how to avoid bait stealers?

thevilittletroll · April 2013

i'm new to salt water fishing, i dont have a boat so i'm forced to fish off piers. anytime i use live shrimp or frozen sardines, by the time the bait hits the bottom, i dont feel any hits and the bait is gone. i've been told its pin fish stealing the bait. are there any techniques you would advise? like keeping the bait moving with a steady retrieve? any help would be appriciated.

FusionZ06 · April 2013

Catch whatever is stealing your bait and send it back down

Serpent710 · April 2013

fishbites which is artificial strip bait with mesh so it stays on the hook. Ive had great luck with this, or this http://www.basspro.com/AtlasMikes-Magic-Thread/product/77948/

thevilittletroll · April 2013

what type of fish did you catch on the fish bites? do you just put it on the hook, cast out and wait?

Serpent710 · April 2013

thevilittletroll wrote: »

what type of fish did you catch on the fish bites? do you just put it on the hook, cast out and wait?

Yes that's how I fished the fish bites. I mainly use it for surf fishing and have caught whiting pompano and black drum on it, and sheepshead, pinfish inshore

MH79 · April 2013

First off, don't use sardines unless you know they are fresh. Sardines (especially old sardines) have a tendency to get mushy and come off the hook very easily. Shrimp are effective but are very soft and can be easily picked off the hook by the little lane snappers, grunts and spots that hangout by the pilings. I suggest you use cut squid as bait....it's gummy, stays on the hook well and is a pretty universal bait a variety of fish will eat. Make sure once your bait hits bottom you reel your line in enough to where there is no slack on your line. I reccomend holding your rod in your hand instead of leaning it up against the railing because you'll increase your odds of not missing a bite. Pinch the line between your thumb and pointer finger and you will be able to feel the bites. The bites from those little fish stealing your bait are much more subtle then a decent size fish so if you're just looking at your rod tip bobbing up and down to tell you you have a bite, you're gonna miss a lot of fish. Also, match the size hook to the size of the fish around the peir and your weight to the current. If you're just doing some basic bottom fishing like it sounds like you're trying to do, just use enough lead to where you can hold bottom. Too much weight can affect your ability to feel the bites as well. Learn when and how to set the hook or if your using circle hooks, when to start reeling to hook the fish.

ZimmerNole · April 2013

MH79 wrote: »

First off, don't use sardines unless you know they are fresh. Sardines (especially old sardines) have a tendency to get mushy and come off the hook very easily. Shrimp are effective but are very soft and can be easily picked off the hook by the little lane snappers, grunts and spots that hangout by the pilings. I suggest you use cut squid as bait....it's gummy, stays on the hook well and is a pretty universal bait a variety of fish will eat. Make sure once your bait hits bottom you reel your line in enough to where there is no slack on your line. I reccomend holding your rod in your hand instead of leaning it up against the railing because you'll increase your odds of not missing a bite. Pinch the line between your thumb and pointer finger and you will be able to feel the bites. The bites from those little fish stealing your bait are much more subtle then a decent size fish so if you're just looking at your rod tip bobbing up and down to tell you you have a bite, you're gonna miss a lot of fish. Also, match the size hook to the size of the fish around the peir and your weight to the current. If you're just doing some basic bottom fishing like it sounds like you're trying to do, just use enough lead to where you can hold bottom. Too much weight can affect your ability to feel the bites as well. Learn when and how to set the hook or if your using circle hooks, when to start reeling to hook the fish.

**** good advice here, gear down also. Use a smaller #2 oe 3 hook and you'll increase your hookups. I've had my bait "stolen" before, only to gear down and reel in a few nice keeper snappers. They have the uncanny ability to remove dead bait off a hook as well if you're not paying attention. Small circle or "octopus" hooks will increase your hookup rate as well

katwoman85 · April 2013

I get my bait stolen alot. I am going to get an underwater camera. I use squid all the time & find this works best because, like everybody else is saying, it stays on the hook. Shrimp don't last long period. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the blue crabs are stealing my bait when I have a crab trap sitting on the bottom with stinky chicken necks in them. What's up with that? Anybody have suggestions on this? I was hoping to have several blue crabs that I can steam & make crabcakes. Those SOBs are stealing my squid.

Anclote Key · April 2013

Once you catch a pin fish cut him into stripps and use that for bait instead. From what I understand pin fish are not cannibalistic.

sbp0317 · April 2013

As said above scaling down in tackle and changing your bait will bring you much more success. I would rig up a light carolina rig with a small weight (just enough to get to the bottom) and a small hook like an eagle claw 084 #6 and I would put a very small piece of squid on for bait. I would then catch one of the bait fish and put him out as live bait on a bigger rod for a bigger fish. This will open two doors for you. First, you won't be continue to get your bait stolen and second you are giving yourself an opportunity to catch a much larger fish.

TailHunter · April 2013

use a coconut or used water bottle to mark your pinfish trap, most boaters will avoid those, but will aim for regular buoys.

Jack Hexter · April 2013

FusionZ06 wrote: »

Catch whatever is stealing your bait and send it back down

X2

ZimmerNole · April 2013

katwoman85 wrote: »

I get my bait stolen alot. I am going to get an underwater camera. I use squid all the time & find this works best because, like everybody else is saying, it stays on the hook. Shrimp don't last long period. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the blue crabs are stealing my bait when I have a crab trap sitting on the bottom with stinky chicken necks in them. What's up with that? Anybody have suggestions on this? I was hoping to have several blue crabs that I can steam & make crabcakes. Those SOBs are stealing my squid.

Use squid in the trap?

Edgewater220 · April 2013

Big Fish big bait catch on of those little bait robbers and put it on the hook and throw it where he don't belong. Keep your rod in your hands if you feel a bite give it some time to swallow the big bait. Mind the type of hook your using with circle hooks you don't set the hook just pull up till line in tight let the fish hook itself and reel it in. In most cases 1oz sinker is about all you need. Unless the current is rippin then up to 3oz.

Machine Head · April 2013

Hide the hook put the hook inside the skrimp

SaltyOsprey · April 2013

I don't think a pinfish would take a whole sardine off, using larger more solid baits should work, live fish will never get taken by pinfish, although they can shake off the hook.you could wrap the bait in mesh like some people do for gar so the fish has to eat the whole thing.

how to avoid bait stealers?

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