Ballyhoo Cut Bait

[patindaytona]

Cut chunked ballyhoo...is it good bait? For what fish?

[greybeard]

Just about anything. You can troll the whole thing or cut it up and bottom fish with it. Kinda expensive tho. I'd rather take a few shrimp and catch something to cut up.

[patindaytona]

You're right, it is expensive..didn't realize it till i took a trip to Wal-Mart just for it. So it's good for inshore fishing then, right?

[derekxec]

finger mullet is working just as good right now....we use the ballyhoo when we cant catch small live baits

[patindaytona]

I've been using live finger mullet the past two months. I haven't been catching anything at all at the inlet for almost 3 weeks! Using fish finger rig, number 1 circles.

[RuddeDogg]

We use it for Dorado and Tuna.

[bluerunner]

bally's are more of an offshore trolling bait. They are also very expensive to use for cut bait, sardines/mullet/etc are a better choice.

Inshore use shrimp, cut mullet, live mullet etc.

[bmcox86]

cigar minnows are cheap too
ballyoo=kings, sail fish n stuff like that

[bluerunner]

cigar minnows are cheap too
ballyoo=kings, sail fish n stuff like that

yeah i put them into the sails/kings list too. Use fish that are more likely to be seen in your area. I know in FL they get sardines/pilchards etc inshore so they would work too. Cigars and ballys are offshore baits i feel like. Although I am sure they would work if the fish are biting well.

[derekxec]

i like using ballyhoo inshore and offshore...at most of the inlets we hit no one uses ballyhoo but we chunk it and catch nonstop while everyone else is waiting for a hit

12 large ballyhoo = $10

12 large ballyhoo chunked = 48 baits

[bluerunner]

12 large ballyhoo = $10

12 large ballyhoo chunked = 48 baits

I think bally's are cheaper down there than up here maybe, but whatever works :D I'm certainly not gonna say you can't catch fish on them cause i've definitely seen fish caught on stranger things. I don't do a whole lot of bottom fishing anyway except for flounder

[Samurai]

I agree with Da Dogg on this.It's a better off-shore bait for me.We do catch a few Bluefin Trevallys and Gray Snappers with live ones but in my neck of the woods,there's alot better baits.---Aloha!!

[uncdub13]

a flounder will annihilate a cigar minnow in a heartbeat.

[emanuel]

I've caught fish inshore on small live ballyhoo. When you go out shrimping, there's usually a few of them swimming around. I've seen them as far north as Gray's Reef off Sapelo, Georgia.

Inshore, trout love small ballyhoo. Offshore, I like to have some livies to pitch to dolphin.

[derekxec]

man i would love to get ahold of some live ballyhoo of any size! also just an "incase you didnt know"

small live catfish like 6 inches long work EXCELLENT for snook ;)

[rhorm]

Needlefish look similar to ballyhoo. Do they work? I heard from a guy out on the pier that cobia love em. Is this true?

[rhorm]

small live catfish like 6 inches long work EXCELLENT for snook ;)

I didn't believe it @ first until I saw a guy in Naples hook one up. I laughed to myself and said this guy is foolin himself and though he didn't get a snook (I'm sure he has before though) he landed a nice grouper :D

[bluerunner]

I've fished enough by now that I don't make fun of anything anybody uses for bait....cause as soon as I do they catch a bigger fish than me

[jay b]

I've used it once during a FULL-ON Yellowfin tuna bite. We were trolling all morning out of Oregon Inlet a few Octobers ago and had it onboard rigging it for bait. We noticed a bunch of boats around an anchored up trawler that had found a HUGE school of Yellowfins in the 50-80 lb. class and they were chunking them with Butterfish, Mullet or whatever they had. We only had Ballyhoo so that's what we used until we had our limit onboard which only took about an hour. After that it was surface plugs on 20 lb. test spinning gear for non-stop surface action, what a blast. Best Tuna trip I believe I'll ever experience.