# cut bait question ??



## archer393 (Jul 28, 2004)

is there a certain way to cut fish for bait ? ive always just cut it up in chunks ,my buddy said i should fillet and scale the fish then cut strips .also i always use the whole head on spot hooked through the eyes ,he claims thats nothing but skate bait .im going back to plo for a week oct 14 so if im doing something wrong i wanna fix it ..


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## Caviman2201 (Sep 15, 2006)

spot heads are supposedly excellent drum bait if you're "downey ocean"


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## The Crew (Jul 8, 2007)

*Your Buddy*

Knows his stuff.
In strips the wave action makes it look more like live bait.

Scaling it helps it hook better.

Chunks and heads are definitely skate bait.


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## fishinmama (Oct 14, 2006)

use it all -- we use it all, but prefer the fillets, that said, recently had a friend get a citation drum at "da pont" (cape Hatteras) on a bluefish head


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## Teddy (May 14, 2006)

*Preparing Bait*

If you do a search on this subject you will find a picture of how to prepare your bait. 

I prefer using chunks and heads of Fresh Bunker or Spot.

Sometimes a head is the only way to keep your bait in the water long enough to catch a Striper Blue or Drum, (crabs,skates, isopods) Somedays have only caught on heads others chunks I also am fishing in the ocean off the beach.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Strips for flounder, chunks for blues, everything (strips, chunks, heads) works for stripers. I don't scale the fillet.


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## John81 (Apr 24, 2007)

i use everything in chunks 

i even once caught a toad fish with a spot head


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## archer393 (Jul 28, 2004)

i couldnt get anything to come up on cutting fish for bait


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## John81 (Apr 24, 2007)

archer393 said:


> i couldnt get anything to come up on cutting fish for bait


thats the chance you take when going fishing some days its great others its not 

But either way you should have fun


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## archer393 (Jul 28, 2004)

john im talking about the search function ..shoot some of my best times fishing i didnt catch a thing


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## John81 (Apr 24, 2007)

archer393 said:


> john im talking about the search function ..shoot some of my best times fishing i didnt catch a thing


opps misread lol try a search under spot


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## archer393 (Jul 28, 2004)

:d


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## Teddy (May 14, 2006)

*Here is where yu can*

find a diagram, HatterasOutfitters go to knots and rigs then click on the bait preperation link


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

For blues it dont matter ... I filet and scale them and then cut strips from head to tail ... length wise and skip most the rib section .. When cutting from top to bottom the center of the fillet always folds on me  .


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

hengstthomas said:


> For blues it dont matter ... I filet and scale them and then cut strips from head to tail ... length wise and skip most the rib section .. When cutting from top to bottom the center of the fillet always folds on me  .


I agree. Blues are aggresive and will bite no matter what shape it is. But, I should note that I don't target really big blues. To me, the small ones (12-24") are the best eating. The problem is, they bite the tail end of my strips rather than getting the whole thing in their mouth, so I cut the fillet vertically so that I can position the hook closer to their bite.

One more tip, when I put the strip on my jighead, I always hook through the skin side. That way, the skin is next to my plastic and the softer flesh side is near the point. If you put it the other way around, the fillet tends to fill up the gap and the skin makes a tougher barrier to getting a deeper hookset. I do the same thing even when I'm bottom fishing with regular hooks.


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

fishbait said:


> I agree. Blues are aggresive and will bite no matter what shape it is. But, I should note that I don't target really big blues. To me, the small ones (12-24") are the best eating. The problem is, they bite the tail end of my strips rather than getting the whole thing in their mouth, so I cut the fillet vertically so that I can position the hook closer to their bite.
> 
> One more tip, when I put the strip on my jighead, I always hook through the skin side. That way, the skin is next to my plastic and the softer flesh side is near the point. If you put it the other way around, the fillet tends to fill up the gap and the skin makes a tougher barrier to getting a deeper hookset. I do the same thing even when I'm bottom fishing with regular hooks.


I like the smaller 3lb fish for eats but LOVE catching the 30" er's 
Also I found that when fishing for smaller snappers for bait a long piece of bait acts like velcro on them ..  LMAO even 14 feet above on the pier I can flip them up without actually hooking them ... In the process of teaching Steve this and after 2 seperate hands on front row seats watching me ... I think he's got it !


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

hengstthomas said:


> Also I found that when fishing for smaller snappers for bait a long piece of bait acts like velcro on them ..  LMAO


Hehe... LMAO... velcro... Hehe...


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

fishbait said:


> Hehe... LMAO... velcro... Hehe...


Nylon rope also works on Gar like velcro


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## ilovetherock (Jul 6, 2007)

Bloody fish heads are all I use for huge stripers. And I use chuncks, but not the tail section. Leave the scales on, it helps hold your bait on the hook a lot better.


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## John81 (Apr 24, 2007)

ilovetherock said:


> Bloody fish heads are all I use for huge stripers. And I use chuncks, but not the tail section. Leave the scales on, it helps hold your bait on the hook a lot better.


/agreed


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## bloodworm (Jan 5, 2007)

Ive caught plenty of skates on fish heads by accident "ha!" Ive had luck with bunker and spot for cutbait but dont scale it.


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