How often are you changing your ballyhoo?

[birdhunter]

How often are you changing out your ballyhoo on a normal day of trolling horse hoos for BFT. I know that a properly rigged hoo will swim all day in the cold water but how often are you changing them out?

[boatliftman]

for me it depends on the condition of the bait,if you troll fast in warm water it will be more often, it makes a diff if the biats are swimming or skipping etc..i usually look at the baits if they are a little washed out i usually change them if it is a hot bite i will let them swim a little longer and then in touneys they get switched more often

[burricane]

troll baitmasters and check them around lunchtime. then use them the next day and you'll be fine.

[Tuna Taxi]

troll baitmasters and check them around lunchtime. then use them the next day and you'll be fine.

That is funny.....but frightfully true!

Check them often and change them when needed. I don't think you can create a schedule for change-outs, unless you want to just use up hoos.

[hubris 1]

and some will say its wrong.....but i catch as many as anyone and quite frankly usually more. take the bally and clean them out. push all the stuff out after they thaw in a bucket of salt water. bend them, and scale them. that's right, take a little knife and scale the little bugger's. snap off the little beak's where you want that done. put about twenty in a large freezer bag and LOAD it with kosher salt. put it in the fridge for a week. check it after a day because there will be alot of moisture. drain that out and add salt. keep doing that until they are dry. they get so tough they still troll great and they will go easy 4 hours. when done they absorb all the moisture back in and barely fall apart.you change them out more because your sick of looking at them. i watch guys go through the big secret dance with their bait......and it reminds me of the story of the old bull and the young bull.you do know that story, dont you? any way the only thing you have to watch out for, if your italian. while you do this, dont eat the fried smelt's your wife makes! to a really good italian women, smelt's and ballyhoo look the same.

[O-SEA-D]

A good Horse will not wash out period if rigged correctly. You could probably troll them 4 or 5 days in the cold water we are fishing in.

The problem is not how they look though most of the time....the problem is how they swim. After soaking for 2 days in the salt water which is like brine they become rubbery. Yeah, they look great....but they are not swimming great. They are stiffer then they should be and you are losing swimming action. Thats the big difference.

As tight as the fishing is between all the boats.....why hurt yourself by trolling a bait for 3 or 4 days just to save a few dollars. Your losing money in the long run IMO.

We put fresh ones on for the first day. At the end of the day if they are in perfect conditon....we will use them the following day. Then, no matter what they look like at the end of the second day they come off and new ones go on.

[pitch bait]

I know we have made peace, and we are friends now, I still cant go fishing with you if you are going to treat my precious Ballyhoo this way. I get rid of ballys that dont have all the scales. I dont even rig them, throw them right in the water. As far as salt. I make sure that I dont put to much salt because the bait stiffens up like wood. If anything I dont use enough salt and let the baits wash out faster, and just rig more. The ones that go over the side in my spread are nice and loose and swim, maybe not as long as the over brined bait, but they probley last 40 mins (unless eaten sooner). Thats long enough for me. It shouldnt be a competition to see how long you can get them to swim. It should be about getting them to swim PROPERLY for the time that they serve in the spread. It sould be a crime to pull baits out that have a huge hole on the anal portion or where the hook comes out of the bottom. I know sometimes it happens when things get busy, but there is no excuse for it if your not. If that happens to me, I am ashamed and try to get that bait somewhere nobody will see it. Neither of our ways are the right way or the wrong way, it just our ways. What ever works. Good luck and tight lines.

and some will say its wrong.....but i catch as many as anyone and quite frankly usually more. take the bally and clean them out. push all the stuff out after they thaw in a bucket of salt water. bend them, and scale them. that's right, take a little knife and scale the little bugger's. snap off the little beak's where you want that done. put about twenty in a large freezer bag and LOAD it with kosher salt. put it in the fridge for a week. check it after a day because there will be alot of moisture. drain that out and add salt. keep doing that until they are dry. they get so tough they still troll great and they will go easy 4 hours. when done they absorb all the moisture back in and barely fall apart.you change them out more because your sick of looking at them. i watch guys go through the big secret dance with their bait......and it reminds me of the story of the old bull and the young bull.you do know that story, dont you? any way the only thing you have to watch out for, if your italian. while you do this, dont eat the fried smelt's your wife makes! to a really good italian women, smelt's and ballyhoo look the same.

[kevin oconnor]

i agree with pitch

[Glenn W]

What does your screw on bait spring hold on to if your ballyhoo ain't got scales?----- Alex, Alex, Alex---- you're too good for such nonsense

[Squidnation]

and some will say its wrong.....but i catch as many as anyone and quite frankly usually more. take the bally and clean them out. push all the stuff out after they thaw in a bucket of salt water. bend them, and scale them. that's right, take a little knife and scale the little bugger's. snap off the little beak's where you want that done. put about twenty in a large freezer bag and LOAD it with kosher salt. put it in the fridge for a week. check it after a day because there will be alot of moisture. drain that out and add salt. keep doing that until they are dry. they get so tough they still troll great and they will go easy 4 hours. when done they absorb all the moisture back in and barely fall apart.you change them out more because your sick of looking at them. i watch guys go through the big secret dance with their bait......and it reminds me of the story of the old bull and the young bull.you do know that story, dont you? any way the only thing you have to watch out for, if your italian. while you do this, dont eat the fried smelt's your wife makes! to a really good italian women, smelt's and ballyhoo look the same.

Thats exactly how Biebs taught me how to prepare and rig them.