Help! fishing effectively with your bait.

[Dannowar]

If you dress the mackerel in drag the gay seabass can't resist

[taggermike]

Sounds like you have most of it down. Fine tuning things can take a while though. I've found fishing the top and bottom at the same time tends to be too fast for the bottom and too slow for the top. That's just me. If you're getting hung up on the bottom rig then wind up a bit after your weight hits the bottom. Fish can see a big mackerel so a halibut will come off the bottom for it and yt or wsb can find the bait fine up in the water column. Dropping the bait back 50-60 feet is fine. Fish tend to not spook much from kayaks and having the bait closer can, some times, help you get your bait back to the kayak in one piece when a dog starts shopping you. Leave the party boats alone. They're going to pull in most of the dogs so keep away and enjoy some dog free fishing. I try to fish conditions and not crowds. If there are birds or breaking fish I'll go to that area even if there is a bit of a crowd. If there's just a bunch of boats sitting around I'll leave them to it and go on my way. I hate missing a good bite and winding in to find the hook turned around and buried in the baits head. I found hooking the bait in the mouth and up out the nose instead of across the nose helped the hook stay free a bit better. Lately I've been experimenting with bridling my baits. The baits are living much better and never getting foul hooked. You can use a bigger hook also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUeoJ6CKbk
Lastly, if you're not, I recommend using 30 or 40 lb line. This site is full of stories of guys getting broken off, losing fish in the kelp, or fighting medium sized yellow tail for 15-20 minutes. As well as getting fish taken by sea lions. Of course this is sport fishing, not commercial fish killing, but as a the fight .drags on the balance shifts from your favor to the fish's. The hook is making a bigger hole in the fish's jaw, the fish has a longer time to find kelp or a lobster trap line, a little nick in the line is passing through the guides many times. And worst in my opinion, it gives the dogs a longer time to find you and steal the fish. Even if you're CnR-ing a short fight gets the fish back in the water with a better chance of survival.
Damn did ever ramble, hope this helps. Mike

[pbb]

I, like Kaleb, was wondering if fishing low (dropper loop, reverse dropper loop, carolina rig, etc.) implied fishing far enough from the kelp that one can be fairly sure that one won't hang up on it at the depth one is fishing.

Jorge's response says yes.

How much weight are people putting on low rigs. I've heard talk of 1-2 oz. egg sinkers on carolina rigs, which seems like it wouldn't take the bait down very deep without letting a lot of line out behind the boat.

Salmon fishing up north, folks use banana mooching weights or sliding trolling sinkers on lines that aren't on a downrigger. They tend to be more in the 12 once to 2 pound range. Seem like one could also tie a torpedo sinker above the bait.

[FISH11]

To drift while using anything on the bottom, you need to go out far enough to get past the kelp stringers usually close to 100' of water. I go out to 130' past 140' then lower your rig and you'll be able to cover a lot of ground. This year there aren't as many lobster buoys as in the past. Some people use up to 8oz, I tend to use 4oz to 6oz., that keeps the line down even with some of the bigger macs. Mostly it personal preference on the depth or weight.