# Live Baiting for Pelagics



## paulo

With a preference for chasing pelagics offshore, I find live baiting generally the most productive method of catching these fish. While tuna and mackerel will respond to fast retrieved metal slugs or plastics on the surface, these lures aren't so successful when the fish aren't feeding up above. Similarly hard body lures account for a good many fish but in general, I find trolling these lures a bit more hit and miss and whole lot more work on the paddle or pedals. I would generally use hard bodies for an extended trip (2+ kms) between waypoints or trolling to and from the beach. Once I hit the mark or find fish I would generally switch to live baiting in the hope of attracting slightly larger fish than those responding to lures and plastics.

One of the most popular ways to attract pelagic fish is by offering them the fish they are there to eat. On the east coast the predominant live bait used is either yakkas (Yellowtail Scad) or slimy mackerel.
















I don't know about other areas of the country but this method of presentation should work on similar sized baits where ever you are. Other live baits such as tailor, pike and bonito can also be caught\jigged and used as bait. Over the summer and for a good part of winter large numbers of these fish school up on the inshore reefs in Southern Qld and NNSW. Catching them and keeping them alive for up to six or seven hours is the first step towards catching an ocean speedster. 
There are many methods of catching, keeping and presenting these baits, I am only presenting one technique and acknowledge this is not the most common method used, but find it quick to learn and easy to do.

*Tackling Up*
Following is the kit I use to live bait for pelagics








Sabiki Rig (Hook size 7)
10cm cable ties (ends trimmed to a point for easy insertion)
1oz snapper lead
scissors
Size 6\0 Owner SSW In-Line Circle hook
Size 6\0 Gamakatsu S11 Saltwater Fly J hook









*Finding the bait*
Live bait grounds are marked on many fishing location maps and are not often in the same spot as the well know reef for fishing. In general if you're heading to a known reef or structure and the bait schools aren't there then its most likely not going to produce on the day. That's fishing.
Though not essential I find using a sounder and gps greatly enhances your chances of finding and staying on top of bait schools. On clear days it's possible to see the livies schooled up under your boat but I prefer to take the guesswork out of finding the bait. Balled up bait is generally a sign that they are being harassed by larger fish. Of course, even better than a sounder is a flock of mutton birds bombing the water or even just sitting on the surface like this lot.








Find the ball and you're off to a good start.


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## paulo

On my Hummingbird 343C a large bait school appears as a vertical ball in the water column with the centre of the ball showing red (most tightly packed bait) and changing through yellow, green and blue as the ball becomes less tightly packed away from the centre. The larger red spots at the edges of the ball are predators feeding. In the pic below the larger predators were big bonito.








When you find the bait its best to add a mark to the gps or at least take a visual mark if land is in sight. It's amazing how fast you drift off the bait in the wind and current. Use the 'Man Overboard' feature, if your GPS has one, as an easy way to navigate back to the ball without adding a mark.

*Catching the Bait*
The most common method of jigging bait is to use a purpose built sabiki jig. As shown above they consist of a length of line with six dropper hooks attached at intervals of approx 25cm along the line. Each hook is generally dressed with a glow bead and some sort of skirt made from reflective plastic material. They come in many hook sizes but I tend to have most success with a size 6 or 7 hook setup. You can pick them up at any tackle store for anywhere between $2 and $10. I find the cheapies work well. As the last thing you want is to be hauling six thrashing livies into your crotch, I generally cut each rig in half leaving three hooks in each rig. Even three livies going off will tie your rig into a ball in the blink of an eye, rendering it useless.

Make a loop in the bottom of the jig and attach it to a 1oz sinker. Upsize if the current is strong. I use a snapper lead and thread the loop through the sinkers eyelet and back over the sinker to allow the lead to be easily attached\detached as the situation requires. Often when the bait are jig shy, detaching the lead and allowing the jig to descend un-weighted to the ball can be the difference between catching bait and not. Burleigh is another option to tempt shy bait to bite.
Attach the top end to your jigging rod line. I generally carry a cheap 6' telescopic rod (or a small cheap children's rod that breaks into two) and a small spin reel like the Daiwa Sweepfire 2500 shown, spooled with 8lb mono.








