Live Lining Spot

[buzz]

What is the best way to hook spot for live lining?

Some say in through the mouth and out through the nose. Others say behind the dorsal fin. And I thought I read somewhere that if you belly hook them they will swim down.

[Grilled]

Honestly, its personal preference.

I like hooking them through the dorsal fin with a treble, they seem to swim down better this way. Once they get beat up, they'll start to swim on top and I'll usually switch the hook to the anus.

They will last longer if you go through the nose, i'd recommend going with a circle hook this way.

[john from md]

Go with the nose hook as the Rock mostly go for the head vs Blues that go for the tail. If you add a 1/8 oz egg sinker, it helps to get him down faster but doesn't seem to affect their swimming.

John

[Shady]

What grilled said...

If they're really getting after it and im trying to c&r ill use circle...

Sent from the water.

[bignose]

A little trick:
When nose hooking the spot, thread the hook thru their mouth and angle out one of the nostrils.
If you thread the hook thru the lower jaw and top of the mouth, the Spot can't breathe properly, and dies faster.
A frisky Spot is a better bait.
We use a 2-3 foot leader of 20-30 lb. test (30 lb. by the Bay Bridge because of all of the junk by the pilings). I like a 3/0 Eagle Claw 084 hook. This is an offset J-hook with a fairly large gap.
Don't cast them, drop them in the water and unless the current is very strong, they will immediately head down.

If the blues chop your spot off at the tail, let it fall. Often the bigger stripers hang underneath the blues to pick off the cripples.

Because live lining almost always involves deeply hooked fish, be ready to switch to jigging or some other techniques after you limit out. Circle hooks will still get them deep, and a gut/gill hooked fish is a dead fish.
C&R is not a real good idea if live lining, IMO.

[JohnE]

I always hook spot and/or croaker through the back behind dorsal like you said. They stay lively longest that way.

[Shady]

Because live lining almost always involves deeply hooked fish, be ready to switch to jigging or some other techniques after you limit out. Circle hooks will still get them deep, and a gut/gill hooked fish is a dead fish.
C&R is not a real good idea if live lining, IMO.

I didn't have any problems c&r-ing livelining last year with circle hooks. They were hooked in the mouth a majority of the time. But, if youre going to do this, don't do it with two fish already in possession, make sure to leave that second fish slot in your limit open, just in case...

Sent from the water.

[MetroMan]

+1 on the treble hook.
+1 right in front of the dorsal fin.

I learned this technique from multiple trips on a charter boat I frequent. Initially, I was concerned with gut hooking, and treble hooks being a pain. In my experience live lining last season, for some reason after the hit & "hook", the spot gets flung off the hook and the treble sets nicely in the lip or corner of the mouth. For the treble, one hook goes thru the spot...the other two hooks are exposed on the other side. Works like a charm.

[jet]

in the chesapeake, i run a single owners bait hook into the mouth, out the nose (top lip like mentioned). every body does it different!

[buzz]

Thanks everyone.

This will be my fist time live lining so I think tonight I will tie both circle hook rigs and treble hook rigs. That way if I don't like one I can quickly switch to the other.

[Deadwood]

What Metroman said has worked verywell for me on charters. I have not attempted large fish fron a yak thus far with the SI's I have. Have kept to rivers and caught many some decent fish ovedr the years though.
Buzz, are you using a bait runner type reel?

[buzz]

Buzz, are you using a bait runner type reel?

nah... I don't have one of those. Just spinning reels & bait casters.



Sent from my PalmPilot

[Deadwood]

Spinning reels will still work for ya. Good Luck.

[hobieadventure]

Buzz or anyone else,
where are you favorite places for live lining?

[buzz]

Buzz or anyone else,
where are you favorite places for live lining?

This being my 1st time live lining, I don't have a favorite place yet.

My plan is to launch at PLO about 9am. High tide is at 9:47am.
I've already marked some wrecks and sharp drop offs in the mouth of the Potomac. Also marked the oyster bed on the Bay side in case I want to try my luck over there.