Had a great bull red trip on Monday afternoon…Wow one of the best fishing days since my son came around two months ago… went looking for shrimp in the deep holes with little success and then went to a drop and caught over 20 in 2 hours (around dead low)… with a few of them being close to 20lbs but most were donkeys!!! But wondering why Im getting so many gullet hook sets with 4/5 circle hooks…was using bait runner but then shut that down and went with a pretty tight drag and held the rod… had a little better luck with good hook sets! Any thoughts ??? Otherwise they all swam away looking healthy just hope they all made it!!
Are you trying to say they were swallowing the hooks?
2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke
yes
If you have a big piece of bait on a hook smaller than the bait it makes it easy for them to swallow the whole thing. The size of the hook depends on the size of the bait not the size of the fish… I use a 6/0 size or larger circle hook when using large pieces of cut bait. Using cut bait I like the thick gauge strong hooks. Using live bait such as menahden I like the same size hook just in a smaller gauge thinner wire hook so to speak… Let’s the live bait swim more freely and look more natural than trying to swim around with a cut bait hook through its nose. Just my $.02… Hope this helps!
2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke
Ditto to xxmadfirexx on the size of the circle hook. Plus it’s really important to use non-offset circle hooks.
These big reds will swallow everything down to their crushers if there’s no resistance or obstruction. If they do, just sacrifice the hook and it will work out on it’s own.
Good luck…and thanks for the report.
I use 15/0 circle hooks on all my baits for the Adult Reds. I also use 100lb leader with the egg sinker knotted 5 or 6 inches from the hook. My version of what I think is called the Lumpkin Rig. I just tie the hook, move up about 5 inches and tie an overhand knot, slip the egg sinker on 5 to 8 oz depending on the current then tie another overhand knot then leave 18 to 24 inches of mono leader and tie to a large swivel. I have very few gut hooked fish and those that do often swallow the sinker also. Not good for Tarpon bites as the sinker close to the hook is easy for the Tarpon to jump and shake the hook. I think the large circle hook helps the most.
FishinCoach,
Very interesting post there. I never even thought to secure the sinker simply w/ two overhand knots. (i think i’m picturing this correctly) Although i’ve never fished for the big bulls in the broad or anyother high current areas. I see you are using 15/0 circles, which brand? if you don’t mind sharing.
“Lock em’ down”
I think the brand is Mustad, the thick ones. I also have 50 to 65lb braid on the reels with the drag pretty tight to get the fish to the boat fairly quick. When releasing the fish the best way is to torpedo them into the water head first. This knocks the air bubble out and the fish go back down. If they don’t, and they come back to the surface keep an eye on them and if they don’t kick and go down before they get out of sight pull anchor and go dunk them again. I learned all this stuff from Glenn Ulrich the retired DNR wildlife biologist doing the Adult Red Drum study for Beaufort County, He is a wealth of knowledge for all fish in our area. I think the Hilton Head Reef Foundation is sponsoring the study. Anyone who catches a tagged Red Drum should leave the tag in place, copy the info on the tag and note the date, location, stage of the tide, and approximate size of the fish. Getting solid research data will certainly help with managing our great fishing resources.
Coach is right about using the Lupton Rig for the big red drum. Owen Lupton made the rig very popular in NC years ago. Now when fishing in the Nuese River/Pamilco Sound for the big red drum these rigs must be used by law (not to sure how this is enforced). You could probably do some searching on the web and find a few pictures of the rigs as well as some of the studies NC did on they prevent gut hooking the fish. I think a few folks make them and sell them now. I will say I have tried the Lupton Rig around HHI and it has not been my favorite to use in heavy current, but does prevent gut hooking the fish.
jp
Being originally from the Bouge Inlet area of N.C. we had always used a rig very similar to the Owen Lupton on large Red Drum to avoid the gut hook. The Lumton rig uses crimp sleeves to pin the sinker, there are other ways to do this that are just as effective. The key to the Lumpton rig is the short distance between the sinker and the hook. This prevents the bait & hook from getting too far back in the mouth and allows the weight of the sinker to help position the circle hook in the bottom corner of the jaw. Lupton will have as little as 2-3in from sinker to hook.
It is a great rig, i use a scaled down version with live mullet when fishing for slot reds (puppy drum if your from N.C.)on the flats & along the grass. Non-offest circle hooks are a must for the rig to work correctly.
18’ CC Privateer
DF 115 Suzuki