# Live lineing spot?



## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Some help here, I keep trying to picture in my head what yall are talking about. Is it like pin rigging live bait for kings except you don't use a anchor rod? Splain please. Thanks.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Its like rigging for Drum(Fish finder rig) except your leader is about 24-36" and I like clickers for this style of fishing.You use a whole live Spot or a live White Perch w/ the dorsal fin cut.You put a 6/0-9/0 circle hook just below the dorsal fin any lower and you might kill your bait.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Yet, I do wonder if I could try the King rigging live fish for fall Stripers at Matapeake.When you King rig you use 2 rods for one bait one for the hook and one with the anchor line.?????????I wonder if it could work.?????????


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

Yup just a simple fish finder rig that you guys use for them big drum but we just use them off the pier straight down that way the fish can swim around a bit. And when they get eaten they take just the line instead of the weight too. Just in case they are smart and feel the weight as they take off and drop it. Most people buy baitrunners for this purpose but you can use any reel just set the clicker or lower your drag. Don't lower it too much because on the initial run you will have a nice little birds nest to deal with instead of the fish. Hope this helps. Tight lines my friend!


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

*That makes sense*

better than what I had pictured in my mind.  

HaPPyPapPy832443, it will work! I know people that were pin rigging spot at th CBBT and catching striper.



FL FISHERMAN, I gotta get up with you an Anthony for a fishing trip. That way you an Anthony can catch th fish an I'll take th pics.


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

LOL Anytime you are up this way holla. I probably won't be back down your way till the beginning of next year. I plan on hitting the beach your way next summer for some cobia. Maybe you can show me a few tricks you got up your sleeve. Tight Lines!


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

It's weird that everyone says to hook spot near the dorsal fin. I have always hooked through the mouth with a lot of success. I just started hooking near the dorsal fin this year with little success, just a keeper at the first clean-up  . Of course this hasn't been a good year for live-lining. I have found that rockfish and trout swallow the bait whole while blues bite the tails off. Flounder also swallow bait whole but it just takes them longer. Spot have a small groove right under their nose that I hook through, through the mouth and out b/w the nose. Mullet have hard mouths so no problem there, and menhaden I hook through the nostrils. Me and Jason were hooking our baits through the mouth with a lot of success. Does anyone else hook through the mouth? 
-Anthony


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

Anthony that is the first time I have hooked them through the mouth in a long time. Normally when I hook through the mouth I go down the nostil out the mouth.(as you saw when we were there except I was going through the bottom lip also) The bait fish will actually live longer because they will be able to breathe this way. Of course it didn't matter last weekend b/c almost every fish we caught hit within the first 15 mins of being in the water.


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## bitterchild (Aug 12, 2003)

I've heard of stripers attacking larger baitfish headfirst and smaller baitfish from the side and headfirst. Gotta let them close their mouths or they can't force water over their gills. A stinger keeps the blues from missing


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## Wrong Way (May 29, 2003)

Yeah, bitterchild has a good point. Which way does large fish take in their prey? Head first or tail first?


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

*Heads or tails...*

Striped Bass take baitfish head first...
Blues go for the tail to wound their prey...


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

Sandcrab hit it on the head. One trick is when livelining you need to let the fish run for a few seconds before setting the hook because sometimes the rockfish will actually grab the bait by the side and run. After a few seconds it will stop spit it out and swallow it head first.


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## Axon (Sep 8, 2002)

Here is what I have learned from live lining. Rock fish take the bait head first then turn it in their mouth as the bait get swallowed it is de-scaled.
When you are live lining and your line starts going out , STOP take a breath and wait sometime it is just the bait reacting to a predator in the area. When the monstor hits you normally have a quick burst then nothing and then another burst. Give the fish plenty of time to swallow the bait if you try to set the hook to soon it will be lost. Last year I pulled in a keeper at the tank and he wasn't even hooked, the bait was just jammed in his throat. Its so cool when you get home and cut that fish open and find you 5 inch spot whole in his stomach totally de-scaled.

we have also noticed that sometime it helps to jiggle the line a little and get you bait moving around.


*Cdog* 

Me and FLF and Anthony should be down at the Ditch in Jan, we'll have to hook up.


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## Axon (Sep 8, 2002)

check out this old thread from last year

http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2530


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

I have found that rockfish usually have other things in their stomach besides the bait that was used to catch them. The ones I catch in OC usually have baby flounder in their stomach. A few years back I found 5 baby flounder ranging from 4-7 inches in a 30 inch rockfish!!! I told Jason about it and he was still shocked when he found some in the 28 inch rockfish he took home. Maybe that's why the rockfish that we caught in OC were so fat. It's weird that rockfish will pretty much eat anything they can get their mouths on when they are feeding for the winter.
-Anthony


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Axon, sounds good. Nothing much happening there now but I will continue to do some "scouting" for yall.


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## Chuckles (Oct 12, 2003)

*FLF*



> The bait fish will actually live longer because they will be able to breathe this way.


Er, how do they breathe if you hook 'em through the nostrils?


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

lol..... well if the only way the fish breathe is through them tiny nostrils then I would say they would definitely be hurting


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## bitterchild (Aug 12, 2003)

They'll be able to breathe b/c they can close their mouth and force water over the gill membrane. Sure they'll be awefully congested w/ a hook through one of the nostrils but if they're not able to close their mouth completely the efficiency of exchange goes way down. I wouldn't find it hard to believe that this causes them to just vegetate instead of stir up a cow. Btw, fish breath through the mouth, not the nostril. I believe the nostril is used purely for scent pickup.


