Catching & Keeping Live Baits
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Fishing & Fishing Techniques Catching & Keeping Live Baits Introducing Part One of a special four part series all about live baits - finding, catching and storing them (either naturally or with the latest power infusion pumps) in this very special series by top scientist, fisherman and author, Scott Bannerot. Report, Pics & illustrations by Scott Bannerot I’d like to take this visited, and learned so much opportunity to briefly from each other, that we got introduce myself, and offer together with Peter Webster F&B readers an explanation and decided it’d be a shame to for why in the heck some Yank keep all of the exchange to is writing for their topnotch ourselves. Wendy and I had magazine. In short, it’s all already published a fairly Damon Olsen’s fault. Here’s extensive summary of all the what happened. Some 20 things we’d learned, from all years ago I ended up with a kinds of fishermen scattered doctorate in fisheries analysis across the world, The from the University of Miami, Cruiser’s Handbook of then, having worked in Fishing (418 pages, copyright fisheries for nearly ten years 2000 & 2004 by International while operating charter Marine, a division of fishing boats part-time, McGraw-Hill Companies). By switched over to full-time using that as a foundation, captaining in the Florida and adding in all of the Keys for another five years. current nuances and By that time I’d refitted a 41- technology from Down Under foot aluminium sloop, fully and the extremely competitive outfitted for offshore and Florida/Bahamas fishing inshore fishing expeditions, industry, we hope to produce a and my wife Wendy and I set set of cutting-edge articles off in 1995 to fish, dive, and designed to boost everyone’s sail our way around the fishing success and fun out on world. We washed up in the water. We have learned a Queensland some eight years great deal from Australian later after extensive fishermen, and we are wandering and soon met extremely interested in Damon, who invited me along combining these ideas with to document some of his those from across the world. activities with Nomad Please don’t hesitate to join in Sportfishing. We had so much with your own thoughts and fun comparing tricks and contributions—we know we’ll techniques between Australia learn a tremendous amount and the southeastern U.S.A., from you, and we hope these and all the other places in the articles will provide a creative Caribbean, Central America, springboard for us all. and tropical Pacific we’d F&B 48 Fisherman & Boatowner Copyright SEA Media Pty Ltd (F&B#110 - 6/2005) from www.seamedia.com.au all, what’s the use of having a killer them. Let’s begin with the first part, First, Catch The live well the size of a Jacuzzi if you expertise in marine biology. can’t catch the bait? Consider the vast array of prey items Live Bait! Here in Islamorada, Florida Keys the on the menu of the hundreds of marine charter fishing business is booming, game fish species. Depending on those Part 1/4 and for much of the year success with you wish to target, the appropriate the prime target species depends subset of this array might include slow- Fishing live baits with the right heavily on the success of catching live moving invertebrates like yabbies that tackle and technique out- bait. It’s the same story for many other reside in sandy intertidal zone burrows fisheries around the world, whether it’s in eastern Australia, mole crabs (or produces most other strategies Aussies catching yakkas for bait and “sand fleas”) that bury up to the —but first you’ve got to catch switch billfishing or a Tongan antennae in the eastern U.S. surf zones, them. charterboat catching otule (bigeye marine segmented worms (polychaetes) scad) for a pre-dawn go at dogtooth and assorted mollusks like clams, he first four articles in the series tuna. The expertise applied to the early scallops, top snails, and conch that live Ttake a comprehensive look at morning bait quest largely determines on or in the sediments or rocks. Some catching and maintaining live bait, the quality of the fishing day, which more mobile invertebrates like crabs, probably the largest single barrier means that the top captains are crayfish, prawns or shrimp, or even between the average angler and invariably the top bait catchers. What squid, can be deadly tossed in the path those who have attained does it take to get good at this process? professional-grade levels of success. Author throwing a 3 m (radius) net A very high percentage of the The Biology of Bait just inshore of Crocker Reef, Florida questions I get at seminars are about A good fisherman is a good Keys. This is the smallest net how to break down this wall and get biologist. Knowing where, when, and professional