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Hate to sound like a googan haha but is there a certain way you hook lys for kings . I have been hooking them through the top part of the back behind the head but not through any major organs and they stay alive about 2 or 3 casts is that normal?? Just really wanna land that elusive first king . Caught everything else but a cobia and a king haha thanks again
Local showed me to run one of the trebles thru midline but above/behind the body cavity...just a crappie and catfish jug fisherman that rarely can afford to get down,,,,too rich for me till fall!
In the summer when it gets HOT & STILL the life expectancy of a live LY is about two casts.
The warmer the water the less oxygen it holds and the bait dies quickly on a hook.
There are a few tricks you can employ to get the most out of your bait by hooking it in different places.
A frisky live LY can be hooked along the back (behind the head, under the dorsal fin or near the tail and freelined or free floated.
After the first cast, I rehook them under the 'throat' just behind the two small fins underneath.
The bait will still swim a bit but at a noticeably slower pace than when first cast.
So every now and then I give the rod tip a shake or two making the baitfish flip over in flash of silver.
This method (I call "Crazy Ivan") mimics the dying LYs we often see around the pier in the summer and the gamefish are conditioned to eating them.
After a couple of casts of that, the bait is usually dead and I rehook it through the clear cartilage in the nose (just in front of the eyes) and 'snobble with it, usually until the scales begin to fall off or the cartilage tears.
Then I toss it in the ice chest to cut strips off the side for spanish and blues.
Waste not, want not ;-)
Everyone has their own way of hooking them, some through the back behind the dorsal, some the belly, and my personal preference, through the top of the head bringing the hook into the mouth cavity, only reason i do it that way is they seem to stay on better, and swim more naturally and live longer, but ive seen kings caught all the above mentioned ways, just gotta have it swim in front of a king at the right time and place
I hook em between the top of the mouth and eyes, in the snout. More streamed lined, easie to cast and retrieve. I've they die, you can snob let them like this.
But yeah, this time of year, they die quick.