Thinking ahead to October....

Somebody mentioned those baby LY's and stud spanish from last October between the net boat runs and it got me to thinking. Pleasantly. :yay:

Anyway, I've been thinking of a way to keep the little feller's alive. I know a five gallon bucket will keep a few going for a while, and have serious envy for the guy's cart with the built-in bait tanks....

I'm just wondering how the bait holders that drop over the side do? I've got several large hinged lid minnow holders I use crappie fishing.....I've seen the blue nets.....will they keep bait alive for several hours or all day? Any experienced info will help. Seriously considering buying one of the blue nets if someone can give me a good review.

Thanks!

Good question, Rich1, and I'd like to know the best way to catch those little LYs. Also, do those big Spanish bite lures? If so, what?

David Allison Makes a good little ribbon rig that gets the nice size Spanish ones or cut up a old cast net and make ya own 3/8 mesh i think is what he used not sure on it

Pogey Saver by Sure Life makes a big difference,you can keep a few dozen in a 7gal. bucket.Aubry told me about it last year and it does make a difference on how baits you can hold and also the the blue dye makes the bait glow a little.

John, are you going to have any of the little ribbon rigs Wilson was talking about?

[quote author=Haywire link=topic=1902.msg17829#msg17829 date=1345740479]
Good question, Rich1, and I'd like to know the best way to catch those little LYs. Also, do those big Spanish bite lures? If so, what?
[/quote]

The David Allison small LY rig is what I used to catch them. Three or four at a time usually. They were being caught on the smallest sabiki's, too. But you got some big ones as well with those.

When the schools of Spanish came in last fall, they were hitting gotcha's, white jigs, belly strips, spoons, and various kitchen utensils. However, the frenzy didn't last all day. When it passed, and even while it was still going, the largest fish seemed to be caught on those little LY's, with the added bonus of getting to watch them chase those critters down. I've never had so much fun fishing in my life. Big Spanish on light tackle. I didn't see anyone throwing lures, although the bass assassin type mini flukes and such were in use. Bubble rigs, too.

It was just so hard to quit fishing to catch bait....I want a better system this year if they come through that way again.

Thanks for the tip on the pogey saver, JohnG.

I bought an aquarium power head the other day for my 5 gal bucket. It kept 7 adult LYs alive for three hours no problem for 3+ hours. If I keep the water temp down I could probably hd them all day. It was about $20.

[quote author=Rich1 link=topic=1902.msg17828#msg17828 date=1345739845]
Somebody mentioned those baby LY's and stud spanish from last October between the net boat runs and it got me to thinking. Pleasantly. :yay:

Anyway, I've been thinking of a way to keep the little feller's alive. I know a five gallon bucket will keep a few going for a while, and have serious envy for the guy's cart with the built-in bait tanks....

I'm just wondering how the bait holders that drop over the side do? I've got several large hinged lid minnow holders I use crappie fishing.....I've seen the blue nets.....will they keep bait alive for several hours or all day? Any experienced info will help. Seriously considering buying one of the blue nets if someone can give me a good review.

Thanks!
[/quote]

I have a blue net bait keeper, and worked ok....but on windy days, it was hard to keep it in the water even after weighting it down alot ....I now have a 5 gallon bucket with a screw on lid that I drilled holes in it except for the bottom 6inches ..... that works great.....but never needed it the last 2 trips for bait....but it would be nice to have some baby ly's saved when they are there for when the big spanish show up....although I like casting and working a white spear head jig for them too