Cast Netting Bait

Ok, I'm getting over my aversion to using bait...

Can comeone give the a rundown on how to net shiners and/or smelt?

Is it best to try from the surf, or can it be done around say, Alameda, (which is the closest spot to Fremont likely to hold bait, just a guess)?

I ordered a net today...  4' since smaller is supposedly easier to throw...

So do you just go out at high tide and start throwing?  Or look for birds?  Or toss some breadcrumbs out, or what?

Thanks in advance,
Eric

For shiners and small bait, I would suggest that you throw off a  pier.  I have had good luck at the Candlestick pier for live shiners.  Good Luck. Nothing works like live bait

Keith

Off a pier wouldn't a sabiki rig be best?

I don't have experience with either...  just what I've picked up here about the high tide thing...

If I must use bait I'm determined to get my own rather than buy it.

I really enjoyed this video.

I've netted bait in plenty of places, but mostly off of Berkeley Pier. I haven't tried there yet this year so be warned that sometimes it can be tough to figure out where the bait is at. Here's what I have found to be most productive:

Take some old bread or buy a cheap hunk of bread and stick it in an onion sack (or any sack with some reasonably large holes) with a few ounces of lead. Hang it off the side of the pier just a foot or so deep, so that the wave action churns up the bag and starts a bread crumb trail. Throw your net into the bread crumb trail and collect your bait. 

Dang I was semi-kidding about the breadcrumbs but apparently I wasn't too far off...

Thanks, fellas!

the girl looked hot.....even hotter if she would have actually caught some bait!

I know of 2 places(ala. & oak.), but the hi-tide(if too much water moving, no good) and darkness need to be combined for them to be there......you really got to have it dialed in, or know InsaneDuaneTheMasterBaiter OR NateBungle to have an idea when to attempt it.

I've heard of those guys...

Punch some holes in a can of cheap cat food and tie it off with some heavy mono. Same thing as the bread crumbs but you get a chum slick.

You've already gotten some good advice here to start with, Eric.
-Try and throw your net around the top of the tide/slack and current will be less of an issue. 
-Nighttime/low light times seem to be more productive, but you can find them in the daytime too.  The other upside to throwing the net at night is you're less likely to be interrupted by people asking you what are you doing, or what do you catch with that thing, and spend more time getting your bait.
-Piers are a good place to start because you will have some kind of structure to work with.  Try and avoid rocky areas, they'll kill your net fast.   
-Chumming with some old, stale bread or some cat food will help bring them in.  Most of the time I forget to bring some, and end up throwing blind.  It works, but you may end up throwing the net more than your arm wants you to in order to get bait.

I ordered a net today...  4' since smaller is supposedly easier to throw...

Be prepared to upgrade.  Once you get the hang of it and stop throwing tacos (you'll see), its pretty easy to adjust to throwing a bigger net.  And a bigger net means your covering more ground faster, which means you'll get the bait you need quicker and you can stop throwing the damn thing and give your arm and back a rest.

Awesome, thanks, Nate!!

I can't wait to try it.

What size net do you recommend?

I bet you do get hassled by folks a lot...  something well worth considering.  I can just imagine a crowd forming as I repeatedly tangle my net... lol

What size net do you recommend?

A 6'er gets the job done for me.  Not huge, but there is quite a size difference from a 4' net.  My net also has more weight per foot (1.5oz) than nets I've used in the past, which helps keep the net open when throwing in deeper water. 

If your order hasn't shipped yet, I have a 4' net you can have if ya want...

"girl throws cast net".....that camerman was seriously depraved.

Judd

Hi Yakers:

  Where do you pickup the Nets? The Harbor Seals
have been driving the Anchovies up into my Yak and, I wanted
to try to catch some bait from, the Ramp at the West Harbor in Santa Cruz.
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http://www.justcastnets.com/ has good prices on them.

The San Jose Berryessa Flea Market has a 7 footer for about $55.  Mel's at SJ has one (Eagle Claw) for about the same price too. I am sure sporting goods stores in Santa Cruz will carry them also.