Alewife Rigging

[silver]

I've never fished with alewives off the pier, only spawn and spoons. Wondering how you rig them? Do you fish them under bobbers, or on the bottom with a sliding rig? Size of bait, hook, how are you hooking the bait etc? Lots of questions for something so simple isn't it?

Also, where do you get cast nets?

Thanks a load,
Silver

No recent reports...only fished Manistee and Ludington a couple of weeks ago when the water was 70...no fish. Waiting for the cool temps to return...

[Dave Ash]

Fishing with 'wifes.... is a very touchy subject


You can do it with a slip bobber


You can ground rig it one of 2 ways.

With a slidding egg sinker with a spacer then a swivel. I then use a 3-6 foot leader of Floro caron 10-14 pound test (for kings) With a single Red Hook placed behinde the back fin.

I have also seen guys run the hook in the lips (Im not a fan) I have casted way to many off doing it this way.

I also use colored beads in front of my hooks. I use small glow beeds in the morning and change up my leader size till I find one that works.

If you fish 'Wifes with me you will laugh. I have a backpack of leaders of differnt size shape and colors (I still have to find it around the house though)

I use anything from half oz to 3 oz sinkers. Depending on what part of the pier I am on .

If you are close to hte surf you will use bigger sinkers (In holland at least)



The second way you can run it is my fav.

I run A size 1 or 2 Snap swivel you slide a pyramid sinker on followed by your leader and hook. Close the swivel(This is very important).

You then attack your bait.



I know the guys in GH have found ways to run a type of Slide line down it as well I am working on a new way to do this as well I will keep you informed.



As for cast nets


Wally world has them... I know any bait shop around holland does. They wont for long however.




Dave

[holdin'pile]

Silver,
Maybe if you spent less time in the Gordon(#24) aisle at wal-mart you could've discovered one of those cast nets by now and we might have actually caught something:fish2:

Mr. Ash,
If I could add another question for you-

What time(s) i.e. morning, night, are preferred for netting alewives and what sections of the pier i.e. shallow water, deep end? Fishing these under a bobber off the pier right now sounds like pier enjoyment! Any input greatly appreciated:D

holdin'pile

[smoke73]

It is easiest to cast when you see the alewive schools. Don't cast over the rocks. It is a good way to get your net hung up.

[Zofchak]

Alewives are notoriously difficult to keep alive (and on the hook) so here is a trick I use. I place a large bead on my main line then tie a swivel below that. Then I tie a length of slightly lighter line (At the depth you want to fish) below that with a pyramid weight attached. Then cast it out. After the weight is in place take a snap swivel attached to a 24"+ leader with a circle hook on one end and a large split shot (Keeps the bait down) next to the swivel. Put the Alewife on the hook (I hook them right around the anal fin), snap the swivel to your line and slide it out to the weight. You may have to hold the rod tip high to get it down there.

[Dave Ash]

If you are trying to catch the good old alewife... Look for dirty water. I think it makes it so they can not see the net??? Im not sure but it works
If the bait is there you will catch it. if its not, its not.

You will find it at all times of the day... Its kinda hard to pinpoint


Some advice however for casting netting a new place....


Take the spool of line from your backpack or cart... Tie a sinker to the end and drop it down to see how far it is to the bottom.
This will tell you how deep you are. If you are good with a cast net you will know how long to let it fall before pulling the rope.
If you dont do this you will be out a cast net.


Dave

[Dave Ash]

Could you take a pict of this rig or could you draw something up in paintbrush I am a bit conufsed...

Does this hold one fish or 2?

[silver]

Thanks for the information, hope to put it to use this weekend...I'll let ya know. (Except for you Pile, you can suck it. And how the hell do you know who's hanging out in wal-mart.)

Silver

[holdin'pile]

My thanks also for the alewife info, and I can give an update on how they worked since hi-ho Silver must still be hanging out at his store.

Due to the fish pasting spoons, rapalas, and spawn we didn't really get a chance to give alewives much of a shot!- as I'm sure you all have heard by now. We did get to witness a guy use his castnet and fill a drywall bucket several times with them- so much for the baitfish crash!! That was my first time looking for or seeing alewives off piers and when waves(of alewives) came by close enough to view the numbers were staggering!! Live alewives did produce the best results, but I just couldn't put down my spoon and the opportunity to have one of those chrome kings freight train it on the way in- and that almost happened 3 times but my dumpy loco spoon couldn't keep a hook in 'em. The last one sharked it and tore half the paint right off it seconds after hitting the water!

holdin'pile

[mich buckmaster]

There is a rig you can use that you dont need a casting net. I have a net and then bought this rig with like 6 hooks on it. I cut off one of the hooks to make it legal. Just jig it over the side of the pier and you will catch plenty.

Also using Wifes I like to put a number 6 baitholder right on top or under the backbone, which will keep the fish alive but give great action.

[Jimmy Carl Black]

Is this the rig buckmaster? I tried one once but the bait was less than thick at the time. Figure the cast net works just as good or better.

%5Bimg%5Dhttp://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/531/sabiki.jpg%5B/img%5D

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gamakatsu.com/catalog/jpg/jig_fish.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.gamakatsu.com/catalog/jig_rig.htm&h=183&w=189&sz=32&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=rgs4T2x4TVi0ZM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dherring%2Bjig%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3D en%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

http://%5Bimg%5Dhttp://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/531/sabiki.jpg%5B/img%5D

Well, I tried to post a pic but the url should work at least

[Zofchak]

Those bait rigs are called Sabikis and work well sometimes. Tip them with tiny pieces of cut squid and they work 10X better.