bullhead battles

Biteme · 07-03-2001, 07:29 AM

Anybody now any tricks for keeping bait on for more than a minute or so when the bullheads are in a feeding frenzy. I have moved down to astoria for the rest of the summer and have been fishing sturgeon down there. We are doing very well but with the bullheads it has been tough to get into sturgeon all day long. It has been a very tide and current specific time that the bullheads go away and the sturgeon go on the bite. We have been finding sturgeon but cant keep the bait down for more than a minute or so without the bullheads picking it clean. It seems that on either the incoming or outgoing that just after peak flow and it starts slowing but still with good current that there is a 1-2 hr window that the bullheads disappear and the sturgeon start hammering the bait. As far as light biters I havent seen that the light biters have been bullhead and when the sturgeon hit more often than not they are already airborn with your bait before you can get the pole out of the holder. The best bait has been anchovies or the small sardines that are in the bay, I have been jigging my own which is alot fresher than the so called fresh bait that is for sale. We also have got some keepers on smelt. Shrimp is bullhead candy.

Biteme · 07-03-2001, 05:39 PM

back to the top

Hookset · 07-03-2001, 09:18 PM

No easy solutions to this problem. The lower river is packed with sculpin this year, just like last year and at all water depths. If the bait isn't lasting long, I move around a little and hope to find something better. Stronger current really helps. There are some locations that are large depressions, dropoffs where the strong current runs over the top, these places should be avoided since they are loaded with bait robbing sculpin.

After reading an artcile in STS last year, I experimented with running a large spin-n-glo above the bait with longer leaders. The intent was to add vibration and keep the bait off the bottom. Article claiming a few knowledgeable charter operators out of Illwaco where using this setup and catching like 6 fish to every one caught with the coventional setup. Tried as I may, couldn't get any takers. Only tried for 3 hours for a couple days and after watching others hooking and catching fish, I switched back.

You may want to try this on your rod only when taking customers out, could be worth the gamble. Otherwise, fish the current and stay away from slack water.

best of luck,

hook

[ 07-04-2001: Message edited by: hookset ]

Elwood · 07-04-2001, 06:53 AM

I don't know how to keep them from killing your bait, [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] but if you catch one, cut the head off, thread it on a leader, and use it for bait. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] The bullheads don't seem to eat their own kind, but the sturgeon love them. Elwood.

Biteme · 07-04-2001, 07:18 AM

hook
I to have tried the spin glow or birdie thing, while I have caught fish with this method I havent noticed any advantage over the conventional method. I have however had problems with leader twist when there is seaweed moving around, it plugs up the spin glow so that it cant spin and then wraps up the leader.
Bullheads for bait? I know stripers love them. Hey maybe this bullhead fishing could turn into a new sportfishing thing.

bait boy · 07-04-2001, 07:52 AM

The only thing that I can come up with is to try wrapping the sandshrimp with the mesh that is used for making spawn sac's. I don't know how well this keeps your stuff on but it sounds like it might work.

willierower · 07-04-2001, 12:38 PM

Im with what rick said, When I fished the Umpqua bay with my dad we would put our bait in mesh bags. The bullheads still chewed on it, But the bait would last a lot longer. Cheese clothe or Malin clothe would work best. he mesh didnt seem to affect the sturgeon at all.

fishinlady97140 · 07-04-2001, 07:16 PM

Yup, they eat their own -- whole or chopped -- what a pain.

Hookset · 07-04-2001, 07:41 PM

There is another tough bait you might try. Squid. I've used squid with very good results in the past scented with oils. A friend witnessed a bank fisherman off the dock in Astoria fishing with squid wrapped around a small piece of towel loaded with oil. He landed more fish then anyone else with the same bait. When he was done, he handed my friend his used bait.

Squid works, how about an anchovie squid sandwhich?

I know, could be more trouble then it's worth. I hate wrapping bait in mesh but I know this works.

hook

Biteme · 07-05-2001, 06:36 AM

I use smelt with a squid wrapper 90% of the time upriver and in the willamette, I havent tried the anchovy squid yet but Im sure I will. It appears that for right now however they are really keyed into the anchovies and dont like you to experiment too much, maybe if the amount of fresh bait thats in the river starts to decrease some of these other baits will begin to work better. I find that it is easier to rebait than to deal with the mesh. I havent tried squid by itself above tongue point yet I did try it down out of hammond and the crabs loved it. I have seen that the small sardines that are mixed in with the anchovies that most people think are herring seem to work at times and the bullheads dont seem to like them as much, anyone know where to get some of these in quantity. anyway I guess for now I will have to stick to my plan of if your pole has wiggled at all and it has been more than 2 minutes since that wiggle and it isnt wiggling anymore its time to rebait.
I guess this may be where the term "masterbaiter" originated.

Biteme · 07-11-2001, 06:48 AM

I tried using a bullhead when we were in a bullhead feeding frenzy and nothing else was working and boy was I suprised, TWO KEEPERS in the boat caught on the same bullhead. I tried this again the next day when the bullheads werent to bad and there was a slow anchovy bite going on and no results. When all you can get into is bullheads give it a try you just might get a suprise. I doesnt work all of the time but it just might save the day.

Tacklebuster · 07-11-2001, 07:31 PM

We had to deal with those pesky critters for the past 2 weeks. The thing that I have found that seemed to detour the bullheads are the smaller frozen herring. The smaller ones will work that gets mixed in with the anchovies but they are few and far between. We nailed 5 keepers on herring 2 weeks ago when the bullheads were thick. They would peck at the bait but wouldn't eat it unless the bait had entrails hanging out. Hope this helps........ T

Biteme · 07-12-2001, 05:38 AM

those smaller herring mixed in with the anchovies are actually sardines look close and on some of them they have spots along the latteral line. Sure wish I could get some in quantity because there have been days when how many keepers caught on my boat depended on how many of those small sardines were mixed in the anchovies.

SailCat · 07-12-2001, 05:42 AM

biteme-

See the tip posted under the 'Hammond Blues' thread. 'Hope this helps!

~Michael T.
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