live bait tanks

Does anyone use live bait while fishing in the salt? Would I, as a rookie kayak fisherman, have any use for a live bait tank? I saw some in Wally's close-out section for two bucks. I don't need anymore stuff taking up space. Just curious. Thanks for any info........Salm

Hmmm... don't know, too busy catchin' fish with plastics 

I have made a flosting bait bucket that I can take in while under way.
thought about catching kelp greenling for bait to go after the ling's.
 never had it out yet in 3 years 

Live bait works great for some kinds of fish, depends what you're fishing for. Seems like most of the fish in the ocean off Oregon and Washington go for lures more than live bait.

http://watermanatwork.com/KayakFishing/KayakRigging/BaitTank/BaitTank.html

Not a lot of live bait fishing in the NW.  None in the freshwater, mostly illegal.  And very little in the salt, mostly live bait for lingcod.  I'd say a bait tank wouldn't be something high on the list of things to have in the NW.

-Allen

This is Hobie's tank, it was an impulse purchase when I bought the Revo, have only used it a couple times but it keeps the herring That I jig very frisky.  At times, mooching herring, either live or plug-cut, outfishes hoochies/spoons 3:1 (mostly during August for suspended kings).  Has 3 rod holders and a 6v bilge pump to refresh the water. That hose in the bottom is the exhause hose, it fits into the hole where the wheelie post fits.

Kalli, do you ever set out relying on catching bait, or is it an opportunistic thing?

-Allen

I plan it, as the tank takes up a fair bit of room, and jigging up a dozen or two takes some time---maybe 1/2 hour.  Herring balls used to be common in the Quartermaster Harbor/Dalco Point Defiance area, one morning I netted a year's worht from one bait ball!  But for whatever reason, the herring population in Puget Sound is way down from the 1990's.  So when I am seeing a lot of bait on the depthfinder, especially tight balls near the surface, I'll plan to install the tank on the next trip.
   The upside is, if you like to mooch with herring, the stuff you jig is about 10X better than the starved and somewhat beat-up live bait obtainable at the Point Defiance boat house, and 100X better than frozen packaged herring.  there's pretty reliable jigging  in outer Quartermaster Harbor, and in front of the Point Defiance/Anthony's area, about 80-110 feet when you're marking bait on the bottom.  In the summer, the point Defiance/Owens Beach area is basically herring soup, sometimes it sounds like rain with all the little herrring lips slupring at the surface!

Yeah, I hear ya.  I don't see the big swaths of bait that we used to see in the 80's and 90's.  We used to make the run up this side from Shilshole up to Possession.  Often times we wouldn't make it as the props would get clogged with dead herring.  Hah!  Kidding on that one.

Zee, right off Richmond Beach used to consistently be acres of herring.  Do you see that very often there nowadays?  Just curious ...

That's why I asked.  I'm not sure I could count on making bait in the Seattle area.

-Allen

Zee, right off Richmond Beach used to consistently be acres of herring.  Do you see that very often there nowadays?  Just curious ...

That's why I asked.  I'm not sure I could count on making bait in the Seattle area.

-Allen

RB has a ton of bait. Catching bait and then salmon fishing sounds awesome. KT, when the bait is fresh are you cut plugging or using an FBR? If you cut plug do you have trouble with mushrooming at all?

Z

Here's WDFW's Herring Stock report from 2004- http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/papers/herring_status_report/2004_herring_stock_status_report.pdf

The Puget Sound Herring Cumulative Spawning Biomass Estimates, 1976-2004, on pg 58, show that South Sound stocks went up, but North Sound and Straits stocks have declined severely. The net has been a reduction in biomass.

Zee, if it's live, try to use it that way. Think bait tube if you don't have the livewell.

Zee, right off Richmond Beach used to consistently be acres of herring.  Do you see that very often there nowadays?  Just curious ...

That's why I asked.  I'm not sure I could count on making bait in the Seattle area.

-Allen

RB has a ton of bait. Catching bait and then salmon fishing sounds awesome. KT, when the bait is fresh are you cut plugging or using an FBR? If you cut plug do you have trouble with mushrooming at all?

Z

Zee, fishing fresh cutplug herring is nothing like fishing frozen.  You won't have a shroom problem.  And the smell ... nothing like the smell of fresh cutplug herring!!!

-Allen

I saw an air pump for live wells in my harbor freight flyer for $5.99, for those ethat want to build there own..

Personally I like the simplicity of bait tubes.  Regarding bait tanks, if you can get a small submersible pump and run a flow through system that will work much much better than a simple aerator.