Reconstituting Powerbait

[Thekid]

lol no need to entice.....greedy flatheads don't need to be enticed, they just need to know there is food somewhere haha nothing we can do to change that, they all eat plenty of panfish and crayfish in the wild....


.....but also unfortunately gamefish as well. If they are eating stocked trout it doesn't so much break my heart, but the thought of a 80lb flathead swallowing a 6lb Smallmouth really kinda makes me a hater Like what a waste....I coulda had so much fun landing that smallie on UL tackle *sigh*

You ever seen the gape on a big Flathead?

Would you not be enticing it with a nice easy meal it doesn't have to work for?

Yeah. We had 50 fish over 20 lbs last year.

 

[Frank Castle]

The kids got a point. lol

but if they're eating them every DAY in the wild? They just clamp down, feel for the spines, flip it in their mouth and swallow head-first.

Even the stomach contents reveal all prey is swallowed head-first so the spines fold back during consumption. That's why I always ask other Flathead anglers why they are hooking their bait through the back, it makes no sense to do so.

EDIT: Bass, Pike, Muskellunge, etc do the same.

 

[Frank Castle]

Would you not be enticing it with a nice easy meal it doesn't have to work for?

Yeah. We had 50 fish over 20 lbs last year.

well yea, but what would you define "fishing" as then? lol

Yeah. We had 50 fish over 20 lbs last year.

Wow, impressive. Most I ever got was 3 in one season, but they are also not native to this river system either, so idk....am I comparing apples and oranges?

 

[Thekid]

well yea, but what would you define "fishing" as then? lol

The activity of trying to catch fish.

 

[Frank Castle]

The activity of trying to catch fish.

kinda the same thing then , I guess

 

[Wailua Boy]

but if they're eating them every DAY in the wild? They just clamp down, feel for the spines, flip it in their mouth and swallow head-first.

Even the stomach contents reveal all prey is swallowed head-first so the spines fold back during consumption. That's why I always ask other Flathead anglers why they are hooking their bait through the back, it makes no sense to do so.

I was just kidding. The think the theory is the fish can swallow the bait easier with spines removes and may produce a higher hook up percentage but undoubtedly they will consume the fish will spine intact.

 

[Thekid]

but if they're eating them every DAY in the wild? They just clamp down, feel for the spines, flip it in their mouth and swallow head-first.

Even the stomach contents reveal all prey is swallowed head-first so the spines fold back during consumption. That's why I always ask other Flathead anglers why they are hooking their bait through the back, it makes no sense to do so.

EDIT: Bass, Pike, Muskellunge, etc do the same.

The removal of the spines helps when a fish just wants to completely gulp down a fish instead of playing with it for a minute or two.

 

[Frank Castle]

I was just kidding. The think the theory is the fish can swallow the bait easier with spines removes and may produce a higher hook up percentage but undoubtedly they will consume the fish will spine intact.

lol I shoulda known....you guys probably use grunts and porgies for bigger predatory fish all the time in HI.

The removal of the spines helps when a fish just wants to completely gulp down a fish instead of playing with it for a minute or two.

and you're probably 100% right....I'm just reluctant to do something to a animal that's gonna cause considerable suffering. Believe me, if there was a better way, weighting a fish to suspend off the bottom with a hook through it's bottom-jaw and out it's nostril would NOT be my preference of strategy. it already sounds/looks bad enough as is

 

[Thekid]

and you're probably 100% right....I'm just reluctant to do something to a animal that's gonna cause considerable suffering. Believe me, if there was a better way, weighting a fish to suspend off the bottom with a hook through it's bottom-jaw and out it's nostril would NOT be my preference of strategy. it already sounds/looks bad enough as is

I hook them through the back. That way a fish can't come up and seperate the body from the face.

 

[Wailua Boy]

lol I shoulda known....you guys probably use grunts and porgies for bigger predatory fish all the time in HI.


and you're probably 100% right....I'm just reluctant to do something to a animal that's gonna cause considerable suffering. Believe me, if there was a better way, weighting a fish to suspend off the bottom with a hook through it's bottom-jaw and out it's nostril would NOT be my preference of strategy. it already sounds/looks bad enough as is

I prefer not to live bait fish but do on occasion for certain species.