That's My Story

KILL THE BAIT CATCH THE FISH!

Originally published the week of Oct. 2, 2007 in Western Outdoor News

If you’ve spent anytime fishing the ocean from boat or other watercraft, you understand the concept of “live bait.” It’s priceless.

If you fish a party boat or fish from a private vessel, you’ve been in the lineup patiently waiting for live bait from the bait boat, bait receiver or bait barge. Those are scoops of gold going into your bait tank, as important or more important than the fishing gear, the fried chicken and the beer in the cooler…well, Ok, not the beer.

However, without the live bait, there’s almost no point in going. If the quality of the live bait isn’t good, it’s not much better. Listless, bloody-nosed and tired bait with scales falling off or swimming erratically is about as good as no bait as well.

It’s in our collective fishing psyche. Live bait good. Dead bait bad.

But whoa. Hold on, Jose…

The first time I saw a Mexican skipper do it, I was besides myself. We were fishing off San Jose.

What the…? Hey! That’s my bait!!! He was killing my precious live bait. Bait that I had just paid 20 bucks for, he was scooping it out into his bucket and killing it! He took a handful of the wiggling sardines and threw it forcefully against the side of the boat stunning and killing it. It fell to the water in a scattered heap and started to sink away

“Wait, amigo…don’t…!”.I attempted to say.

He smiled. Held a finger to his lips to politely tell me to shut up and took another handful of bait and smacked it against the gunwale.

The captain then took my rod; pulled off some line and pinned a dead sardine on the hook. He stripped off many yards and tossed the whole mess of slack line into the other sinking bits of chum.

I looked at him questioningly as he put the rod into my hands and put on the clicker. I watched helplessly as my precious bait drifted in the current and gently settled out of sight below the boat in the blue Cortez waters. He kept smiling very smugly at me.

This is nuts. What an idiot I have for a cap….suddenly my clicker went off in a hum. So did my heart. The captain deftly reached over, threw the reel out’ve freespool and I was hooked up! The rod gave a mighty bend! I was bit!

“Tuna!” he grinned. He pointed to his head and gave me a sly wink! He sat back near his outboard smiling

As I fought the fish, it occurred to me what he had done. East Coast and long range sportfishers had been doing it for years. In many variations, the captain had “chunk” fished.

It’s a variation on chumming, e.g, tossing bait into the water to attract fish. When the fish come, you then bait a hook and cast to the fish.

With chumming, you camouflage your hook right in the middle of the chum. All of these bits and pieces of fish settle down into the current and sink away. However, one of those bits o’ bait has a big sharp hook in it!

It is an incredibly effective way to catch fish and since that first day, I’ve used the technique to catch more tuna, dorado, pargo, cabrilla, yellowtail, amberjack and numerous other species.

I’m not a fish psychologist, but I think fish are a lot like people. Everyone loves a good buffet line. No one likes chasing around for their food. Chasing your food takes too much energy. That’s what separates us from the cavemen hunter-gatherers and 21st century homo-sapien fishermen! We like it now and we like it easy. We like it right in front of us and we love to load up! It’s impossible to eat must one French fry; one meatball; one stuffed potato skin!

I think fish are the same way. Why expend the energy when all my food is right in front of my face and isn’t trying to get away. Time to chew!

I have put on snorkel gear and watched fish in the “chunk line!” I’ve seen 50 pound tuna, and other species literally slurp and gulp chunks of bait like the circus fat man eating potato chips! Big and lazy. No hurry. The food isn’t trying to get away. Slurp! Slurp!

Well, one of those has your hook in it!

Remember, “Dead bait does not swim!” When line starts peeling off your reel, that’s not the bait swimming away. Time to hit the brakes and lean into that fish. You’re bit!

I’m a convert. Kill my bait? Sure. Now let’s catch some fish!

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.