live bait

[andyfry 0]

Hi,New to using live bait, was wondering how best to hook a Gar or Tommy for example?Only ever used frozen pillys before really.ThanksAndy

[jagger 24]

Behind the head is a safe bet.Throuh the beak for trolling

[OLD SALTY 0]

not tooo deep tho just enough to hold him

[chuckemback 0]

befor the tail works if your using a running sinker rig

[weaver 271]

Try to pin the fish to the hook above the lateral line other wise it will die very quickly if the line is hit.The line is easy to see and runs down the back of all fish.

[andyfry 0]

Thanks for the info.

[Bear_necess 0]

Its an interesting topic, that of live bait and depending on the target species could be an over rated strategy. Snapper by nature are mainly opportunistic feeders and although they will take live baits, they are naturally inclined to take food that is floating in the burley stream or sitting on the ocean floor. For species such as kingies etc, live baits can be the difference and when hooking them on you can carefully hook just under the spine but not too deep as to penetrate any vital organs. If you are using two hooks, one just behind the head and the other closer to the tail but if the hooks are too big, this will effect the swimming of the fish and they will quickly die. Good luck with your live bait experience.

[Highfly 0]

I like to pin upper and lower jaws and have a 2nd smaller stinger hook hanging free.With livies I reckon always use two hooks.When fishing livies for mullies, snaps or kings I would go a suicide style 10/0 for pinning the jaws and a 4/0 - 6/0 as a stinger.Many times especially mullies Ive had them nail the fish by the throat area. If you pin the back of the head often you will fail to hook up. Similarly if you just pin the jaws u will fail. If you main hook fails to score, bait wasnt taken down or you struck too soon the stinger often hooks em up on the outside of the face and the main hook often embeds during the tussle.