Herring poll

[striprman]

Originally posted by bloocrab
...also, how do I keep my herring hard? Should I stroke them to get the blood flowing through their muscles? Sometimes my herring fall off while I cast them, I think these are the ones that have lost their MOJO, they seem very limp. Could I rejuvenate them if I stroked them?...to make them hard again? How do you keep your herring hard Striprman, do you have your agent stroke them?....or do you use some other technique learned through your field testing?

Thank you kindly-
Bloo

Mr. Crab.

Sorry to say, if your herring is "hard", it is probably dead, and may have been dead for a long period of time. A "hard" herring, shows signs of "rigor mortise". Any "stroking" would remove most scales and may make the herring less attractive to any fish you intend to hunt. If you have a "limp" herring, promptly remove it from the hook, place it in the live bait well and hope that it revives. You might be able to "rejuvinate your "limp herring" in the same manner you might rejuvinate a "played out" striper (allow water to flow through gills using a back and forth motion). Again "stroking your herring" may cause additional trauma. I keep my herring hard by putting them on ice after they have expired (keeps them "fresh" also). I do not believe an "agent" would "stroke" a herring, Maybe, I never asked.