:hihi:

I just bought a 3 ounce and a 1 1/4 atomizer yesterday, really cant wait to try them now!:D

Does anybody ever liveline herring off the back beaches at night? I think it would be to hard to cast one of those bad boys to where the fish USUALLY areduring the day. I use them most of the time in the river and at Bass Hole in Dennis. At both places I fish a channel that is only about 30 yrds across. I can get a herring a bit more then 1/2 way into the channel before I start lobbing them off.

Like I said....anywhere:D

I like the the herrin an so do the slob's[big girl's] 97% of the time, it's the quality of the fish I'm after, so taking a few min's to get them is not a problem..rather only get 3 cow's to 20 twink's.

Well last year from boat I did as well on dead whole herring as I did on live ones. It depends a lot on the presentation. I like a 2oz egg sinker with a good swivel and 4' of 30 clear leader. drift the boat. Bang, Bang Bang. lots of big stripers.

For cut up herring , you should try "helicopter herring" not just square chunks.

due explain helicopter herring if you don't mind?

I think helicopter herring is when you leave the tail on and it helicopters in the current...

no??

Yup,
Me and Mikey takem all post spawn.:D
Love,
Rick

I made a live well for the back of my Blazer last year. Used a BIG tub with a bilge pump hooked to a garden hose that I drilled holes in and I wire tied to the side of the Tub. Worked pretty good at keeping the herring alive. I got the herring at the Gilbert Stuart run... lots of work. I live lined at the Narrow for 3 weeks and never touched a fish. One of my partners who has done this for years had the same results. I know that live Herring are killer but last year at the River they just didn't produce.
I have made some BIG swimmers and painted them in a Herring pattern complete with scales. I am probably going to skip the live lining this year and just throw the swimmers

WeeWee... are YOU are registered Herring offender?...

Is that the REAL reason why all DEM eyes are on YOU?... :eyes:

Helicipter herring is where you slice the herring with one long diagonal slice. this gives you 2 pieces , both with a fat end and the other end pointed. Hook the chunk in the middle . Whemn you toss it in the water , it will spin as it sinks.

Anyway , it imparts some action that attracts the fish.

Great Tip! :btu: Thanks!

I gotta tell you.... last year, the river just didnt produce much for me either...
Especially at the times and places where it usually did in past seasons....(but I've only been fishing it a couple of years).

Eben how could you not pay attention to herring when you fish THE RIVER that screams at you herring. Here's a tip. Chunk your herring. I've outfished more guys that livelined right next to me by chunking. Don't get me wrong catching a keeper with live herring is fun, but I've learned my lesson. To me live herring is a pain in the butt. I know a few guys that liveline on the boat and kill fish, but from shore I like to chunk. Once in a while if I'm fishing a spot and the herring are flopping on the beach I'll live line but otherwise the chunks are more dependable.

Eben,
Gotcha. Maybe one of these days I'll buy you one of those 69?

Nope, but honestly I could give a rat's ass about Connecticut's stupid herring laws. I don't believe in unjust laws. This attitude seems to be shared by a lot of other people who just don't give a $hit and poach herring anyways.

Chipwood - I do not understand how a chunk of dead herring can be better than a live one? Please explain your thinking.

Over the years I've found that chunks of herring work better than livelined herring. I don't know, that's the way it is. I fished a run for years and I'd see a guy there who religiously fished live herring and I would get more fish with the chunk. Now in some places it could be different but the herring runs I have fished chunks were more effective. As the spring progresses I get away for herring but I notice that guys still use live and do well, mostly from the boat, but by then there are other baits I prefer. I 've seen chunks outproduce live too many times in the spring plus it's easier than keeping herring alive. If you were hungry would you rather expend energy or lazily pick up a tasty chunk off the bottom.

I guess you never know what the bass are thinking. I have had the opposite experience as yours. Fishing chunks I was getting nothing while a guy next to me livelining was nailing bass after bass.

Has anybody ever checked these out before for a livewell? It's pretty cheap only $35. Converts any size cooler.