I have used my trolling rods in the past but find having something I can throw in the hull once I'm done and having my troll rod setup and ready to go for the bait gives me more time with bait in the water.
When you're over the top of the ball, fee spool until the sinker hits the bottom. Close the bail arm, turn the handle once or twice and move your arm up and down in a slowish, jigging motion eight or ten times. No luck? Wind the handle a couple more turns and jig again.
Once you're on, wind to the surface with speed, disengage the hooks and slip the bait into the bait tube floating beside you.








There are a number of tutorials on the internet showing how to make bait tubes out of pvc pipe. I would generally gather up to five baits in my 75cm tube and have no trouble keeping them alive for hours.
Before filling the tube I bridle up the first livie and send it out while gathering the remainder of the bait

*Presenting the Bait*
There are many ways to present the bait. They can be pinned directly through the nose but I find this tends to shorten their lifespan in the water. If the bite is hot then pinning is the quickest and easiest method. Perhaps the most popular method for bridling is the rubber band inserted through the livies eye socket using a bait needle. As this is covered extensively on the web I won't go into this method here. I often use small cable ties to bridle the bait. It's the same principle as the rubber band but I find it quicker and easier even if it's perhaps a little less flexible on the bait.

When handling livies I always use a piece of clean, wet rag or a glove to hold them. This prevents any oils or sunscreen on my hands transferring to the bait and stops me removing their scales or protective coating. I also find when wrapped in the rag they tend not to freak out as much making the whole bridling process easier and less likely to kill the bait before it hits the water or you ending up with a hook in you somewhere. Fish in rag in one hand and trimmed cable tie in the other find the soft pocket at the front of the eye socket and force the tie through and close the loop not tightening it all the way down yet. Thread the point of the hook through the loop and position so the gape is facing upwards and pointing in the direction it will be towed. Tighten the tie down so the hook is held snugly against the livies head but not so tight that you pull the cable tie through the socket or kill the bait. Too loose and the bait may get off.








I use a variety of reels for live baiting but have recently upgraded to a Daiwa Catalina 4500H and am yet to boat a decent fish on it. I have it spooled with 30lb braid and 2m of 40lb leader. I prefer to use the Hobie rod riser tubes in the rear rod holders of my Hobie Revolution. They keep the reels well up out of the salt and I find it a good height to reach round and grab when the ratchet begins to scream.








I generally use a 6\0 hook attached to the leader line using a Palomar knot and prefer Owner SSW In-Line Circles and Gamakatsu Saltwater Fly SL12 as a 'J' option. Both are shown above.
I simply free spool and pedal away 60-100m or so. With the desired length of line out the back close the bail arm and loosen off the drag to as light as possible so the bait isn't regularly taking line as you troll. If using an overhead reel you can generally free spool and put the clicker on. The desired effect is to present the bait with as little resistance as possible allowing the predator to swallow the fish whole without the drag pulling the bait back out before its had a chance to swallow.

There are many ways to present the bait at the level in the water column you desire. Break away sinkers, downriggers for trolling the bait down low and balloons and foam floats for keeping the bait in the upper part of the water column are just a few. Each of these methods can be researched on the internet forums. For simplicity when I'm running two live baits I leave the one approximately 100m out the back free swimming and one in close to the kayak down at the desired depth using a break away sinker. Weighing down the bait and using your sounder allows you to lower the bait to the desired depth usually just above a bait ball or right down close to the bottom. Running a downrigger takes a bit of practice and I'd recommend just running the one line until you get the hang of it.


