l catching live bait

[Glen]

HI gang,

Newbie to the forum and really to striper fishing
also. First keeper tail end of last year on a new boat. Didn't take much to come down with "the fever".
Question is, I'm seeking methods, tecniques, tricks and hopefully a few secrets about catching
my own live bait. A couple spots would help also.
Just think this would extend the fishing experience.

Thanx

Glen

[fishsmith]

If you've got a boat, mackeral are usually anywhere you'd go for cod or see lobster traps. Troll those guys tight to rocks or live line them around structure (I hook them thru the roof of their mouths).
Herring runs in the spring pass them out with a town permit I don't know about NH.
A minnow trap in any estuary should yeild chubs and sometimes eels. I like chubs for fluke.
All the spots you need are on your chart, bring it to a local tackle shop and I'm sure they will circle a few spots for you.

good luck.

[Fish_Eye]

Glen,

Welcome to the site. I guess the first question is, where do you fish? Do you fish NH and the Merrimack River? If so, try Hayabusa Sabiki Rig -- "Hage Aurora" -- The hooks have a small "bead" of green fluorescent that hold the iridescent fish scale on the hook. It does glow in the dark and I've used these for catching herring and all different types of bait fish in Florida. The Baby Shrimp Rig by Mustad is also very effective in our local waters. They are simple to use and very effective. Just lower them down and jig them up with a lift of the rod and you'll catch bait, sometimes several at once. Small shad darts also work well.
Small mackerel also work well for big stripers, so do large chunks of larger macks.

Good fishing!

Mike

[JohnR]

I whole heartedly agree on live mackeral. You'll tend to have them for longer periods of time up there and they are a hoot to liveline for bigger fish... Second choice up there might be herring which you usually would need to catch at the local herring runs on foot and then transport via livewell to a livewell on the boat...

Welcome to S-B!

[TheSpecialist]

The Sabiki rigs work awsome. I used them in Florida, and up here on a boat. Some guys even use them off of a shore bound place in Charlsetown MAss. If you can't find them locally, go on Basspro online and order em there. You will need to tiem onto your line, when they are uncoiled attatch a bank sinker or a small cod jig to the bottom to weight it down. Drop them down, and you start pop the rod a couple of times, then reel up a little slack, then repeat. When you get a fish on, you will feel it, don't be in a hurry to get the thing up. You will hook more if you work for a few seconds longer. One other thing watch out for those hooks. They are small and look harmless, but boy are they sharp.

One way we like to fish the macks on a boat, is to find a rip. Get about 40yards or so up currnet of the rip. Hook the mack through the nostril with a treble hook, and free spool them out into the current and over the rip. When you get a hit give the fish about a 5 count then hold on for dear life and set the hook. It would'nt hurt to chum some fresh dead herring or macs when you first set up on the rip. Just don't feed them too much. When you chum out some pieces free spool out a chunk or two, and see if you catch any thing. This way you save the live bait until the fish are around. If you have any more questions email me.