# Live Bait Rig for distant casting.



## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

Hiya everyone,

I'm new to the forum, but I've been browsing for a while now.
Think you guys are great.... 

Need some advice pls……. livebait rig?

How can one rig up a life fish about 7 to 9 inch long, to cast out to around 50 to 100yds, and yet present the live fish to fish in it’s natural state, ie still alive and with the hook in place?

Any ideas much appreciated, please? 

Thanks.
andrew


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## bluerunner (Jun 30, 2003)

are you from pier or surf? pif pier trolley rig is way to go. i have heard of guys tryign form surf, don't know how it went.


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## Kozlow (Oct 25, 2002)

Welcome to the board
See if this helps

http://www.surf-masters.com/articles/whopper/livebait/rigging.htm


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

hi bluerunner, 

I'm casting from shore/beach. Therefore needs to cast pretty far to get the livebait to the feeding fish.


hi kozlow,

I've seen the link before, and the illustration. But not sure where to place the forward tie, so as not to slip off when distant casting. 
I have added a baitclip on the mainline near the sinker to clip the livebait on the mainline so that the livebait will not be flapping around during the cast and flight towards the sea. Improve the aerodyanamics, streamline missile flying out towards the sea.

Also worry as the forward tie does not realy secure the line and take much of the stress, I am affraid the stress placed on the hook could cause the fish to bend if I powercast out using the fishing pendulum.

Anyone knows of anyway to improve on that, pls?

Cheers.


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## shaggy (Jun 18, 2003)

Hey Wizard of Koz, thanks for the link, and more for the new site, seems to me alot of useful info there, so give me plenty of reading and "book" knowledge while waiting on elbow and weather to get better.

Have Jeep will travel.


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## bassn (Jun 12, 2003)

Thanks Koz, that's good stuff. But don't ou think there could be some sort of penalty if your seen casting plastic ties in teh shape of rings into the water? May pose a health risk to the fish?

todd


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

hi bassn,

Think way to go about it is to use bait floss..... if you have it over there to tie it. Something like dental floss, I suspect.

Will use two hooks in fact maybe.......

see pic......










think that will work?


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## bassn (Jun 12, 2003)

Hi AThong,

how's the weather over there. We just got our first snow last night. 1/2 inch...woohoo. Anyway, nice illustration, did you draw that? Either of those seem that they would work very well. I now have something else to try this coming fall. cheers. 

todd


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## fish bucket (Dec 5, 2002)

if you are going to tie it up like that,whats the sense of fishing it live?a breakaway pulley rig,might be a better solution.
thats a long distance to throw live bait, of that size, on any rig.


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

*GOOD INFO!*

Koz thanks for the info. 

Do you think the bait would still be alive with 2 hooks on it and cable ties?


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

Has anyone tried this rig yet? It seems like a great way to get distance using live bait although how do the fish feel about all that hardware, especially the zip ties? I think that Athong's idea of using bait floss is a good idea but wouldn't hold as good as ties. Also I have found that you want the bait to look as lively as possible so it doesn't spook the fish.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

*A couple good rigs*

The Trolly Rig that Kingfishermen of the Carolina works;but you have to give the Breeches Buoy Rig a try.

The Breeches Buoy Rig;You tie a big snap swievel to your line;put a sinker on that.Cast it out,then you have a mono leader with a smaller snap swievel,and a hook(I have a preverance to Circles)with the live fish of your choice.

One of these days I might try that rig but I hear it works.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

*I forgot to mention*

You open the sanp swievel and put it on the allready casted out line and close the snap then slide it down now yor ready to fish live bait 200'+ away from you.Give it a try.


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

hiya, good info everyone. 

It's this kind of brain storming that something good may come out of it.

I've done the cable car thingy, different name for the same rig that you described. 

Casted the lead to 150yds out, snapped on the mono with the live bait on and fed it out to sea. Think the livebait stopped going out just beyond the first breakers, ie 30 yds. and the bait was too high on the surface to be effective. 

