Anyone pulling live bait while tubing the harbors?

So I ordered some [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to try this weekend.  I am thinking of just handling them while fishing.  Once I get some bait rig it up and see what happens.  When I need more back to hand lining the Sabiki rig.  Anyone else ever do this?
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Just be careful
Had an ugly experience using a sabiki in redondo harbor on a skiff with one hook in a finger and 2 mackerel thrashing around still in the water praying that more dont jump on the band wagon
Use a butter knife to take hooks out of bait

You could probably make one of these sabiki rods from a broken rod. Keeps the sharp hooks out of harms way.

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jeffcpr wrote:So I ordered some [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to try this weekend.  I am thinking of just handling them while fishing.  Once I get some bait rig it up and see what happens.  When I need more back to hand lining the Sabiki rig.  Anyone else ever do this?
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Thanks I will keep that in mind, watch the fingers I will be careful.  Seriously that sounds horrible.

When I had my Hobie Outback kayak, I also had a Sobecki rod, and those hooks are really dangerous!!!
Be super careful with those Jeff!!

SP Dan <“))><

I have enough trouble with those things on piers, I’d hate to see how many hooks id impale myself or my tube with if I tried bringing one on the water.

If going all in
Make all bait at once near structure (jetty, sea wall, dock)
Use bread or cat food
Keep pieces in bait bucket
Dont overcrowd
Dont touch the bait if possible, keep slime coat intact

Used to fish opal street dock at night in balboa for bat rays and would pass the time making bait under the lights.  One pull  would get 20+ pieces.

Schmelt with a little split shot is deadly.
Problem was that 6 # was ideal for the bait but could not handle bigger fish.

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jeffcpr wrote:So I ordered some [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to try this weekend.  I am thinking of just handling them while fishing.  Once I get some bait rig it up and see what happens.  When I need more back to hand lining the Sabiki rig.  Anyone else ever do this?
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jmytuna wrote:If going all in
Make all bait at once near structure (jetty, sea wall, dock)
Use bread or cat food
Keep pieces in bait bucket
Dont overcrowd
Dont touch the bait if possible, keep slime coat intact

Used to fish opal street dock at night in balboa for bat rays and would pass the time making bait under the lights.  One pull  would get 20+ pieces.

Schmelt with a little split shot is deadly.
Problem was that 6 # was ideal for the bait but could not handle bigger fish.

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jeffcpr wrote:So I ordered some [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to try this weekend.  I am thinking of just handling them while fishing.  Once I get some bait rig it up and see what happens.  When I need more back to hand lining the Sabiki rig.  Anyone else ever do this?
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Honestly I am only interested in pulling one at time.  So if I get one I will string it up and see what bites.  If that works simply hunt for another and so on.  I use to fish live bait at Redondo and it was a blast.

jeffcpr wrote:

jmytuna wrote:If going all in
Make all bait at once near structure (jetty, sea wall, dock)
Use bread or cat food
Keep pieces in bait bucket
Dont overcrowd
Dont touch the bait if possible, keep slime coat intact

Used to fish opal street dock at night in balboa for bat rays and would pass the time making bait under the lights.  One pull  would get 20+ pieces.

Schmelt with a little split shot is deadly.
Problem was that 6 # was ideal for the bait but could not handle bigger fish.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

jeffcpr wrote:So I ordered some [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to try this weekend.  I am thinking of just handling them while fishing.  Once I get some bait rig it up and see what happens.  When I need more back to hand lining the Sabiki rig.  Anyone else ever do this?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Honestly I am only interested in pulling one at time.  So if I get one I will string it up and see what bites.  If that works simply hunt for another and so on.  I use to fish live bait at Redondo and it was a blast.

