Hitchhiker / live bait question????

Sorry for my laziness. Is it only two hooks for rockfish? I also thought someone posted that the hooks could only be 5 inches apart as well. If so... does that mean if you use a double hook set up for a live bait.. no more hooks on the line?
Alex

Yeah, only two hooks on one line.  If fishing with two hooks in your rockfish bait, you cannot have any other hooks attached to the line.  Never heard of the 5 inch rule though.

When I was a kid, my dad and bro and I fished from a charter boat out of Gold Beach, Oregon, for bottomfish.  The way the skipper targeted lings was to fish with two shrimp flies and a large cannonball weight on the bottom.  When we'd catch a smallish rockfish, we would pin the rockfish onto one of the shrimp flies and drop the rig back down.  That allowed you to continue fishing for rockfish with the "free" fly while you waited for a ling to grab onto your little rockfish.  Obviously all the lings would be hitchhikers with this method, but it worked.  We easily landed limits of lings and not one of them was actually "hooked".

Three way swivel, approx 8" dropper for your weight and three foot leader to the rockfish. Sliding/adjustable hook in upper lip and a fixed treble hook in the tail.

Forget the 3 way.  Use an 8 ounce egg sinker.
-Allen

Excuse my ignorance Allen but is this a carolina rig with a sliding/adjustable hook & treble for the greenling?

Yeah, like a carolina rig.  Or use a slido and a cannonball.  I don't use sliding hooks, just fix them about 10" apart.  I prefer 2 large 10/0 singles.  The trailer just gets rubber  banded to the fish.

No greenling.  Catch some sand dabs and use them.

-Allen

Use greenling!

-Allen

This!

Use greenling!

-Allen

This!

Is dead greenling good bait? Those things come in a variety of color depending on gender and type.
Is one better than the other?

My favorite is a freshly caught sand dab on a Carolina rig. I've caught many lingcod right after I accidentally caught a dabber and sent it back down. Lingcod lover them!

Use greenling!

-Allen

This!

Is dead greenling good bait? Those things come in a variety of color depending on gender and type.
Is one better than the other?

I have caught lots of lings on recently deceased blacks, However, I once took a small black home and froze it and brought it out the next day to use as bait but nothing touched it all day long. They can tell when something's been dead for a while.

The best bait is one that struggling, it triggers the predator instinct. Kind of like running away from a big cat or telling sledge he can't drink your last beer.

I've never been able to get rubber bands to stay on a baitfish reliably. Using a blowtorch I twist and reverse one side of a giant treble hook and stick that into the side of the baitfish.

My favorite is a freshly caught sand dab on a Carolina rig. I've caught many lingcod right after I accidentally caught a dabber and sent it back down. Lingcod lover them!

I know here to get my dabs

I've never been able to get rubber bands to stay on a baitfish reliably.

I don't target to have the trailer hook held snugly against the fist, just close enough.  I like a bit of freeswing  To do so I tie a rubber band (or even just a floss loop) on the leader between the 2 hooks with a prusik loop, which allows me to slide it up and down the leader for best position.

Heck, sometimes when I'm not prepared with a band, I just let the whole trailer free swing.  My thinking is that I'd rather let it swing free than put another hole in the bait, taking away action and killing it faster.  You'd be surprised how effective this is.

-Allen

Hmmmm
Just googled prusik loop. Me likey

Thanks for this

Yeah, the hook in the side can't be good for longevity.