Hornbellies for Bait?

RWood Outdoors

Does anyone use hornbellies (Atlantic Bumper) for bait?

I have had good luck with them and was curious if others shared similar success.

Don't believe me? Check out my video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5-qlVQpZTo&spfreload=10

kmagnuss

Yes I've used them with good success for snook.

FusionZ06

On our coast there are much better baits before I go messing around with those. We call them pumpkin seeds. The sting is no joke.

Bite 1

all i can say is"owww" but if works for you use them. Squashed mullets heads used to be laughed at too while fishing surf during mullet run on east coast in 70's"old school" If it ain't broke don't fix it. Good luck.....

tankard

Looks too much like a leatherjacket.

Meaning I wouldn't touch the **** thing.

Hootster

Yea fish will eat them just not as well as other baits though.

Saltygatorvet

tankard wrote: »

Looks too much like a leatherjacket.

Meaning I wouldn't touch the **** thing.

You've got that right brother

gatorhook

They work fine when you can't find better live bait offshore. You just have to know how to handle them.

Tarponator

They work OK, but if you can find them, other baits work much better...for tarpon at least. Here are all the other baits that work better, IMO:

1) Blue Crab
2) Pass Crab
3) Scaled Sardine
4) Threadfin Herring
5) Spanish Sardine
6) Pinfish
7) Menhaden

At best I would call them the 8th best bait along the beach...for tarpon at least.

But they are are better than leatherjackets!

mikenav

Only if the guide wants to put them on the hook for me! Just kidding. I've heard they're decent as bait, but I'd have to be pretty hard up to deal with those myself...

Hootster

Red Grouper like them, but they will eat pretty much anything. We remove the spines with scissors before they go in the live well for safety reasons.

Saltygatorvet

Tarponator wrote: »

They work OK, but if you can find them, other baits work much better...for tarpon at least. Here are all the other baits that work better, IMO:

1) Blue Crab
2) Pass Crab
3) Scaled Sardine
4) Threadfin Herring
5) Spanish Sardine
6) Pinfish
7) Menhaden

At best I would call them the 8th best bait along the beach...for tarpon at least.

But they are are better than leatherjackets!

I'll add pig fish, finger mullet, bull minnows, tiger minnow and croakers. I'd probably also rather use a catfish

gatorhook

But, when you hit the buoys and have little time before the weather changes to find bait and catch fish offshore... THEY WORK. Put your gloves on, if you can't handle them.

Intheslot

Caught a big Cobe on one once offshore off Jupiter.

Turns out it was the one bait in the well too large for the Bonitas.

Guessing isn't the best bait but worked for me the one time I tried it.

Kim Chi

Not my first choice, as mentioned above, but have caught tarpon them.

Nadeau

I've caught a red grouper and a snook with a broken lateral line on a hornbelly...5 years of fishing... i avoid them unless that's all i can get.

Sizuper

Whenever I've seen schools on the beach, something's usually tearing them up.