Dont herring need round livewells, so they can swim easier and keep o2 flowing over their gills?

The Dad:

a live well that is circular rather than square, like the cooler you picture, is better. That will allow the hering to swim around in circles rather than bumping into corner and walls. The O2 system pictured might be OK, but I would put it on a barrel of some sort, like a 55 gal drum cut in half.

Chef- yes round ones are better,but i think it depends on how many heathens you have in your tank...


Chipwood- Oh... I pay attention to the herring down there, but I'm a plugger.. So instead of touching them at all, I would plug away... and have done very well only plugging. This winter however, I've been thinking about how and where I fish and things I have learned from this site and from people I have fished with and live bait has some appeal when my parents ask me to keep a fish for them, or if I have the urge to target large fish. I dont think you can argue that bigger fish are caught on bigger baits, especially near the bottom.
Time will tell, and who knows... I might just freeze and chunk off of my friends boat in stonnington.

In the end though... to me fishing is about relaxing and being outside surrounded by nature. I dont want fishing to turn into a job.

Saltheart, the herring helicoptor method you described, isn't it what some people used for a offshore bait trolling? When it spins, it disperses its oily scents in a cloudy manner, correct?

HERRING
 

I'm sorry guys but I have to support herring regs and closures.
They are thinking of closing what use to be a very productive southcoast herring run due to the poor returns over the past five
years . Last year only 24000 fish went through the counters . Who knows what the reasons are for the poor showing around the southeastern Mass area but I believe poaching and water quality of the rivers are the two biggest problems. Conn may have the right idea. This link in the food chain gets broken we may be fishing 3 miles out over sea herring not alewives. My .02.

I know one thing bout herring, I freaking love it when you're live line'n em and you start to feel them freak out then WHAM! Its like a 50 lb anvil just got dropped on your line. :D

take a 5 gal bucket and cut it into four pieces-caulk them into the corners to make it oval and keep the herringo's swimming round and round

What is the Law on that because I*ve was told without a permit you couldnt touch once they enter fresh water.To get at herring in Bourne you must get permit from town and they regulate what you get.

Jim O I heard the powers to be met yesterday afternoon buy I haven't heard what the outcome was. As far as poaching goes I wonder just how much goes on on that river. I hope little. One has to wonder what the State has in mind when they spent over 50 grand on a ladder on a river a little further South. Problem is there's at least 2 dams downstream of this ladder. Go figure.

For those of you that chunk herring do you use a sinker or just let it drift with no weight?

I think it won't be long before other States follow CT's lead. The numbers of herring are down. I read that the Harwich run may be closed for the next three years due to a very low return rate. The herring are going away, conservation of this resource should be supported by more people.

After the closure in CT, we learned to fish with artificials. You can do really well with artificials, if you put in the time. It take four years for this years herring fry to return to spawn, so conservation measures will take at least that long to even see if they are working. We are in the third year of a total closure in CT. Hopefully we will see results in the next few years.

When chunking out of an anchored boat I set up above the rip and use an egg sinker. Depth and current dictate how much weight. Generally I get away with 1 to 2 oz.

I love to bring the kids out and chunk, because it is somewhat easy in that you're not constantly throwing and reelin. Let the line out 10 - 30 yards, put on the clicker, stick the rod in the rod holder and wait for the reel to sing. Not the most technical way to fish, but great with the kids.

Off the beach I would use a fishfinder rig with a few ounces of weight to hold bottom, again depending on current and depth.

In regards to the herring in Narry Bay, the Russian ships have been anchored the past few years and I'd like to know their impact on the herring situation for RI.

Pretty sure the ruskies didnt anchor in the bay this year. They were welcome, but im pretty sure they didnt make it here.

I think I read elsewhere on this board that the russian ship is in New Beford this year. Can anybody confirm that? Wonder if they moved on because they were not filling the quota over this way. Of course NB isn't that much further down the coast. I don't think they really know the impact of the herring fleet. There is only a fraction of a percent of observers on the fleet. They just passed legislation to add more funding for observers for the boats.