put the squid in the middle.)

(Lift up and twist to get the speckled part facing the barb.)

(Speckled part is face down and squid strip is double pinned.)

I always prefer that the speckled part is face down and that there's a lot of speckle showing. It seems to work for me more than having the white side down. I figure the fish is looking up seeing squid fall. If it saw white, then the fish is probably thinking, "Why is that squid inside out? Maybe it's toxic, maybe it’s crazy, better stay away."

Sometimes if the bigger fish seem real aggressive over big strips I'll make strip layers. I'll do as above, but add a strip in the middle, then add a strip on top. The top layer will have the speckled part on top using the same pinning method, just reverse what side gets pinned first.

CUT BAIT
At times the boat will get live bait fish and cut it into strips. At this time I prefer a piece with a little blood on the meat. It just adds a little more scent and can make a difference. I'll also cut the tail off? Why do I cut the tail off? It just worked once and like the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

LIVE BAIT
In the bait tank there'll usually be anchovies and sardines. At times there'll be mackerel or mackerel will be caught. When choosing a fish to use as bait approach it like buying a car.

You want a car that runs well, choose a baitfish that is an active swimmer. You want a car that looks well, choose a fish with no missing scales or blood spots. Once you choose that car, fish, you don’t want to wreck it.

Trap the fish in a corner. Be sure it’s facing away from you. Put your hand under the fish and raise up the fish. Be as gentle as you can so you don’t wreck your bait.

You can train a dog to sit, fetch, heel, and roll over. But, did you know you can train a baitfish? When fly-lining, no weights used, you can make the fish do a few things. They’ll even wag real fast when a predator comes near.

If you want your bait to swim near the top of the water hook it after the dorsal fin. To make the fish swim deeper, hook it near the anal fin. For baitfish that boomerang back to the boat tug on the line and keep a slight pressure on the line as the fish pulls line from the free spool. The baitfish doesn’t like being hooked and will swim away from the pressure. To get a good swim I like to hook sideways through the nose.


Sometimes you get really small baitfish that die really easily or stop being active. This is especially so for anchovies, they die easy. In cases like this I’ll hook them sideways through the nose. It keeps them alive longer and swimming more active. Or you can jaw hook them the bottom jaw to the nose. Lots of people will hook them by a collar behind the gills.

(Sorry for the paper fish, it's Christmas time and I need my money for gifts instead of a trip.)

For surface fishing I prefer sideways through the nose on most any fish. It’s quick, it’s easy, and a good target. That’s important when the boat is rocking. For bottom fishing I prefer jaw hooking. They don’t move as much, but I want that. That’s because I’ll most likely be using a Dropper Loop and I don’t want the baitfish to tangle in my weight.

HOOKS
To me there’s no more personal issue between anglers than hooks. Anglers will compliment and agree upon reels, rods, spectra, and so on. But, talk about hooks and things can get touchy. So I’m going to make this short and sweet.

For live baitfish you want a live bait hook. You need a variety of sizes, usually between 2/0 and 4/0 will do, because you can’t control the size of the baitfish. Sometimes the baitfish are pinky sized, sometimes they’re hand sized.

I prefer ringed hooks. Ringed hooks allow the baitfish to swim easier and freely. If you mistie a knot on your unringed hook, then the hook can act as a rudder and kill the action of the baitfish. But the Perfection Loop and a few other knots can mimic the quality of a ringed hook without adding more tackle for the fish to see.

You can also use a live bait hook for cut bait. But, this can cause gut hooking in which the hook is lodged in the cavity of the fish. This often results in death of the fish, which is bad if it’s not a keeper. It’s also bad because you lose fishing time from dehooking and/or retying.

You can try a circle hook to reduce gut hooking. A circle hook is swallowed and as the fish swims away the hook searches for a soft spot, usually the corner of the mouth. Lots of fish survive this hook, but don’t set the hook. The fish will hook itself, just reel as it swims.

TIPS
*Take your own sharp bait knife. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
*A variety of live bait hooks will be needed from 2/0 to 4/0
*Ask a deckhand which size hook they would recommend for the baitfish provided. Be sure to tip a good deckhand, usually 15% of the ticket.
*Throw away hooks when they are dull. Don’t resharpen them. The protective coating comes off and this breeds rust. Rust can spread fast in a tackle box.
*Choose hooks with an /0 (ot, sounds like ought) rating. This means that they are stronger than a normal hook of the same size.
*Find hooks that are /0, but are thin. You get strength and power with a subtle touch.
*Not all hook companies make have a standard hook size. That is to say that an Owner 2/0 may not be the same size a Gamakatsu 2/0.
*Shop at a local tackle store and have the clerks advise you. They fish all the time, know what’s biting, and what hook to use. They can also show you what knots to use.

(Special thanks to Fishermen’s Hardware Long Beach for allowing me to take photos and browse products without getting annoyed. Thanks BIG JIM.)

[Local Rookie]

Awesome job Richard! Very informative.

[Wahoo!]

Thanks for the article!

[BryanVTheWorld]

Yes ! nice article ! good job

[Nick Velvet]

Great write up and pics. Does that knife come with a pink handle? Maybe some rinestones.

[Beresford13861]

nice, writen well !

[orchardhills]

Wow! That is a lot of writing. Comments from the kids:

"How long did it take to write?"
"We like the descriptions"
"The paper fish was cute"
"We want to go fishing now!"

Take care,
Orchardhills

[BeachBear]

Originally Posted by orchardhills

Wow! That is a lot of writing. Comments from the kids:

"How long did it take to write?"
"We like the descriptions"
"The paper fish was cute"
"We want to go fishing now!"

Take care,
Orchardhills

1) About 10-14 hours. 2 hours of that was for photos, resizing photos, lightening photos, and a costly computer mistake. MrsBeachBar helped with editing. You have to walk away for a day and look at the piece with fresh eyes to Revise/Edit.

2)Thanks, my audience is beginner anglers new to part boats. I had to find a way for them to connect to what was happening. It's the reading strategy of Making Connections and Visualize. I used some writing craft technique to hopefully keep it interesting like asking questions and memorable rhymes (if the bait doesn't look right, the fiah aren't going to bite).

3)If I get another one I'll send it to you. There's lots of great books and internet sites that show some great looking fish.

4)Good luck and tight lines if you do. It's a great experience and I hope you catch your limits. I hope if anything that this empowers others to do well. I'd like for anyone taught to catch, because there's a piece of me in that catch. The fish belongs to the teacher and the student.

See you later bro' and goodbye class.

[Blamz]

Thanks BB

Sweet write up!!!

I like the sandwich theroy

Pat

[BeachBear]

Originally Posted by Blamz

Thanks BB

Sweet write up!!!

I like the sandwich theroy

Pat

Thanks. There were no fish injured in the making of this article. The sandwiches were donated to charitable reasons; lunch and dinner.