Caught so many 5-8# bonito on the splasher and feather in the late 70's, early 80's , my first yellowtail off the rocks at the bubble hole with warm water outflow.  Classic times at Redondo

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I decided I am going to cut down the Sabiki Rig to just 2 hooks.  I have a small rod I can take and stow rod and hook safely.  I will share a picture later

Ok I cut the Sabiki rig down to 2 hooks and I added a small rod. The rod and reel is actually an pocket telescope rod. It's not meant for anything of size but a small bait fish it should be fine. Not great shots here but here is the rod and the setup[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Caught so many 5-8# bonito on the splasher and feather in the late 70's, early 80's , my first yellowtail off the rocks at the bubble hole with warm water outflow.  Classic times at Redondo

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Same here. King Harbor by the “boil” where the power plant was discharging warm water. The owner of rocky point was a friend of my dads and would rent us skiffs for cheap (or free depending on how busy he was) and we would nail the bonito on the feather and a float. Then drift the rocks for calico. I wish we could float tube in there.

jeffcpr wrote:Ok I cut the Sabiki rig down to 2 hooks and I added a small rod. The rod and reel is actually an pocket telescope rod. It's not meant for anything of size but a small bait fish it should be fine. Not great shots here but here is the rod and the setup[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Probably a good idea since a float tube and multiple flying hooks, especially Sabiki, are a bad idea...if you aren't getting much luck with a 2 hook setup, spending the money on a sabiki rod might be the way to go if you still want live bait.

Good advice here, usually you jug up on live bait once then fish 'til you don't have anymore.

Butterknife is very helpful or the back of your bait knife, don't touch them unhooking, only when hooking them up.

Don't get me started on the days of bubble-and-feather fishing with hundreds of people (ok dozens) lining the channel sides...

NulodPBall wrote:

jeffcpr wrote:Ok I cut the Sabiki rig down to 2 hooks and I added a small rod. The rod and reel is actually an pocket telescope rod. It's not meant for anything of size but a small bait fish it should be fine. Not great shots here but here is the rod and the setup[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Probably a good idea since a float tube and multiple flying hooks, especially Sabiki, are a bad idea...if you aren't getting much luck with a 2 hook setup, spending the money on a sabiki rod might be the way to go if you still want live bait.

Good advice here, usually you jug up on live bait once then fish 'til you don't have anymore.

Butterknife is very helpful or the back of your bait knife, don't touch them unhooking, only when hooking them up.

Don't get me started on the days of bubble-and-feather fishing with hundreds of people (ok dozens) lining the channel sides...

OK now I want to hear the story of bubble and feather fishing. 

NulodPBall wrote:

jeffcpr wrote:Ok I cut the Sabiki rig down to 2 hooks and I added a small rod. The rod and reel is actually an pocket telescope rod. It's not meant for anything of size but a small bait fish it should be fine. Not great shots here but here is the rod and the setup[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Probably a good idea since a float tube and multiple flying hooks, especially Sabiki, are a bad idea...if you aren't getting much luck with a 2 hook setup, spending the money on a sabiki rod might be the way to go if you still want live bait.

Good advice here, usually you jug up on live bait once then fish 'til you don't have anymore.

Butterknife is very helpful or the back of your bait knife, don't touch them unhooking, only when hooking them up.

Don't get me started on the days of bubble-and-feather fishing with hundreds of people (ok dozens) lining the channel sides...

I remember fishing the end of the wedge in newport fishing huge foamers of big bonita and yellowtai, guys shoulder to shoulder on every rock with bubble/feathers, 1 oz diamond jigs, crocodiles, yo ho hos flying everywhere, next thing I know BAM...a guy gets a feather right in the back of his ear and ends up in the white water...good times...

jeffcpr wrote:

NulodPBall wrote:

jeffcpr wrote:Ok I cut the Sabiki rig down to 2 hooks and I added a small rod. The rod and reel is actually an pocket telescope rod. It's not meant for anything of size but a small bait fish it should be fine. Not great shots here but here is the rod and the setup[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Probably a good idea since a float tube and multiple flying hooks, especially Sabiki, are a bad idea...if you aren't getting much luck with a 2 hook setup, spending the money on a sabiki rod might be the way to go if you still want live bait.

Good advice here, usually you jug up on live bait once then fish 'til you don't have anymore.

Butterknife is very helpful or the back of your bait knife, don't touch them unhooking, only when hooking them up.

