Sabiki rod and rig advice

I want to make some live bait and plan to use a sabiki rig. The one I got has 6 hooks. My understanding is that you can't use more than two hooks if you have salmon or rockcod in the boat. Do you cut your rig down to two hooks or stop fishing for bait after catching salmon or rockfish?

I am also trying to decide between buying or building a rod. I'd rather save the money if the PVC rods work well.

Just jig up enough bait to get you through the day. I always buy a bag of frozen chovies as backup. I even used the shittier kind last time an still caught salmon on it. I wouldn't think its legal after you catch salmon since they have barbs unless you make your own barbless sabiki rig. But even so, you're limited to 2 hooks only. I wouldn't bother with a sabiki rod. Most times, they get all messed up and tangled that I just throw them away. Of course the price adds up, that's why  I'm thinking of making my own sabiki rigs in the future

buy a 4 hook sabiki, cut it in the middle and you have two 2 hook rigs!  On a kayak it's hard to deal with the long 6 hook rigs anyway.

I have a dumb question on sabiki for baits, do you need to put small pieces of squid on the little hooks, or just jig the sabiki without any bait?

I have a dumb question on sabiki for baits, do you need to put small pieces of squid on the little hooks, or just jig the sabiki without any bait?

The one I bought comes with real fish skin on it.

No need to add bait (squid). If there's school of baits, they will get hooked.

Just jig up enough bait to get you through the day. I always buy a bag of frozen chovies as backup. I even used the shittier kind last time an still caught salmon on it. I wouldn't think its legal after you catch salmon since they have barbs unless you make your own barbless sabiki rig. But even so, you're limited to 2 hooks only. I wouldn't bother with a sabiki rod. Most times, they get all messed up and tangled that I just throw them away. Of course the price adds up, that's why  I'm thinking of making my own sabiki rigs in the future

I thought the point of the sabiki rod was to keep the rig from getting all tangled.

They get tangled in use, the rod keeps them stowed away. I use the 6 #8's and make bait all the time. Just gotta be careful taking bait off. I usually chuck them in the trash after each use. A lot of guys just vertical jig, I troll mine paddling out to make bait. Put 2 oz sinker on it, let out a bunch of line or cast it out and start paddling. You will know when it loads up.

I'm talking about when you have multiple baits on your rig and the chovies would wrap around the line twisting everything. Or maybe I'm just being wasteful. At $1.99 a pop for those sabiki, it doesn't really bother me. I only jig for baits anyways when fishing for salmon and nothing else. As for  tangles, I really don't have much issues with them getting tangled on my rod. Just pull the rig so your rod bows away from it, wrap the weight end on your reel handle to keep tension, then set it in your holder

Anchovies dont foul mine much, but mackerel are murder on them! Couple big jack smelt and they are knotted up some times. Bass Pro has them for $1.49.

Do you hang them off your salmon rod?

I have a dedicated 7' ugly stick for sabikis, perching, and such.

I use a backup rod for the sabiki so if needed it can be used as the real deal troller or moocher. A rig full of macs would likely break a sabiki rod too. The tangles and hassle are just part of the deal.

I only bait fish occasionally for salmon and worrying about bait for your second salmon is a non issue. Always have frozen and catching the first one is hard enough. I don't trim my rigs because I'm lazy and with 6, loosing a few hooks is no big deal. Tip with squid if the bait is scarce but most of the time it's not necessary. I use a 4-6oz iron on the bottom for weight.     

I use a dedicated rod for my sabiki rigs. It's an old cheapy with small guides. I pressed them down so they fit inside a thin walled piece of PVC tubing, to keep them from tangling when not in use. The tubing fits right over the whole rod and onto the top of the handle. Kinda like pulling a sword out of a scabbard.  I also use a cheapy closed face reel on it. Works great!

My understanding is that you can't use more than two hooks if you have salmon or rockcod in the boat. Do you cut your rig down to two hooks or stop fishing for bait after catching salmon or rockfish?

You can't deploy your sabiki if you are targeting salmon or rockfish, even if you don't have any aboard.

-Allen