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mackerel
4K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Roccus 
#1 ·
well im goin out tomorrow aroudn the ipswich/little neck area hoping to get some good fish. the plan is to snag some live mackerel for live trolling bait - any tips on where to get them? i wont be able to get on the water till early afternoon too, not sure if that makes much of a difference or not.
 
#2 ·
If you are serious about catching bait ( and bass) starting your day in the afternoon is not the best way to go about it...bright sunlight tends to drive mackerel deeper and can make them finikey....they are most vulnerable at first light, yes they can be caught latter in the day but your chances diminish as the sun rises in the sky....

Look for mackerel in our area over rock structure that rises up from the bottom around 100'... a 60-80' deep "hill" in that range should hold bait...at first light you can catch them as shallow as 40'...

chum heavily with ground fish, ( herring,bunker or sand eels) catfood mixed with oatmeal will work in a pinch... multy hook sabki rigs are the quickest route to a live well full of bait, fish the rig with a small diamond jig about 15-20' below the surface... watch your fish finder, let it tell you what depth the bait is swimming in.... refrain from over loading the bait well, do not put any fish that are bleeding into the tank... most wells can only hold a dozen to 18 medium to small macks....once overloaded, even if there is sufficient oxygen , they begin to rub against each other, looseing slime and scales... this in turn causes internal organ failure and they die...a recirculating oval tank is best, round being almost as good, water "turns" should be no more than once every 7 minutes, again, faster than that causes bodily harm and your bait will perish... lacking a good reciurculating system, fresh water caanges are a must, even if you have areation, scales and fish waste ( regurgitated chum) must be flushed from the tank, fish "waste" begins to degrade the water, robbing the oxygen content.. catching and keeping bait is not rocket science, but with practice and preperation, live bait can be caught and maintained for an extened period..... if done right.. even overnight..

Tight lines
Roc
 

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#3 ·
Boat looks great roccus I have a question about the livewell you have does that drain into the bilge? Mine needs to go over the side and it's semi-portable. I put in a thru hull with a seacock and dual pump with a wash down this year but I still just run the drain out the back of the boat I plan on a new permanent fixed tank next year and I'm working out the details in my head on the plumbing
 
#4 ·
The drain/overflow runs through a 1 1/4" hose that exits the bottom of the tank on the port side, it runs along the port gunwhale and is affixed to the port scupper when i use the tank..I have a ball valve on the overflow that can be truned off to keep the water in the tank, when I fish the river, I switch to the keep alive system instead of the raw water system so the brackish water does not kill the macks..
 
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