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anyone catchin macks at camp ellis

4K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  TFKiv 
#1 ·
My last thread was getn too long and couldnt figure out how to close.
anyone know when the macks start running?mainly fish camp ellis and looking to stock up on some cut bait.also anything getting active fishing in maine yet,im in the portland area.
 
#4 ·
I disagree, been using circle hooks for over 10 years, both for chunking as well as live lining.
I use 7/0 Daiichi Circle hooks, large chunk of Mac, I pierce through the belly first, spin the hook around, then go through the top, as close as to the back bone as possible, then push the point out, if you don't push the point out, past the bark, your not going to hook up.
So your basically cradling the chunk inside the hook bend.
Let the fish grab it, and run with it, just pull back on the rod, a lot of times, when they run, they will hook themselves.
How are you doing it?
 
#5 ·
same excact way you described with the exception of i use 8.0 gamagatchus or however you pronounce it.
i use my bait runner set real light,had em run with it and just started reeling and no pull of rod to set,can almost feel them just let go.I guess ill get used to them,i miss being able to set the hook,cant do it with circle hook.
Its probably because im just having schoolies hit it,shall see when the real fish come in,thanks for the advice as im kinda new to striper fishn starting last year.
 
#6 ·
I believe you right concerning the smaller fish. You can always go down in size on the hook, as well as the size of the chunk.
As for the bait runner, when I first started using one, I would go light as well, fish would run, I would react, close the bail, and pull the line tight, and miss them.
I was getting pizzed....lol
So instead I tightened the drag down on the bait runner, and the next fish that took my bait, picked it up, ran a short distance, the line tightened up, and it hooked itself, so I always us a tighter drag now on the bait runner, not super tight, where it wants to drag the rod into the water, but tight enough to bend the rod, but also feed some line out.
 
#8 ·
went out for macks yesterday around 1200,people were catching them the day before but only pulling in singles or doubles so its still slow or i hit times wrong.Did watch 2 guys in a boat on river side catch acouple schoolies on worms,and watched some swim in formation along the jetty rocks cruising.also saw a seal swiming around.

im still waiting for big boyz to come around.
anyone tried cousins island lately?
 
#9 ·
I'm with ya Surg, not that I use mackerel a lot but when I do I use a larger, wide-gap circle hook and do pretty well. I go in through the back and push the hook out, turn the point 45 degrees inward and barely stick the point back in the chunk. This creates a cross brace almost on the mackerel and allows me to cast it a little better without fear of flinging it. I usually get a good hook-set on the fish with the barb barely turned back into my bait as well but like I said, I'm a worm guy as you know.

I was down the river below the dam the other night trying to drift worms in the current (to no avail) and there was a lot of bait around. Couldn't see if they were macks or alewives but whatever they were, they kept ripping me off. I was targeting stripers but attempted to pull up some live bait to live line, also to no avail.

tomlbby, don't always mistake those little taps for small fish. I agree that the majority of the time they are juvies/small slot fish but as I told my buddy last night, sometimes they produce quality bass. It was as if they heard me as my rod tap-tapped the slightest bit a half hour later, set the hook and landed this nice 35" slob that had to go 17-18 lbs if not heavier.....picture just doesn't do it justice. Good luck man, keep putting that time in and you too will be rewarded. I spent my whole vacation weeding through mid teen to mid 20 inch fish, finally got rewarded last night.
 

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