guides might use in an to the other side. under what conditions a specific area like this, where we are typically We’ll begin by taking a thorough species will be present is over half the targeting ballyhoo (garfish), cigar look at worldwide methods for battle. The other half is possessing the minnows, or pilchards. Photo by collecting all kinds of live bait…after technology to catch them once you find Wendy S. Bannerot. Copyright SEA Media Pty Ltd (F&B#110 - 6/2005) from www.seamedia.com.au Fisherman & Boatowner 49 of marauding predator fish. Mention the words “live bait” and many anglers would first think of silvery, flashing baitfish, any one of countless varieties with representatives worldwide: silversides, anchovies, herring, pilchards, jack mackerels (these include yakkas and yellowtails), mackerel scad, cigar minnows, goggle- eyes (also called bigeye scad), menhaden, assorted small mackerel species (slimy mackerel, Atlantic mackerel), jacks, and trevallys. Folks fond of sailfish, mahi mahi, and tuna might picture garfish, ballyhoo, or flyingfish. Reef fishermen would conjure a variety of bottom species - sweetlips or grunts, emperors, porgies, sea bream, pinfish, mojarras, porgies, small snappers - that big cobia, amberjacks, grouper, coral trout, and snappers love to eat. Live mullet appeal to almost any piscivorous predator. Big game bluewater specialists will imagine bait fish that Above: Capt. Skip Nielsen throwing a for many of us are target species - like 3.66 m (radius) net for ballyhoo school-sized skipjack and yellowfin (garfish) on a patch reef offshore of tuna, striped bonito, and mackerel tuna. Islamorada, Florida Keys. This is the I had a shark specialist on my boat the standard size used in this area. other day, and our bait was a whole Left: Emptying ballyhoo (garfish) into live 25 kg amberjack. the live well after his successful cast net throw. Assorted Bait-Catching Equipment inshore squid species that live in The vast variety of live bait shallow grass, sand, or mud-bottomed organisms we have just touched on bays. A simple PVC-frame tow net, makes it obvious that the diversity of deployed from a boat or from a bridge capture methods is nearly as great. Tell spanning an inlet, is effective for you what, let’s first review the catching live shrimp and prawns when spectrum of equipment, and then we’ll they are running at night. move on to some very specific tricks The same long-handled dip net used and techniques for catching bait with for squid also works for flyingfish that selected gear. One of the most amazing meander in to the halo of the night aspects of our travels has been the light. Micronesians use a modified dip sheer number of different ways humans net and strong spotlight to catch flyers catch fish for bait and for food. at night, racing through areas where Simple techniques and equipment they’re common, startling them in to succeed for the slow-moving and flight, and then scooping them in burrowing invertebrates: hand capture, midair just like kids netting butterflies. yabbie pumps, clam rakes, hand I know some of you think I’m pulling shovels. Pursuit of the faster-moving your dorsal fins, but it’s true. If you invertebrates can be a little more think that’s weird, people in the exciting and innovative, for example southeastern Caribbean islands actually ingenious traps of many forms and catch live flyingfish with scoop and designs for crabs, crayfish, shrimp and gill nets after they berley and attract prawns, and even octopuses. Perhaps them to the boat with a longline of the most interesting invertebrate live sugar-cane bundle FADs (I’ll have an bait capture technique is catching live entire article on this later). Flyers, like squid using either a special jig on garfish or ballyhoo, and many other spinning gear, or a long handled dip species, will also take a small baited net, after night-lighting them to the hair hook on light line. vicinity of the boat. Small otter trawls Hook and line is also the general can also be effective for capturing category for the capture of many other 50 Fisherman & Boatowner Copyright SEA Media Pty Ltd (F&B#110 - 6/2005) from www.seamedia.com.au bait species. Recent years have seen an know how some of these old sea dogs chum (berley) around the area to round immense expansion in the design and can be - so I’ll call my friend “Carl”). up the bait. The next trick is to have a marketing of sabiki rigs, multiple-hook The hoop itself can be stainless steel or bucket of mixed berley and sand, with quills attractive to most planktivores, aluminium rod of approximately 13 the texture just sticky enough to adhere usually weighted, dropped deep, and mm diameter, formed in a perfect together in a nicely packed, cricket-ball then jigged in short twitches - circle of diameter 1.2 to 1.8 m.