# Rig to protect fish from being bit in half/Bait



## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

So I caught two (what I think are) pinfish today in Oak Island. I decided to cast them back whole and still living. I got a massive strike and reeled the bait in to only find the head of the pinfish. Does anyone know of a rig which will hook fish if they bite the towards the tail of the bait?


Another question I have is for Oak Island:

Where do you guys get your bait. Do you catch it or buy it? I see lots of little minnows in the surf after waves come up they swim back. Do you guys use them as bait. If so how do you catch them. Are there any other possible baits that could be caught near Oak Island.

Thanks!!


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

Had this problem before. You can snell a stinger hook (see the snelling article in the bible) along with your main hook. 
Probably bluefish, who have a knack for eating everything around your hook. Could also have been a shark. Either way you are looking at teeth. You could use the snell for heavy mono or even better haywire twist on a trailer treble hook using wire.
If the bait is big enough you can catch them with a cast net. Small glass minnows probably not though. Just mimic them with a spoon or Gotcha.
We used to spend a ton of time catching pinfish in the sound and tossing them out, only to have them bitten around the hooks. Not anymore. We just buy a couple spot/mullet to cut up and use sand fleas. Saves a ton of time.


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

pods said:


> Had this problem before. You can snell a stinger hook (see the snelling article in the bible) along with your main hook.
> Probably bluefish, who have a knack for eating everything around your hook. Could also have been a shark. Either way you are looking at teeth. You could use the snell for heavy mono or even better haywire twist on a trailer treble hook using wire.
> If the bait is big enough you can catch them with a cast net. Small glass minnows probably not though. Just mimic them with a spoon or Gotcha.
> We used to spend a ton of time catching pinfish in the sound and tossing them out, only to have them bitten around the hooks. Not anymore. We just buy a couple spot/mullet to cut up and use sand fleas. Saves a ton of time.


This may be a stupid question but, what is a stinger hook?

What is weird is that with the pinfish alive it was hit on impact with the water but when we through the back hit was't hit for the rest of the day.

Just to be clear you are telling me to buy bait, right?


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## wettahoook (Jan 22, 2014)

I had the same issue. I use a haywire twist with 45a lb wire and a treble hook attached to the eye of your main hook. And hooked into the back of your live bait. Should work.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

You can buy bait if you cannot find it or want to save time. I used to catch pinfish (hook and line, net was at home). Afterwords I realized I spent a good portion of my time catching bait instead of fishing. And they would get torn up by bluefish, which I was not trying to catch. For bluefish, any minnow looking plug (gotcha) or spoon will catch them if they are running.
A stinger hook is second hook attached to your rig farther back to catch a fish that bits short. Large spinnerbaits use these for fish biting the very back of the bait.
You can snell on a stinger hook using this snelling procedure:
http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-...1122-Snelling-a-hook-(or-two-or-a-half-dozen)
Basically a stinger hook allows you to have one hook in the mouth of your bait and one back by the tail, for fish hitting the back of your bait.
I have not caught a lot of blues on fish heads, so I tend to use them when wanting to catch other things. 
If blues are thick, you can tie a chome spoon on a steel leader (I use heavy mono or fluorocarbon and change out when nicked) and you will have all the bait you need.
Fresh shrimp should also find you a lot of action but it gets stolen easier. Or a bag of bloodworm fishbites.


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

pods said:


> You can buy bait if you cannot find it or want to save time. I used to catch pinfish (hook and line, net was at home). Afterwords I realized I spent a good portion of my time catching bait instead of fishing. And they would get torn up by bluefish, which I was not trying to catch. For bluefish, any minnow looking plug (gotcha) or spoon will catch them if they are running.
> A stinger hook is second hook attached to your rig farther back to catch a fish that bits short. Large spinnerbaits use these for fish biting the very back of the bait.
> You can snell on a stinger hook using this snelling procedure:
> http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-...1122-Snelling-a-hook-(or-two-or-a-half-dozen)
> ...


One more question, how do i attach the stinger hook to the live bait without affecting how it swims?


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

I am getting sick of blue fish. So what are your guys' favorite baits, how do you get them, and what do they catch? 

Thanks for all the help on this forum!!!