Was told it only works well when you are fishing from an elevated position, ie. a pier, or high rocks.

Was thinking, since the bait fish is secured /mummified with the baitfloss, it keeps the bait straight. An if using an up and over rig, ie. a long hook length of about 8ft, the currents will help to make the fish look life like, even though the impact of the fish landing in the sea would have either knocked it out or even killed it. 
But I feel that at least it smells fresh, it drifts straight and life like.

Anyway, think a predatory fish could feel the sensations of a dying, injured fish, and consider it easy prey, lol.

Feels cable ties is a bit over the top and can tear into the fleas with the stress and impact of a powercast.


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

fleas = flesh !!!

sorry........... hmmmm....


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## Newcaster (Dec 6, 2003)

*YA NEED A BAIT BOMB MATE!*

The usual manner is to wade out as far as you can and lob it on a fishfinder rig with a single hook. That will give you a great presentation. I prefer to use a pulley rig and quality fishing tackle with aerodynamic sinkers. That will keep your bait closer to the leader and a bit "restricted".

Of course, you could always use an upscaled "bait bomb" like this one I made. This particular one is designed for finger mullet to about 5 inches. A plastic capsule is threaded through the shockleader then a bead and a weight are added. This one has two weights--(one wasn't enough-about 3oz). For a larger bait you can use a thin plastic water bottle with more weight.










A second bead is added to separate the snelled hook from the weight. A live bait can then be hooked on below the dorsal or ventral area. The set up is aerodynamic and the bait is protected. 










When the rig hits the water and settles let your line go slack until the bait swims out and you feel it on the line. Now have a lively bait on a true fish finder rig. 










It is not perfect, it will turn in the wind and won't hold in heavy current or the bait may not swim out but with adjustments you can make it work. If all goes well you will have the most natural live bait presentation possible. As in most fishing situations, you want your bait to look at least a little injured.

I used a plastic bait to illustrate the live bait in the pics.


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## Kozlow (Oct 25, 2002)

Nice Newcaster


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## Billr (May 26, 2002)

athong. go to neil mackellows site and ask him. he is very knowledgeable about those things and has a rig for you. also, he's in the uk. i beleive neil can help you.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

*Happypappy*

The rig u described, casting a weight then clipping on the hook and letting it slide down, works very well. I use it for large sharks off a pier because my bait is usually a 8-10 oz peice of bloody fish and my weight is 6 oz breakaway sinker. A 16 oz casting weight would snap my rod, so i use the slider with a small egg sinker on the dropper to carry the bait to the bottom.

I've also seen others on the pier use it for blues with live finger mullet and no egg sinker. The blues go wild for it.

The Carolina Trolley Rig, or two-rod king rig, cannot be used from the surf, because the bait must be fised on the surface, so the rods must be 25 or so feet above the surface.


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## LongRanger (Oct 4, 2000)

Excellent design.


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

Nice one Newscaster. Lifebait float fishing from the shore.  

Yes Kingfisherman. Too bad I don't fish from the pier much.
And sharks are not often found our beaches here. Wish they were, and I could have hope to get some serious action/thrill. lol 

bassn,  No snow yet, but it's blowing and miserable.... heh heh.

fish bucket, I fish for seabass at between 25 to 50 metres, casting out livebait fish. No probs there. Just felt that I have to try for cod but they are nearer to the 100 yds distance and beyond..... grrrrrrr..! 

Billr, have not been posting in Big Mac (Neil's) Site. May do so, but think Neil might say, cast out a pennel rig with a big hook in the front, and a small hook at the bottom baited with worm. Catch a small fish on the bottom hook and leave it there to wait for a big fish.  

But it's just might be the fish caught on the small hook is too big! lol.   

hi longranger, how goes?


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## fish bucket (Dec 5, 2002)

you catch cod from the beach?


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## AThong (Jan 9, 2004)

Yup, we do.

There's a writ on here link in my site...



http://www.shorefishing.0catch.com/bigcodforada.html


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