menhadden as bait fish

I just retunrned from a short 4 hr. fishing trip off the coast of Hilton
Head S. C. On the way out, the captain stopped and used the cast net to
pick up about 200 menhadden with only 2 casts.

That was the only fish we used....and we were not very successful. Was it
the bait or just "one of those days".

Thanks,
Steve

Steve asked: "That was the only fish we used....and we were not very
successful. Was it the bait or just "one of those days"."

Steve that is hard to tell. What species were you targeting? Was the
menhaden AKA porgies kept live and used as live bait or where they allowed
to die?

Porgies work well when targeting red snapper, amberjack, cobia and shark.
Live hardtails work best for tuna, and mahi mahi. Both will work dead or
live but work best when fished live. Most charters in Louisiana use dead
porgies when targeting red snapper but will catch some hardtails to use for
tuna, amberjack or cobia. Hardtails can be caught around buoys or rigs.

There are good days and bad days every fisherman so I would say t probably
was just an off day. The last inshore charter I went on only yield 7 fish
with 4 fisherman. The one 4 days later yielded 150 specks, 30 reds, 22
flounders, 15 mangrove snapper and 1 6 foot black tip shark with 6
fisherman. Both charters were with the same captain and we fished the same
area.

Sarge

In article ,
"Steve Fox" wrote:

I just retunrned from a short 4 hr. fishing trip off the coast of Hilton
Head S. C. On the way out, the captain stopped and used the cast net to
pick up about 200 menhadden with only 2 casts.

That was the only fish we used....and we were not very successful. Was it
the bait or just "one of those days".

Thanks,
Steve

That is a very common bait fish in the area and in fact part of the food
chain. I would say it was one of those days. I have fished out of St.
Simons on a couple of occasions and that was the bait. I am not much on
live bait fishing but that is what you do on the coast there. The first
time I was with 5 (count 'em FIVE) buddies and we boated 3 tarpon with
the largest about 180# and a small shark for good measure. The two most
hardcore, myself and a work buddy are the only two who did not get fish
to the boat. Mine through the hook (the only one hooked on a suspended
bait) and my buddy let someone beat him to the rod and never got a shot.

My second trip with the same guide was a slow day for tarpon with only
one 60# fish so we moved to follow the shrimp boats. Pulling up in the
net wash we floated menhaden and caught a couple of black tips as quick
as we could get a bait in the water. The shark fishing was exciting and
I would gladly do it again.

Menhaden is all we used.

But, conditions can change quickly and some times are better than others.

Good Fishin'

atljoe
--
"Atlanta Joe" aka Joe Webb
Flats fishing is Flat Fun!
Visit my site at http://flatsfisher.com

Menhaden is Not a porgy, porgy is a scup and very edible.
Menhaden or Bunker is used in fertilizer and wd40.
"Sarge" wrote in message
...
Steve asked: "That was the only fish we used....and we were not very
successful. Was it the bait or just "one of those days"."

Steve that is hard to tell. What species were you targeting? Was the
menhaden AKA porgies kept live and used as live bait or where they allowed
to die?

Porgies work well when targeting red snapper, amberjack, cobia and shark.
Live hardtails work best for tuna, and mahi mahi. Both will work dead or
live but work best when fished live. Most charters in Louisiana use dead
porgies when targeting red snapper but will catch some hardtails to use for
tuna, amberjack or cobia. Hardtails can be caught around buoys or rigs.

There are good days and bad days every fisherman so I would say t probably
was just an off day. The last inshore charter I went on only yield 7 fish
with 4 fisherman. The one 4 days later yielded 150 specks, 30 reds, 22
flounders, 15 mangrove snapper and 1 6 foot black tip shark with 6
fisherman. Both charters were with the same captain and we fished the same
area.

Sarge

Sorry for the spelling mistake I meant pogy not porgy.

Any of several species of fish of the genus Brevoortia, especially B.
tyrannus of American Atlantic and Gulf waters, used as a source of fish oil,
fertilizer, and bait. Also called mossbunker, pogy.

Sarge

Sorry for the spelling mistake I meant pogy not porgy.

Any of several species of fish of the genus Brevoortia, especially B.
tyrannus of American Atlantic and Gulf waters, used as a source of fish oil,
fertilizer, and bait. Also called mossbunker, pogy.

Sarge

King Mac's LOVE Menhaden.

It was probably one of those days.

Sometimes they don't hit 'em on top though.

Did they deploy any down riggers?


db


"Steve Fox" wrote in message
...
I just retunrned from a short 4 hr. fishing trip off the coast of Hilton
Head S. C. On the way out, the captain stopped and used the cast net to
pick up about 200 menhadden with only 2 casts.

That was the only fish we used....and we were not very successful. Was
it
the bait or just "one of those days".

Thanks,
Steve

King Mac's LOVE Menhaden.

It was probably one of those days.

Sometimes they don't hit 'em on top though.

Did they deploy any down riggers?


db


"Steve Fox" wrote in message
...
I just retunrned from a short 4 hr. fishing trip off the coast of Hilton
Head S. C. On the way out, the captain stopped and used the cast net to
pick up about 200 menhadden with only 2 casts.

That was the only fish we used....and we were not very successful. Was
it
the bait or just "one of those days".

Thanks,
Steve

Steve, all the charter boats there will use menhaden for king mackeral, tarpon
and cobia. It is a grat bait fish. The only problem is that the sharks eat them
like candy. You just had one of those days. I fished there this week end with
good success.

Mike

Steve, all the charter boats there will use menhaden for king mackeral, tarpon
and cobia. It is a grat bait fish. The only problem is that the sharks eat them
like candy. You just had one of those days. I fished there this week end with
good success.

Mike