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

Just stick one barb of the treble stinger into the tail of the bait. They will mostly be subject to the waves anyways, so no need to worry about them swimming free.
If you can find sand fleas, that should allow you to avoid the blues. If blues are thick you can use them. But bluefish are voracious and if there are lots of glass minnows and birds you might as well fish for them. They might be taking out your mullets on the way in though. Lots of sharks can do the same thing, and now is the time that the blacktips should be thick. If you have a stout setup, look around here for some info on shark rigs. Toss out a half a bluefish or a fish head and hang on.
Another possibility is to use a bucktail jig tipped with a gulp and keep it on the bottom for flounder. Blues will hit the hell out of them too though, especially if they are higher up off bottom on your retrieve. Or if you can catch a fiddler crab you can toss them out for a chance at a drum.
I like sharks, so if they are there I don't fish for much else unless there are swimmers around. Then it is sand fleas for pompano and mullet.


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## Willip48 (Feb 2, 2014)

The park on Barbie street is full of bait an hour or so be for low tide cast net for
Finger mullet and shrimp shrimp pieces and blood worms for spot croker and pin fish. My mom n dad are down this week nanny 2yr old niece was catching them like crazy and mom caught a bunch of big blue crabs


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## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

Pinfish are my absolute favorite bait to use for shark fishing in that area (live or dead). If it is dead, I butterfly it from the bottom, right behind the head all the way to the tail and hook them in the middle under the backbone with the hook coming out of the other side. If I have three rods out and one has a pinfish on it, it is the one that gets hit first. I have caught small atlantic sharp nosed sharks up to a 6+ foot spinner on them. Don't know if you want to catch a shark, but it could have been the culprit (blue could be too). If you want to live line one or fish a butterflied one, get a fish finder rig with a bigger circle hook (5/0-8/0 hook). Don't do this if you cannot get a shark back into the water quickly and safely for the both of you.


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

Phaedrus said:


> Pinfish are my absolute favorite bait to use for shark fishing in that area (live or dead). If it is dead, I butterfly it from the bottom, right behind the head all the way to the tail and hook them in the middle under the backbone with the hook coming out of the other side. If I have three rods out and one has a pinfish on it, it is the one that gets hit first. I have caught small atlantic sharp nosed sharks up to a 6+ foot spinner on them. Don't know if you want to catch a shark, but it could have been the culprit (blue could be too). If you want to live line one or fish a butterflied one, get a fish finder rig with a bigger circle hook (5/0-8/0 hook). Don't do this if you cannot get a shark back into the water quickly and safely for the both of you.


I'm not very good with sharks!! Haha! I prefer to catch drum, trout, and all the fish you can eat!


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

pods said:


> Just stick one barb of the treble stinger into the tail of the bait. They will mostly be subject to the waves anyways, so no need to worry about them swimming free.
> If you can find sand fleas, that should allow you to avoid the blues. If blues are thick you can use them. But bluefish are voracious and if there are lots of glass minnows and birds you might as well fish for them. They might be taking out your mullets on the way in though. Lots of sharks can do the same thing, and now is the time that the blacktips should be thick. If you have a stout setup, look around here for some info on shark rigs. Toss out a half a bluefish or a fish head and hang on.
> Another possibility is to use a bucktail jig tipped with a gulp and keep it on the bottom for flounder. Blues will hit the hell out of them too though, especially if they are higher up off bottom on your retrieve. Or if you can catch a fiddler crab you can toss them out for a chance at a drum.
> I like sharks, so if they are there I don't fish for much else unless there are swimmers around. Then it is sand fleas for pompano and mullet.


How do you catch sand fleas?

Thanks for all your help


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?88175-sand-fleas-101
Good video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MepfjDUrcDA

Fleas are excellent bait for pompano and sea mullet (whiting), both great eating fish. Try for flounder too, they are all meat.


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## Drumfishin (Apr 19, 2014)

pods said:


> http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?88175-sand-fleas-101
> Good video:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MepfjDUrcDA
> 
> Fleas are excellent bait for pompano and sea mullet (whiting), both great eating fish. Try for flounder too, they are all meat.


Thanks


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## Shellback2 (Jan 7, 2006)

Back to catching blues. I bought some rigs before that had a float with a stiff piece of wire and a split hook you could remove. Remove the hook, run the wire through the mouth of the bait and out the hole on the bottom. replace the hook and hook into the bait near the tail. Its is a blues catching rig.


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## SurFeesher (May 5, 2010)

Yeah, what Shellback said. It is a finger mullet rig and works great on blues and smaller sharks, because it has wire to prevent bite offs and the hook is near the rear of the fish. Last Fall used them, and when the tide started coming back in caught blues consistently and a 2' black tip. Lots of fun, and nobody went into the water near us for 45 mins after the shark was caught!


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