Live lining

[southshore30]

I have an old one made out of a garbage can and it works excellent. It is a big rubbermaid. The white ones look better but the fish stay alive in a darker one better. West Marine sells a livewell kit, I think Kodiak is the company who makes it. It includes a drain, an overflow with strainer on the inside of the overflow, and a angled intake/aerator for about 25 clams. Well worth the money.

[bernzy]

This is great stuff. Thanks.

Any good suggestions in Boston Harbor on Sabiki use? I used it a bit at The Graves, but any other places would be good.

I've been told that pogies are caught by snagging or netting - is that right?

[Skunked Again]

This is great stuff. Thanks.

Any good suggestions in Boston Harbor on Sabiki use? I used it a bit at The Graves, but any other places would be good.

I've been told that pogies are caught by snagging or netting - is that right?

The Sabiki's are good for Mack's and herring.. If you're looking for large #'s of pogies do yourself a favor and grab a gill net (and a permit if it's over 200 sq. feet).. You could also go with a weighted treble hook to snag them.. the only problem with that is as stated before they're pretty delicate fish so unless you're planning on getting them right back in the water, they're not going to last long in your livewell with a hole through the side of them

[bernzy]

The Sabiki's are good for Mack's and herring.. If you're looking for large #'s of pogies do yourself a favor and grab a gill net (and a permit if it's over 200 sq. feet).. You could also go with a weighted treble hook to snag them..

yeah, I've heard that snagging them and netting them are the way to go. I'm going to try and do both this year, but I had zero luck in the snag technique. I think I wasn't letting the weighted hook settle in enough...any suggestions???

When looking for macks and herrings (of which the latter should be in over the next few weeks, right?) using the sabikis, do you know of some good places to try? Do m and h hang out by structure? deep or shallow water? I'm spanking new, so I appologize in advance for these basic questions....

[Tuna Meltdown]

Carefull with the Herring. I beleive the moritorium is still in effect. In which case it is still illegal to posess them.

[gradyfish265]

I'm a fan of a lever drag conventional reel, lets you set the hook better then a star drag. No line winder, they will break from sue. A shimano baitrunner is nice, but I like conventional gear personally. I fish Avet SX reels and fill them with 50lb braid. I used to fish them with 15lb test and landed 40+lb bass on those reels. My Avet's have about 50-60 bass over 30lb logged on each reel and I have not had a single failure, my Shimano Calcutta's and Penn internationals were all broke and serviced well before that, and have since been sold off. If you fish mono, 20lb test is fine, with braid, go heavier, but I recommend a 10-15ft topshot to allow a little stretch.
You need a livewell, with bunker you need 1 gal per fish to keep them alive and a good pump. Round or oval only, corners are not good for large baits like bunker. They will be sluggish and change color if they stay alive. On a typical day, we go through 30+ live bunker. I usually fill my livewell with 40-50 bunker, and put an additional 50-100 bunker on ice in a cooler. If we fish schools, we drift live bunker, we will then find structure and drift it once or twice, if fish are around we anchor over it and slowly chum chunks of bunker twords the spot. We will then fish 2 live bunker and 2 bunker heads or whole bunker. When the bite is hot we will go through all that bait.

I fish my reels in freespool, let the fish run for about 5-10 sec and set the hook, I hook 95% of my fish. You need to set the hook when it is a constant pull, not short runs, if he runs for 2-3 sec and stops, DO NOT set the hook, be patient and wait for a good solid run. Line will PEEL when the fish has the bait in it's mouth. I've switched to circles, J hooks will hook the bass in the throat if you let it run like this, a circle will hook in the mouth perfectly. As soon as you get a hit, even a nibble, grab the rod if in a holder and drop the tip parallel to the water. Set the hook 2 times min, set it, reel a few times and set again.

You can snag bunker, but they will only stay alive about an hour. If you net bunker, buy an 8ft net to learn, there is a great video on you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklNrCh_KMo
Buy a net with over 1.2lb per ft and that has atleast a 5/8" mesh, I use a 10ft betts net with a 1" mesh, it sinks faster then the 5/8" mesh. We avg over 100 bunker per cast last season. I think my model is a betts 18-10. 18 is the series, 10 is the ft size. You need a net close in size to the depth you plan to fish or your catches go down a lot. More weight helps fix this.
When I fish live bunker, I cut part of the tail off and keeps the fish down. I may also put a slit in it's back so it is wounded, fish the bait below a school or near the bottom or wherever you are marking fish. If bluefish are around, stay low. I've caught a ton of big bass on live bunker, but do just as well if not better on a whole dead bunker with no tail. Bunker heads also work.
I use a 8/0 or 9/0 circle, hook the bait through the mouth and out the top, just above the nostrils in the middle, this is hard bone and no bass will pull the bait off the hook if hooked correctly. If the bait is dead, hook from the lower jaw and up through the same spot, you may need to close the mouth with nylon string, if it stays open it will spin. Bass always hit a bunker head first, a hook in the mouth will get the furthest into the bass's mouth and gives you a better shot at hook set, if it is in the middle of the body, it does protrude out more, but means you need to let the the fish eat and run more. Hope this helps a bit.

[bernzy]

Holy God, what a wealth of info. Thanks Gradyfish!!!

If you net bunker, buy an 8ft net to learn

Anyone out there master net casting and have a smaller net they'd want to part with?

Any particular brands I should look for or watch out for?

[Scooper]

I think I wasn't letting the weighted hook settle in enough...any suggestions???

Snagging is as easy as 1, 2, 3

first, make sure the treble is SHARP!!!
second, patience is the key... which can be difficult when you are new to the game and there are several boat working the same pod trying to snag bunker.... wait until the weighted hook hits the water, then count to 3 at a normal pace (one one-thousand, two one-thousand, etc...) you gotta give it time to go through the school, then it comes up on an angle and gives you a better shot at snagging (reel in too soon and you'll just skim across the top of the water).
third, at the count of 3, reel in like mad man, if you are too slow you won't bury the hook...

Repeat as needed or until your live well is full

I live line w/ 30lbs Braid, 7/0 Circle hook through the mouth as suggested by gradyfish. Again, patience is key when live lining, when the fish hits, give it a few seconds then set hook.... Hope this helps, good luck

[Thin Blue Line]

When snagging pogies try to anticipate where the school is headed and cast a little ahead, give it a couple a seconds and reel for a second and then begin reeling and jerking...

[bernzy]

It's come to my attention that I should be focusing my efforst on gill net instead of casting net.

Anyone have suggestions on where to go (I heard Monohan Marine) to purchase and more importantly, what size/length for pogies. I'm fishing the Boston Harbor waters.

Thanks