Capt. "Duck" McDonald
Posted by Capt. Duck on August 29, 2002 at 18:41:02:
In Reply to: Re: LOOKING FOR FISH posted by RMFising on August 29, 2002 at 18:20:41:
If you try live bait, blueback herring are preferred and will catch more stripers than shiners but they are more expensive. If using bluebacks and fishing down rods like Ronal described do the following to help your bait live longer. Before removing a herring from your bait tank/bucket, etc., place your hook in the eye of your rod closest to your reel (or somewhere you can get it easy) and let the sinker hang (the sinker should be an egg sinker located above your swivel so it can slide up your line) Pull line off of your reel and count the feet to your desired depth. The sinker will be half way down to the desired depth when you have enough line out. Now get your hook and hook your live herring thru the nose (right to left if using an ofset khale hook) Drop it in the water and it will sink rapidly thru the warm water to your desired depth. This prevents lowring the bait thru the warm surface layer. The warm surface water can put the bait into shock or kill it.
If you don't have a bait tank or trolling motor you can get on the winward side of the fish the drift over them and jig bucktails, etc. If you don't have rod holders, hold on to your rod.
Good Fishin'
Capt. "Duck" McDonald