Thread: line for bait fish

Originally Posted by holden2112

Oh I didn't know about limited hook count. Does anyone know what it might be?

Five, but most of the commercial ones for bait come with six and I've never seen them counting. They just don't want somebody fishing (as opposed to bait catching) with more than 5.

Overhand casting a sabiki is especially verboten.

Originally Posted by midwestexile

You can make your own minimalist sabiki rig with plain gold hooks, about size 12 or 10. Ms. Pat from Navarre recommended 4 lb florocarbon with water so clear.

Note that GS pier limits hook count on a sabiki.

Sometimes it doesn't matter much what you use. One day we watched a guy at the PCB pier catch cig after cig with 4lb flouro and gold hooks when 6 of us around him couldn't get any.

Originally Posted by frednic

Ribbon rig link below. The ones made of monofilament work better than the one shown. You can get them at J&M for $7.50. They work much better than sabikis for LYs (scaled herring/sardine) and don't often catch bumper, hardtails, or pinfish. They come in different size mesh for different size baits.

https://www.saltwatersportsman.com/ribbon-rig-pilchards

J&M was out of ribbon rigs last week - not sure when they will restock

Originally Posted by holden2112

Thank you. I will have to look into this. I never heard or seen this before. That's crazy.

I bought a ribbon rig first trip down at the pier tackle shop. Not sure of the quality?

David Alison makes the best....I haven't seen him the last 2 trips....size of mesh is the key, depending on target size of ly....can't wait to catch the babies this fall for spanish candy fishing

I havefound after a couple days with a sabiki they get dull and don't work as well as fresh....not catching bait and put a new one onand catch bait??

Brunson net company in foley has all sizes of netting if J&M is out

Originally Posted by T-Boy

Sometimes it doesn't matter much what you use. One day we watched a guy at the PCB pier catch cig after cig with 4lb flouro and gold hooks when 6 of us around him couldn't get any.

Mike sure could catch them for Carol when I was fishing there,before he passed....plain gold 3 hook rig....he sure could see the small pods of cigs on the bottom....heck of a nice guy

I always use whatever rod/reel setup I have that is not being used for fishing to catch bait, usually it's one of my Ambassador 5500 reels that is used as my bait catching setup. No special line is necessary, just whatever happens to be on the reel (I also use them for bass fishing and use the same line...usually 12# mono

If you have the time and looking for something to do, you can make your own ribbon rigs using mono or single strand wire, a roll of red ribbon, and a few crimping sleeves. Granted, they would only be a single width instead of the wider ones most people use these days, but I have several that I made years ago, and other than replacing the ribbon, they still work as they did the first day I used them. You can make the loops larger or smaller to match the size of the bait around the pier (the larger LY won't get caught in the smaller rigs and vice versa). When I use mono, I use a heavier line as it doesn't stretch the loops as much once the weight is added.