Just started fishing with Anchovy this year. Every time I go out I rig a chovy on one rod and hoochie or spoon on the other. I am getting a good roll and getting into a few fish. Got a nice 12lb Spring yesterday at West Vancouver, my problem is I drop my line down, the depth does not seem to matter and when I check the rod 20-30 minutes later the belly is always ripped out of the Chovy. Hooks still in place. Sometimes I see the rod bounce and reel it in same result. Yesterday I went through a package of chovies with one to the boat and one lost after a breif fight. What is happening to my bait? Dogfish?
Am I doing something wrong?
- Thread starter RossP
- Start date
Slickwater
Member
Hook placement helps a lot. Fish are fast & go for belly every time. Have had same it happen many of times. Small fish pecking at it. Troll little faster maybe ?? On Banks they are there to feed so faster troll works. Inside do the slow boring roll I find. If U have good rods same on both sides or just now your rods U can tell if U have a weed or something going on.
albernifisher
Well-Known Member
I cover mine in coarse salt and leave them in the fridge for 2 days before I use them
the fog ducker
Well-Known Member
defrosted too quickly perhaps, or they got warm before they were salted ,or just not brined properly , more salt !!
i brine mine atleast one night before in the fridge , 2 days even better ,
keep em cool in the boat , on a freezer pack is best in a small cooler
i like em almost leathery
fd
i brine mine atleast one night before in the fridge , 2 days even better ,
keep em cool in the boat , on a freezer pack is best in a small cooler
i like em almost leathery
fd
.Another tip...if when you thaw your bait on the tray it came with...and you get a blood stain on the tray from the bait....it is freshly caught (same year) and needs to be salted or brined. I buy bait bait now and keep if frozen for use next year. The year of freezing draws out a lot of the moisture that causes soft bait. I never have to salt or brine. I simply open the trays I need to get me started each day...dump them into a bucket of sea water to thaw and use as is. At the end of the day I simply put any left overs back onto the tray and put back in the freezer when I get home. I use that opened package first the next day. The bait will fish all day without going soft and or the belly bowing out. No cracked, dried out, rough and sore hands from dipping or working with salt all summer.
Wow, thanks for all the replies. Yes I salted them, took them out the night before and salted them and left them in the bait/beer fridge. I got my bait from Army and Navy here in Langley, don't remember the brand. My trolling speed might have been too slow also, water speed was about 2.1-2.4mph as indicated on the sounder.
Don't think it was belly blow out from soft bait, they were pretty firm. I will brine for longer for the coming weekend.
Thanks for all the help.
Ross
Don't think it was belly blow out from soft bait, they were pretty firm. I will brine for longer for the coming weekend.
Thanks for all the help.
Ross
FisherTim
Active Member
For bait, that would have even been a touch on the fast side. I rarely speed her up above 1.8KTS(2.1MPH), and do just fine. I find Rhys Davis to work very well, and I generally go for the round ones, smaller is what I usually prefer. I use large mason jars(1L), I always fill one up with sea water when fishing, then take that home, first I let the anchovies sit in the fridge for about an hour or 2, just to the point where they will be easy to break apart, then put about a cup of FINE sea salt into the mason jar, shake until it reaches it saturation point, and then put the anchovies in and leave at least 8 hours. When doing this, every anchovy will bend to one side or another, don't fight this when putting in teaser head, just put the long side along the inside of the bend, you will get an excellent roll 9/10 times.
Fisherman Rob
Well-Known Member
Not sure I understand "belly is always ripped out of the Chovy. Hooks still in place." but you could try to bury the hook a little deeper?
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I learned to fish Anchovy from a really good guide in Ucluelet about 30 years ago. He thawed them slowly & never brined them. Before using, he would bend them & stretch the belly & discard any that tore or looked soft. He might discard 50%.
Proper freezing of bait means it should be starved to empty the stomach. I have hit batches of bait where they are all junk. I'd look for a different source for bait. Rhys Davis seems the worst. Grays Harbor Bait if you can find it.
I always brine mine in a liquid brine. There are some commercially available brines with UV and color in them. I have used a mixture of sea salt, pure water, Mrs stewart's laundry bluing, powdered milk, and garlic powder. Last time i used this combo was at Little Beach in Ucluelet & i was the last boat behind 2-3 guides. After 3 passes with me hooking-up where they got nothing got a call of the VHF. Powdered milk brightens the scales. I'd mention that i was also using 2 single hooks instead of a treble, but that seems to invite fishing rage.
Proper freezing of bait means it should be starved to empty the stomach. I have hit batches of bait where they are all junk. I'd look for a different source for bait. Rhys Davis seems the worst. Grays Harbor Bait if you can find it.
I always brine mine in a liquid brine. There are some commercially available brines with UV and color in them. I have used a mixture of sea salt, pure water, Mrs stewart's laundry bluing, powdered milk, and garlic powder. Last time i used this combo was at Little Beach in Ucluelet & i was the last boat behind 2-3 guides. After 3 passes with me hooking-up where they got nothing got a call of the VHF. Powdered milk brightens the scales. I'd mention that i was also using 2 single hooks instead of a treble, but that seems to invite fishing rage.
nicnat
Well-Known Member
when you salt your bait, don't brine it, just use salt alone, i use coarse salt i get for free and it works just fine it doesn't have to be fine. put a layer on the bottom of your container and then chovies layer salt on top, just make sure they are separated and all coated with salt. some of my chovies are a few years old, i bought a case 4 years ago and they still work. do it the nite before you go out and they should be good to go, after fishing just throw the container in the freezer till next time, i've done this a few times over and they still are good to go, no belly blow out and no need to check bait every 20 min or so unless there are grilse around. i used to spend time making brine adding this and that, blue dye etc. to me the salt only method works just as well and firms the fish better imho.
last august fishing at the cap we were running out of bait and only had some pretty foul looking chovies left, we needed 3 more springs for a limit (3 of us) I was going to pack it in but threw on the foul bait and within an hour we had 3 more springs on what i normally throw away.
cheers ferret
last august fishing at the cap we were running out of bait and only had some pretty foul looking chovies left, we needed 3 more springs for a limit (3 of us) I was going to pack it in but threw on the foul bait and within an hour we had 3 more springs on what i normally throw away.
cheers ferret
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