Thread: Best live bait for pier?? What should I put in the new bait tank?

I have seen several different baits caught on sabiki and red nets, but some seem to be more cherished. I've heard them called everything from Blue runners, moon fish, crazy fish, hard tails and LY's. It's a mystery I have not been able to figure out form observation. Is there a pictorial description of the bait fish, and their ranking on the fish catching scale?

I typically drag the scales off what ever I catch.
Request help from the masters.

Google scaled sardine.

Snake, looks like a Manhadden to me, maybe not as shiny. A little thicker maybe?

Most popular baits are Scaled Sardine, Gulf Menhaden, and Spanish Sardines. Cigar Minnows are great, but rarely caught at the GS pier. Easiest way to tell between Scaled Sardine and Menhaden is number of spots on the shoulder of the menhaden (Scaled Sardine usually has just one behind the operculum).

Most people call the Scaled Sardine an "LY", which is a corruption of "Alewife", which it is not.

Most people do not like the "crazy fish", Atlantic Bumper, which is easy to recognize by the fine scales and the blood running out of your fingers from the two spikes on the pectoral fins if you handle one carelessly.

Hardtail is more widely known as a "blue runner", which is a small jack. They will live longer on a bait hook and kings love them, but they swim a lot and tend to get tangled in other lines. They are a good bait to use if you are floating a balloon downwind to get clear of other lines because they live longer, but otherwise not so popular. In my experience on a small boat tank they seem to shorten the lives of other baits in the tank by being so active.

LY or Scaled Sardine:





Spanish Sardine:



Leather jacket (will cut you up if handled wrong!):



Crazy Fish (Atlantic Bumper):

Hardtail/Blue Runner:

I would only put small hardtails, LYs and sardines in the bait tank. And the sardines may or may not live long, depending what mood they are in.

As noted, handle crazyfish & leather jackets with care, I use a towel or glove to avoid screaming and crying like a baby and/or seeing others pass out from all the blood.

I'm a fan of the "scaled sardine". Next would be a small hardtail. For me, that's exclusively what I use for kings when I'm not drifting a [previously frozen] cigar minnow or casting a plug.

Best way to tell the difference between the LY and the menhaden is that you will very, very seldom see a menhaden caught at the pier and the menhaden do not do well in captivity, dying quickly without a huge oxygen flow. Actually, I've never seen one caught at the pier, but some have been brought out by anglers who caught them in an estuary. LYs be better, I think, me.

Live cigar minnows are the holy grail of the octi and are so rare as to be treasured or put up for bids as soon as caught. If I caught more than one on my sabiki, I think I'd cry because I could only fish one of them.

You likely won't find ANY jacks or LYs this time of year.
But you can find pinfish, pigfish (grunt), small croakers (also 'whiting' and 'ground mullet'), spot, mullet, 'white trout' and 'sweet trout'...

PINFISH


PIGFISH



CROAKER


SPOT