Don't get me started on the days of bubble-and-feather fishing with hundreds of people (ok dozens) lining the channel sides...

OK now I want to hear the story of bubble and feather fishing. 

LoL I'm assuming you didn't live it then.

70's, 80's,  and apparently the early 90's if I remember correctly Bonita used to swarm by the thousands up all the river channels in the area...and the side-effect of this period was to snag for Tilapia in the Salton Sea (so I've heard...).

Back then the Annie B fishing barge was still in place off of the Long Beach Pier and you used to get live anchovy's at the end of the pier (my dad was in the navy so we were in and out of Long Beach during the 60s and early 70s) so you actually caught more than mackerel and smelt off the piers and back then, graffiti wasn't a problem so the public bathrooms were open all night, so were the piers, and it wasn't unusual for families to camp out on their pier complete with electric lights (for bait fishing and general fish attraction), sleeping bags, and hotplates...and I remember looking forward to getting something from the Jack-in-the-box (back when there really was a jack-in-the-box logo) after midnight, when many times we'd head home instead of staying overnight.

Throw in the fact that both my little sisters were born in the middle of a coral atoll, and we had free access to fish overnight at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, and freshwater fishing was considered a "treat" (hey, I enjoyed learning how to kayak in the slime green - slimy feeling, algae waters, of Lake Elsinore, pushing aside the dead fish to get in the water in August) I believe this was the winding down of the fishing heyday of the area, no more huge runs of Albacore (the old cannery buildings were still around) but the sealife was still very active compared to now...I believe.

So we were pretty much attuned to things like the grunion runs (I get angry now when I see people with lights on the beach during grunion runs, I've actually seen people with glowstick jewelry in the water), and sealife in general and one year people started catching more Bonita off the piers...or maybe we just started hearing about it or maybe I just started paying attention, since I usually considered Bonita to be a little beyond my normal catch.

We also used to fish the outflow of the Long Beach power stations, using a coleman lantern down by the water.

And then my dad, who was a dedicated bait fisherman (usually dead bait) started to get excited about Bubble-and-Fly fishing, so I joined him on the rocks of the flood control channel (San Gabriel probably) with dozens or hundreds of people all throwing a bubble half filled with water, with a usually yellow feather about a foot behind it...we'd usually grumble about the guys snagging (usually they were closer to the river mouth) but it seemed that they never got caught, and there was enough success that everyone would come back whenever the rumors came of a "run".

There was no Internet, and I don't think that BBSs were a big thing in this crowd so the only way to find out was by word of mouth, usually either at the bait shop, or at your fishing spot (my dad was friendly with the owner of the tackle shop in Seal Beach until he sold it and moved north, since we used to fish at the Naval Weapons Station all the time)...I don't know if they still give away free tide chart booklets, but that was the only way we knew the tides unless we paid attention the day before (usually the tide repeats the next day, just 20 minutes later...unless the sun and the moon get in a tug-of-war).

...so this meant that as soon as you heard of a Bonita run, you pretty much dropped everything so you could beat the crowd before the run was over.

A friend of mine worked at Lets Go Fishing in Huntington Beach (late 80's early 90s?), and I used to hang out with him and mess around (he made my first custom rod) and the guy who made a retirement living, selling feathers used to come around (Tommy) and I felt sad when I realized that his business was fading.

If you've never been around a fly-and-bubble Bonita run, just picture fishing for salmon on the American River, just below Nimbus dam on the free side, but with no high bank behind you.

The good thing was there was no boulders to catch your line on, you just had to time your throw and your drift so that you didn't interfere with your neighbors and everyone was pretty well behaved, and the bubbles could be pretty heavy because the splashing apparently only attracted the Bonita.

It wasn't Tuna WFO, but sometimes people were pretty busy.

Nothing special beyond the excitement in the air whenever the rumor of a Bonita run was running around.

See, I told you not to get me started...luckily I'm avoiding work right now...watching news video of people thinking they can ride their bikes on the frontage road next to flooded PCH (think brown wave when a truck goes by) in HB.