Pinfish bait?

jka_gator · Post by **jka_gator** » April 22nd, 2003, 9:24 pm

I rigged up a brim buster to try and get some pin fish in the morning. Then it hit me... I have no idea what kind of bait to use. I know they love the scallops we crack open during scallop season, but I don't have too many of those laying around. What should I use? Do any common "around-the-house" things like bread work?

Post by **tin can** » April 22nd, 2003, 9:31 pm

A small piece of squid works well. Or we caught all we needed last Saturday on small pieces of fish bites. I'm sure you could use bacon, or any tough meat. A small piece of frozen shrimp should work. Them little boogers will eat anything.

Post by **seatrout99** » April 22nd, 2003, 10:07 pm

Fishbites work well. So does squid. Use something tough so you don't have to re-bait every time. A trick I learned from Trout Fisher was to use fatback cut into little chunks.

jka_gator · Post by **jka_gator** » April 22nd, 2003, 10:28 pm

Thanks. Last week I was fishing a grub under CT and hooked a pinfish about 2" long. I just left him on and threw out again, fishing the same retrieve. It caught the biggest trout we saw all day. So I figured I'd try to get a few more pins tomorrow. We'll see.

beerfish · Post by **beerfish** » April 23rd, 2003, 9:44 am

earth worms work, beef jerky doesn't.

Post by **Ken K** » April 23rd, 2003, 10:17 am

Pinfish will hurt themselves trying to get at a piece of fishbites.

Post by **trout fisher** » April 23rd, 2003, 12:35 pm

The fatback works. Go buy you a cheap pack of chicken gizzards and cut some strips to put in your fish cooler. Freeze the rest and use a little on each trip. A pack will last you a year or so.

Post by **Ken K** » April 23rd, 2003, 3:18 pm

I don't doubt for a minute all the stuff listed above will work. The beauty of the fishbites though is its shelf life and ability to store unfrozen.

Post by **seatrout99** » April 23rd, 2003, 3:38 pm

At damn near $9 a pack it had better last.

mrmike · Post by **mrmike** » April 23rd, 2003, 4:30 pm

You don't need to buy the Fish'n Chunks for pinfish, you can really use any Fishbites bait for pinfish... You should also consider cutting each piece into half or thirds... this will stretch your $$ out much better. Use sharp scissors to cut them.

Tight lines and safe journeys to all!!

Post by AJ » April 23rd, 2003, 6:06 pm

All of the above baits will work but if you're having trouble finding the little fishies, try chumming with a can of cat food. Works every time.

Post by **Ken K** » April 23rd, 2003, 8:33 pm

When I'm baiting hooks for pinfish I get at least eight pieces out of each of the small strips. I cut them no more than a quarter inch square, the side cutters on a pair of pliers work well to snip off smaller pieces from a strip.

Post by **tin can** » April 23rd, 2003, 8:44 pm

I do the same, Ken. 8 to 10 pieces per strip. We caught about 40 with 1 strip Saturday morning. A lot less messy than squid.

Post by **Ken K** » April 23rd, 2003, 9:46 pm

What size hooks do you use TC? The smallest I had were some #8s and thought they were too big.

Post by **tin can** » April 24th, 2003, 5:53 am

I usually use a #12, Ken. The smaller, the better, seems to work for me.