Trip Dilemma + Live Bait Hook Set

[Spool]

Hey I am new here looking to learn more from everyone.  

Yesterdays fishing trip was good but came home empty handed. Here was the problems I had.

Land based in the afternoon near North Head. Starting of with my rig I was using a 2 hook rig (1 x 5/0 Octopus 1 x 4/0 Bait Holder) with a small ball sinker above the hook. I rigged a live Yakka through the nose and one on its back. Threw it out and left there while I went to go catch more Yakkas. Suddenly my mate said your rod is bending, so I had a look and it was bending and pulling drag so I ran to it and set the hook. I felt a good pressure then a few seconds later me and my mate saw the Yakka fly out the water. Inspection of the Yakka no teeth marks and was still alive. Does anyone know what could of happend and what fish?

I have got a question for when using live bait like Yakkas. When do you set the hook with J Hooks? Do you set the hook when the rod loads or you have to wait till it pulls quite some drag? I am confused at this could someone help me with technique with setting the hook with Yakkas?

Thanks all...

[Peter Nelson]

Maybe a big squid grabbed it

[Spool]

15 hours ago, Peter Nelson said:

Maybe a big squid grabbed it

Really? Hmmm.... anyone else know?

Anyone can answer my question on hookset technique when using a livie?

[Welster]

I think you will find lots of different opinions in this.     I fish from a boat and nearly always have the fight drag set unless it’s heavy gear in a iffy rod holder.

[Guest Guest123456789]

The yakka might have been spooked and had an adrenaline burst

[mii11x]

Have you thought of trying occy circles? I use them for jews all the time. Rod and reel(either land based or boat based) has drag set accordingly. The rod loads, the hooks set(most of the time ???) then the reel does the work for me.  Even when im using plain occy 5/0 snelled the reel does the work.  I reckon ive lost more jews by trying to set hooks after they run with either type of hook.

Also when i use live bait, I use snelled occy circles. I place one hook before the first part of the dorsal fin and the second down the rear end of the dorsal fin.

[Berleyguts]

6 hours ago, flatheadluke said:

The yakka might have been spooked and had an adrenaline burst

+1 I’ve had yakkas spooked by predators take line hard, leap out of the water and throw the bridle hook and hook themselves in the back.

[CJay]

thats strange brother how big was the yakka ? ive had mullet livebait do this but due to being chased by something with teeth! As berley guts said above, livies can hook themselves up and do all sorts of crazy wraps with the line

Normally for livebaiting id use circle hooks with a sliding snell rig and set my drag just below fighting pressure, if using sinkers  your leader should be  long enough (about 1m or more) you dont need to worry about the fish feeling resistance and getting spooked they normally smash livebaits  pretty hard

[Spool]

6 hours ago, CJay said:

thats strange brother how big was the yakka ? ive had mullet livebait do this but due to being chased by something with teeth! As berley guts said above, livies can hook themselves up and do all sorts of crazy wraps with the line

Normally for livebaiting id use circle hooks with a sliding snell rig and set my drag just below fighting pressure, if using sinkers  your leader should be  long enough (about 1m or more) you dont need to worry about the fish feeling resistance and getting spooked they normally smash livebaits  pretty hard

My Yakka was a medium size one day about 17-20cm. It was hooked on a double hook rig. 5/0 Octopus Hook through the nose and 4/0 Baitholder on its back. 

Very weird experience. Another night was another wierd experience where I was using the same hooks and something bite my bait and went to set the hook my hook bent inwards. I wish I could know what fish and what is happening haha....

[back cruncher]

Hi all...snnapper and grouper will bend hooks.

[wazatherfisherman]

Hi Spool as Peter said it sounds suspiciously like a big squid due to the absence of marks, however I used to do a lot of live-baiting off the rocks at the base of the big cliffs in the eastern suburbs and countless times had kingfish of all sizes grab the yakka by the head right in front of us and run off, only to let it go, much of the time still alive (albeit a lot worse for the experience) This was always really frustrating, especially on days when it happened repeatedly as it did some times and when livey's were hard to catch. When live-baiting these areas we all used bobby corks and attributed many 'short' runs/strikes to the fish feeling the resistance of  the bobby cork and large ball sinker that we used to get the bait down from anywhere from 4- 10 metres. Another(and probably the main) reason they dropped the bait was we all used  6 and a half and 7 inch sidecast reels that took quite a lot of "start-up inertia" to get turning, due to their weight. It wasn't practical to leave the spool in open/cast position as we were fishing for Luderick or spinning while waiting for a run (which sometimes would take hours)and the rods left in purpose made rod holders as they were heavy to hang onto for extended periods of time. If you were too far away or distracted from your rod when the strike came, probably around half the time, the fish would drop the bait. I know I missed more strikes from Mulloway than I got by not staying on the rod. Having said this, we didn't use circle hooks in those days(pre- year 2000)and the advice I've seen on fishraider of not letting the fish race off heaps of line before setting the hook/s makes perfect sense. The bobby cork live-bait rig is very practical for several reasons and might be a good option for you, by no means am I suggesting what you're doing isn't a worthwhile method, this is just a couple of other ways you might consider trying, without going near the method/s used by "slide-baiting" There are two quite simple rigs we used. If we were primarily after Tuna, Bonito or the 'dawn' kingies it was just a running torpedo shaped foam or cork float down to an appropriate swivel, followed by 2 metres of 25-30 kg leader and either a single or two snooded 6/0 to 10/0 double strength suicide(octopus)hooks. The weight of the hooks generally kept the bait at least just under the surface or below. Occasionally a small barrel sinker was placed above the swivel to make the bait go down but was generally frowned on by the purists.  This was set at a depth of 3 or 4 metres and the yakka or garfish coaxed to travel as far out as you could get it to go. Some of the guys would use fly-line floatant or put Vaseline on their lines to keep it floating(or close to) and prevent 'belly's' that sink your line creating 'line-drag' problems when left for extended periods or when the bait came back in towards the rocks. The other rig was a larger more cylindrical bobby cork capable of holding a large ball sinker- anywhere from the size of a 10 cent to a 20 cent piece, depending on yakka size, followed by a swivel, then 2-2.5 mtr's of  25-30 kg leader and usually 2 snooded hooks same as above. The sinker sat directly on top of the swivel and this rig was set between 6 and 10 metres deep using a stopper knot above a bead(to prevent the knot pulling through the float)This was the main rig used for both Mulloway and Kingies. Larger Tailor were also often taken but far fewer Bonito than the previous rig. Weighting the cork down lower creates less resistance which is good but can make it harder to see when you have a large active bait as they sometimes pull the lower weighted floats under for short periods,especially if there are predator fish around- only trial and error with different sized baits will reveal exactly the size lead you need. By using a bobby cork it is easier to do the following: 1)Get your bait to the area you'd like it to be  2) Have the bait at a constant depth - where you want it and so you know where it is. 3) Get it out much further than you could possibly cast it. 4) Know when something is interested or takes it. 5)Prevent the bait or line snagging on the bottom and yakkas in particular will eventually find something to swim around if left unchecked near the bottom. All this doesn't tell you what had your yakka, you'll never know, but it may help you get the next fish that grabs your bait. If you have any other question/s feel free to ask. Cheers

[Spool]

Thanks for all the info. I guess we will never know. That’s fishing for ya.....