macs for halibut bait

[Vikingj]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

I pretty much agree with that.

I'd say dines and chovies tie for first, squid is a close second, Spanish macks, greenbacks close behind, then Jacksmelt then brownbait and lizard fish.

Spanish being jacks are very hardy and live longer. Great large baits for bigger fish when the bites slow.

It all depends what the fish want.

When halibut are aggressively feeding Chovies will out fish Dines. People think Chovies are lame because they are wimps but they must really be candy to halibut because they really do love them. Dines have more flash and swim better, and for slower bites Dines work better because they live longer.

Likewise when halibut are aggressive Greenbacks get eaten better because they are more lively but Spanish get more fish when the bite is slow because they are lively longer.

Squid is kind of a crapshoot. I've seen times when it's all they wanted then times when they would not touch it and only wanted fin bait. Still I've caught my largest halibut on squid.

I love fishing Greenbacks. The fish hit them aggressively, and they are very good for fish in in the 15 to 25 pound range. My gripe is that they almost never take them head first usually almost always grabbing them right in the midsection.

That said if there's a lot of junk fish around I'd rather fish greenbacks then anything. Everything in the world chews on squid or chovies, but only quality fish are going to chase down a lively mackerel.

One other thing I've found is that Sardines and Greenbacks try to stay off the bottom, and often try and swim up making lots of commotion, so they are more visible to the fish. Squid and Spanish on the other hand will sometimes try and lie down on the sand to blend in, so often I do better fishing shorter leaders with Spanish or Squid.

Fiskadora does a great job here and I agree generally to the above. I would just add that squid & mac baits are variable in results so I would tend to "match the hatch". I like to use macs when I can as it seems to cherry pick the bigger models and discourage the little guys. I have never had good results with smelt or lizardfish even though some (mistakeningly?) believe in them.

[Redeyejedi]

i have been using macs with not much success, but that is due to lack of frequency, lack of skill and possible location. it is a ton of fun though regardless; making a few macs, toss in bt, head off the kelp with one somewhere behind...
still learning a ton and enjoying it all the way. soon my friends, real soon

yup yup

[GregAndrew]

I personally don't use Anchovies for the same reason that I don't use small Sardines. I don't want to waste my time on smaller fish. Not to say that both can't catch big fish if you get them by the smaller models. Smelt would actually be above Greenbacks on my list. I have caught a decent number of Halibut on them. But they are best where they are the main baitfish around.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Vikingj

I have never had good results with smelt or lizardfish even though some (mistakeningly?) believe in them.

I've got them on Smelt but like Greg said usually only where that is the only bait around mostly near the kelp up at Malibu when I couldn't get any other bait up there. Smelt are weird, and I've caught some weird things on them. I never tell anyone this but my largest thresher on a smelt Jig Combo and it was monster over 14ft. Just couldn't make any macks so I was trolling a big Smelt for them and it got bit. I also got a Yellow off Rockey point on a smelt. They were busting them at the kelp line so I put one out and it got bit.

Similarly Lizards are crap bait but better then nothing.

I've caught halibut on them, and probably caught more halibut on them then on brown bait. The deal with lizards is you have to keep them up off the sand, I always fish them on a dropper loop.

You know what loves to eat lizard fish? Male Ling cod on their spawning grounds. They chow them down. My take is they eat them because they are egg stealers, same reason they eat sand dabs.