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I often see y'all post about using pinfish as bait. How do you prefer to fish with them? Whole under a cork; cut somehow; pinned to the bottom with a hunk of lead? I've seen y'all post pics about pinfish and have often seen a messy cutting board in the floor of the boat. Just trying to broaden my horizons!


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Yes, Yes, and Yes. All of those ways.
- Pegged to the bottom...
- Free-lined...
- Stinger Rig...
- etc...

Targeted species can often dictate method of presentation, as well as the size of pin used. What are you trying to target?

For trout, either live under a cork or cut under a cork. Live or freelined works good for cobra and king mackerel. Live on a dropper rig should work good for grouper, etc too out deep.
Have to adjust hooks, leaders, and size of fish for the different species.

Pin fish are the best for just about everything, used in every way you mentioned. I've always had the best luck using them live. Put a live one under the popping cork on a stout rod that trails behind the boat as you drift over the flats. You won't be disappointed. I hooked up on a massive tarpon using that method last weekend.

"Shiner tails" are a long-time Cracker bait for trout. Take a medium to small pinfish and cut the head off. Split the tail section (cut in two along the lateral line) and drift them behind the boat under a cork, using the appropriate size Kahle or circle hook. You'll catch some big trout and a lot of other finny critters too.

Great trout bait. And reds like 'em, too! I like to fish mine under a Cajun Thunder rig with about a 4 ft. leader. 2 medium split shot above the hook helps keep him down when drifting.

Great info guys. Thanks. I was mainly thinking about targeting trout and reds. That "shiner tails" method is one Ive seen mentioned but couldnt figure out what that was. Thanks silverking! So are you making 2 separate baits outta that tail section. As if you were filleting the pinfish or in the other direction separating the dorsal fin from the pelvic fin.


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I'm tying on artificial lures.

Cut the head off behind the pectoral fins, leaving the bulk of the body and tail. Cut lengthwise in half so you have two sections/baits with a chunk of the body and half tail. You'll have a top and bottom half. In other words, split what remains of the pinner in half for two baits. The exposed meat will give off scent and the tail section adds to the profile. Does that make sense?

Yep. Got it. THanks. I know I saw h-n-m and blue spinner both make mention of using shiner tails. Just wanna add to the tackle box. I've tried floating whole pins under a cork with limited success. Just figured I was doing something wrong. Thanks guys!


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Shiner tail cut ladyfish in the same manner, but without the tail, is good for trout as well. I rarely trail a cork when I am fishing, but if I got some folks that just want action, you can bet there will be a rod trailing with either pins or cut ladyfish. Does help on those boiling hot summer days to fill in the action. I much prefer live medium size pins as that keeps the byproduct catch down to a minimum. Stinger rig is great if you have folks that wanna catch shark.

Almost always use live pins for targeting cobes but in the interest of possibly using "shiner tails" when on the flats, is this pic I found on the web exactly how those who use "shiner tails" cut them?

That's it, BBG. Thanks for posting. I was going to draw an illustration but my graphic skills are terrible.

Yep BBG illustrated it perfectly. I like using 5-6" pins this way. And fishing 3-4" ones whole.


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Boom bbg! I'm a visual guy so that does it. Thanks. Gonna give that a try next time the artificials are failing me.


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