BigBendFishing.Net

I would appreciate any advice on how to keep my bait down or at least slow it down whenever the tidal current starts ripping. I fish with live bait (shrimp, pinfish or pogeys) and when the tide starts ripping, my bait ends up skiing on top of the water. I have tried bullet weights and even split shot but I end up dredging up weeds or snagging on oysters.

I prefer to freeline but sometimes the current isn't conducive.

Any advice, tips, etc?

I prefer satellite or wired or Sputnik weights (whatever the local lingo is). It is basically a weight with four or so stiff wires coming off. This will definatley keep your bait at the bottom. If you want it at the bottom, but not on, I often add a very small bobber/cork half way between the weight and bait. This setup is great for sandy areas. Grass can be a pain on the retireve and oysters may take it as the wires dig in. You can try to correct this by "facing" the wire to not catch on the retreive. Just make sure to reel very quickly to stay above snags.

Drop shot it

Don't fish in current that strong. Fish the calmer waters in the eddies where the fish are hanging out unless you're fishing the passes for the bull reds. Not the answer you were looking for, I know.

Barhopr wrote:Don't fish in current that strong. Fish the calmer waters in the eddies where the fish are hanging out unless you're fishing the passes for the bull reds. Not the answer you were looking for, I know.

Well said, but I think if you have to just go with a 1/2oz-1oz egg sinker above a swivel with a foot or so of flouro and your favorite hook. This has caught a ton of fish.
Liam

Fish the edges and the breaks.

Or try putting your bait on a jighead and bouncing it along the bottom.

bman wrote:Fish the edges and the breaks.

Or try putting your bait on a jighead and bouncing it along the bottom.

... and be sure to have jigs / and or egg sinkers of differing sizes so you can adjust as warranted. The advice is great on fishing edges/breaks but if you go very deep at all and you fish a heavy tide with the wind strengthening the tide, nice to have the hardware to adjust accordingly.

Are you fishing the flats or deep(5 feet +)?

Thanks for the tips. Barhopr, I am usually fishing a channel about 3 to 5 feet deep that runs between an oyster bar and a stand of marsh grass. There ae some "coffins" in this channel that I have lost jigs and sometimes shrimp when I have attached a bullet weight or a split shot. Fishing this channel when the tide is moving out requires something to slow the bait down, I just haven't hit on the right combination of weight or type of weight or anything that will alow me to present my bait in the area I would like without hanging up in the coffin.

Bullet, I used to fish a lot of Steelhead in the rivers. I use the same technology for oyster bars once I moved here. It is very effective. Buy a roll of Pencil Lead, cut it to the length you need for the proper weight. I cut a 1/2" chunk of surgical tubing and slide it up to my swivel at the Power Pro where the Uni would normally be..A small Corky in front of the hook keeps your shrimp off the bottom to help even more. Stick the pencil lead into the tubing and you are ready to fish. If you hang up your weight, it will just pull free from the tubing and you replace the weight. If not, well your out the 1/0 Kahle and you re-rig. Power Pro makes it painless because you are only replacing the leader. Good Luck!