Real Needlefish For Bait?

[Seafever]

Real needlefish for bait......
Never done it myself. Never heard of anybody doing it up here.

Can it be done?........or are they too hard to rig and maybe they don't stand up too well (deteriorate too quickly or too soft etc.....)?

 

[Pippen]

Way better deep fried and turned into Needlefish Fries.

 

[spring fever]

Real needlefish for bait......
Never done it myself. Never heard of anybody doing it up here.

Can it be done?........or are they too hard to rig and maybe they don't stand up too well (deteriorate too quickly or too soft etc.....)?

We always used needle fish if we could get them off the Comox bar. Used a long shank bait holder hook and threaded them much like a worm until the hook came out the side. We had them on a 6ft leader with a small banana weight and trolled them slowly in the wake-usually took coho but the odd spring could give you a big surprise. Never fished them deep but don't see why it won't work.

 

[Aces]

Super fragile compared to live herring

 

[Birdsnest]

I have taken fresh needles from the belly of a caught salmon and customized a teaser head to fit the narrow bait. Easy to do with a certain cut on the teaser head and then manipulate it after heating it with a head gun. I did catch fish but I could say it was better than fishing an anchovy so I don't do it anymore. fun to try tho!

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Jigged for them in Duncan Bay alongside of the barges, and fished them live
on small trebles some years ago, deadly on chinooks!......BB

 

[AlK]

We always used needle fish if we could get them off the Comox bar. Used a long shank bait holder hook and threaded them much like a worm until the hook came out the side. We had them on a 6ft leader with a small banana weight and trolled them slowly in the wake-usually took coho but the odd spring could give you a big surprise. Never fished them deep but don't see why it won't work.

That is exactly what we used to do with the raked herring at Norris, Lighthouse and Flora.

 

[Reeltime]

Missed those raking herring days ,15 -20 pulls and a banana weight in the kelp ,Coho knuckle buster time ,bowser bill's ..