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## paulo

*Catching a Fish*
Position your baits above a bait ball and either slow troll or wait. When there is something large taking a close look at your livie, it will freak out and go for a short run peeling a little line. This is often a good indication the bait is about to be taken and its then that I turn the rudder into the fish and take the rod from the holder. Getting the rod out of the holder before the fish has struck is preferable but not always possible. That's another reason I prefer the drag to be as light as possible when the fish engages. To much drag can make it impossible to extract the rod or worse still rip the rod holder\riser from the kayak.

Live baiting for pelagics is likely one of the most extreme forms of the sport. Some days there are football fields of bait but not a predator insight, other days there seems to be little bait but the fish are biting. Many hours and kilometers on the water go unrewarded but when the rewards come they are sizeable, the battle can be long and drawn out or short, sharp and heart breaking. That's fishing!


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## fishing mik

There is some very helpful info thanks mate

When i live bait i usually just put the hook through the bottom of the jaw do you reckon its better a hook up rate with the cable ties through the eye socket ?

mik...


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## DougOut

nice presentation Paul ..... looks like it should be Wiki material to me


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## granpop

Great article - needs to go into the Wiki


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## Redfish

Awesome article paulo, was good to see all that in one place.

Thanks.


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## josho

Thats a great article mate. But just in my opinion ur better off using rigging floss and a circle hook to bridle ur slimies. They last way longer and have a heaps better action.

Josho 8)


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## yakattack

Thanks for sharing much appreciated

Cheers Micka


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## proangler

What a great post. Do I have to have a reel or could I just use a handline?

Thanks


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## grinner

fantastic paul, you should be writing for bush and beach. just as long as none of those bait balls have an enormous noah circling them !


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## JTC

Great tips Paulo,

For a live baiting novice like myself, having that info available is invaluable. I'll be sure to buy you a beer when I land my first big Cobia or Spaniard using these tecniques :lol:

Cheers,

Jason


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## dolphinheads

Absolutley fabulous post, exactly why I love this site!


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## Barrabundy

Thanks for the post.

I can't get the hook to sit right with rubberbands (I'm way too impatient to learn the technique) so cable ties might be the go. I've always been put off by the fact that the cable tie may not break when setting the hook. Is that an important consideration when selecting the ties?


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## action1974

You are a champion Paulo. A great summary of your techniques. Maybe you could toss the rubber band option in there too?


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## paulo

action1974 said:


> You are a champion Paulo. A great summary of your techniques. Maybe you could toss the rubber band option in there too?


Action, Its already in the wiki care of Spooled1. Try this http://www.akff.net/wiki/index.php?title=Livey_Rig


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## cummins

nice work mate and yellow tail is very commen with a 0 soze limt and a 50 bag limit


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## deano199

Great read, thanks alot.
Ill be putting a bit of that into practise soon (when i get a stealth or somethin i dont mind doin some serious miles in).
Step 1. build a bait tube (haha pops a plumber = free bits to do that job)
step 2. learn how to catch livies (possibly do-able)
step 3. learn how to rig livies (not sure :? )
step 4. get a faster and more user freindly yak (haha i shouldnt say that coz i could already do it with the p13, im just to lazy and impatiant to paddle big miles with wind and swell in something that doesnt track that great in those conditions.) :twisted: (good excuse i reckon) ;-) 
step 5. buy paulo a slab of wateva he drinks when i catch somethin monstrous useing his tips ;-)


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## mattyoga

Great write up - very well written and composed.

With having a live bait 100m out the back, do you get problems with it snagging on the bottom or do you always keep moving/drifting to keep it off the bottom?

Also, do you know of any alternatives for bridling - I'm not keen on the cable tie option as I don't want to litter the ocean with cable ties. I guess rubber bands should biodegrade reasonably quickly?

And lastly, do you use stinger hooks at all? I've heard that macks can tend to cut bait in half and the stinger with a wire trace helps ensure a hookup still.

Cheers

Matt


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## spottymac

Well done Paulo


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## solatree

Thanks Paulo - some great advice and much appreciated.


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## DrJed

Hey Paulo

Mate that is a very well thought out and presented piece and very generous to share your knowledge as well. Cheers for that bud, I can't wait to try some of your techniques.