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

Thats a roger bitterchild. I think chuckles was just trying to mess with me.


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## bitterchild (Aug 12, 2003)

I can't catch sarcasm in real life so there's no chance online


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## Chuckles (Oct 12, 2003)

Jest joshin'

Tho I didn't know fish backwashed their gills. I thought they always took in the mouth and out the gills - least that's what all the fish in my aquarium seem to do. Perhaps it's time to clean the filter... :barf: 

C


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

I Knew that was a joke;I know too many sarcastic smart a$$ types.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

and yes I can catch sarcasim right away;I think fish breathe threw both nostrals and mouth.


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## Thrifty Angler (May 5, 2002)

Did I hear someone mention my name?


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## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

*I'm an old bass fisherman (sweetwater)*

I have always hooked my baitfish through the mouth. I also try and trim half the tail away. This gives em the wounded look that seems so successful among the bait that gets eaten crowd.........


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings All!

I know I'm jumping in late on this one, but here goes:

I have NEVER used a fishfinder rig for livelining -- the definition of livelining is using a live fish or eel for bait with little or no weight. I use small rubbercore sinkers from .25 to 1 oz, which makes them easy to change as the tide progresses. The object is to give the bait as much mobility as possible. Sometimes you will see your bait break the surface before the swoosh (if you're watching the liveline rod -- I find that you get more hits if you ignore it!)

I always hook spot through the back. The stripers swallow the bait head first. If you hook the bait in the lips, you stand a good chance of driving the hook into your bait instead of into the fish. The spot behind the dorsal is nery narrow, and allows the hook to pull free.

I tend to shy away from using perch. They seem to die quickly. When I do use one I trim the dorsal fin as HaPPyPapPy832443 mentioned. Whether it lets the striper get it down faster or just gives it the "wounded" look is debatable, but they just seem to work better that way.

You should occasionially "jiggle" (as axon put it) your line (actually I give a steady pull with my hand of about two feet of line.) This ensures that your bait is (a) alive -- you'll feel the wiggle, and (b) he's not hunkering down on the bottom.

Stripers attack from the side, homing in on the eye. That's why all major lure manufacturers include 3D and prismatic eyes on their lures (even jigs!) They turn the bait head first to swallow it. Mike Laptew has plenty of footage to support this. Sorry, axon, but I have to disagree with your "descaling" theory -- most of the scales are knocked off by the toothy patches in the stripers mouth during the initial hit. Every spot I ever found in a striper's belly was laying there head first.

Blues attack from the rear. Lets face it -- they can run down just about any kind of fish. They usually move on to the next live fish. Stripers and weakies will often sit below feeding blues to dine on the scraps. This also explains why bunker heads are such great bait. 

If you hook the bait behind the dorsal fin, resist the urge to reel it in to check it. This will force water backwards through the gills and kill the bait, the equivalent of drowning a fish.

Yo Big Rad! That's an old sweetwater bass fishing trick! If you trim the top half of the tail, your bait will swim downwards; if you trim the bottom half, your bait will swim towards the surface.

Yo Jason! Baby flounder were almost as popular as eels in the "old days" as bait for stripers. One company even produces a large flattened jig head with a plastic flounder body attached.

Re: Hooks -- To tell you the truth, I prefer 'J' hooks when livelining. I've evolved to wide gaps, octopus circles, and now use true nonoffset circle hooks (red Gamakatsu 6/0.) Unfortunately, I still forget and occassionaly set the hook in my excitement. I also prefer a five foot leader of 30-50 lb test, attached to the running line by a swivel only.

That's it -- everything I know about livelining. You can find pictures related to livelining on my home page under Choptank 2002.


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

Wow it seems that everyone has their own way of livelining. I'm sure that all these methods work, maybe some more than others on certain days. They all have their positives and negatives but they all catch fish. Some days it seems that everything you do seems to work while some days none of these methods will work. Looks like we're gonna have to have a live-lining contest to see which one works the best  . I will let Jake come up with the rules .
-Anthony


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

*Old party boat trip...*



Manayunk Jake said:


> *...You should occasionially "jiggle" (as axon put it) your line (actually I give a steady pull with my hand of about two feet of line.) This ensures that your bait is (a) alive -- you'll feel the wiggle, and (b) he's not hunkering down on the bottom...*


MJ,

You are a party boat Ninja' too!  We used the same technique when live lining chovies' off the party boats in San Diego. This is usually done when the bait is not too frisky - they call it "feathering the bait". Works best when using conventional reels...


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## bitterchild (Aug 12, 2003)

Wow, lots of info Jake. Thanks. And yes, water only flows from mouth out gills but if a hook shank is in between the jaws the fish cannot create the positive pressure necessary to force water over the gills. Thus hooking through both lips or through some portion of the head/eyesocket or other gruesome spot


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Manayunk Jake, now thats what I had pictured in my head. So now here is th reason I asked th question in th first place. If you have a live spot on with no weight to "hold" it in place. What keeps ya from getting all tangled up with other lines,other free swimming baits etc. ?Thanks.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Cdog!

Well, you can do what I do: Walk out to the very end of a mile-long pier where there aren't as many fishermen. Livelining is not the best method to use under crowded conditions. In fact, I think even I would weigh my bait down in such a situation. But I wouldn't call it livelining -- that's just bottomfishing with live bait!


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

*Gotcha,*

Thanks Manayunk Jake.


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