Cheers Bud
Steve


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## varp

A most excellent post Paulo and dead keen to give it a whirl should I ever find the time to go fishing again.

Bit intrigued by the handline application. Sounds like a very manly pursuit and all I can envision is deep screaming runs and severed hands.

Anyone actually done this?


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## Huwie

I grew up fishing the outer reef off townsville in a fishing club boat that didnt allow rods. We used to use bike tube cut to lengths on your index fingers - cut a V in the back of it where your larger knuckle is. Caught all kinds of large fish that way.


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## sayaka

great post and great pics, cheers for sharing your wisdom.


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## spongy

mattyoga said:


> Great write up - very well written and composed.
> 
> With having a live bait 100m out the back, do you get problems with it snagging on the bottom or do you always keep moving/drifting to keep it off the bottom?
> 
> Also, do you know of any alternatives for bridling - I'm not keen on the cable tie option as I don't want to litter the ocean with cable ties. I guess rubber bands should biodegrade reasonably quickly?
> 
> And lastly, do you use stinger hooks at all? I've heard that macks can tend to cut bait in half and the stinger with a wire trace helps ensure a hookup still.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Matt


Great write up.

I have rigged up livies in a number of different ways. If you don't want to use cable ties, alternatives are the following;
1. thin strand of wire from electrical cables in place of the cable tie. Its a bit more fiddly, but cheap and will rust out in no time.
2. just thread the livie through the eye sockets with the hook. You need to be very careful as it can kill the livie.
3. use the hook and pin horizontally through the nose
4. pin vertically through both upper and lower jaws.
5. use the hook and pin behind the head in the shoulders, but it needs to be above the centre line of the fish or it will die. This is very quick and easy but it is not suitable for trolling.

I normally use methods 3. and 5. 
Also if the livie is large then I would tend to use a stinger hook. Too many times have I lost the tail half of my large slimie to cheeky tailor and the like.


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## mattyoga

Thanks Spongy, think copper wire could be good the bridle can be used as the needle - nice and neat.

I found with some fish the pin through the nose got ripped off too easily, guess thats species dependent - Reckon rubber bands should degrade - they're natural after all.

cheers
Matt


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## Fermat

Great article - 10 outta 10.

On the question about handlines/small rod for bait fishing, I was on holiday in Alaska a year ago and saw ice fishing rods for sale in the supermarket. Dirt cheap, too. I reckon I should have bought one, as I think they be perfect for use on a yak for bait jigging - tiny rod about a foot long, and with the convenience of being able to wind line in with a reel.

They look something like this (for sale on eBay in the US for about $2 plus p&p at the moment!)










Not much call for them in Australia 

Fermat


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## mattyoga

they look great - wonder how much the postage is?


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## dunebuggy

I like the cable tie idea. Having been a boat fishermen for many years, I was used to bridling with a bait needle and dacron.
Excelent info, thanks for sharing it. I might look into making one of those bait tubes. I have never seen one b4. I think its possibly a better option that having the extra weight of a live bait tank on the back of the yak while fishing outside.


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## ortenburger

Paulo ,

tank's for allinformations about live baiting!!!!!

I belive , when i will be back home(Brazil) i 'll cacht big cod 's!!!!!

Daniel


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## Alotta50

Well presented thankyou for sharing


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## ausbass

Great post and layout.

One question: How do you rig a breakaway sinker?


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## islandboy

Great post Paulo!
Do you have any photos of your live bait tube you could send me. Curious to know what the pink part is. I guess the "hatch" is a slide but not sure how that works. Love some details.regards shep This was sent to me as an email and not sure where to find it on AKFF, but my e mail address is [email protected]


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## solatree

Here's details on mine Neil - viewtopic.php?f=95&t=27924&hilit=+tube
The post also inlcudes links to others' versions. Hope that helps.


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## Greaper

Awesome info! Thanks Paulo!


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