Sardines?
- Thread starter Roberto
- Start date
Seadweller
chum
this is what a bait ball of sardines looks like from the inside http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=617008362&v=app_2392950137&ref=profile#/video/video.php?v=157814653362
Yep, there's a variety of them. And they don't stay alive in the bait tank no matter how hard you try. Doesn't matter much because all the fish seem to like them fresh dead as much as they do alive.
During the winter, we'll get into schools of "horse sardines" while we're making bait. These guys can go 6-8 inches long and make a great bait.
I actually like sardines - the canned kind, in mustard or hot sauce on saltine crackers. Yummy! Never tried cooking any I've caught.
During the winter, we'll get into schools of "horse sardines" while we're making bait. These guys can go 6-8 inches long and make a great bait.
I actually like sardines - the canned kind, in mustard or hot sauce on saltine crackers. Yummy! Never tried cooking any I've caught.
rockyptjoe
Guest
Has anybody seen those huge swarms of little fish that come by in the summer....used to see them years ago off Playa Bonita.....looked like a black cloud in the water. My daughter caught them in buckets...and in a few minutes, they were all dead. Were these some type of sardine????
Seadweller
chum
those are the same as in the video Joe... it was shot just past the Reef RV Park.... they stretched along the shoreline as far as we could see or I felt like swimming...
rockyptjoe
Guest
Um..Um...Sardines with rye bread...or even a bagel....never acquired a taste for them in mustard sauce...olive oil or even water are great....
Roberto
Guest
I had some for lunch, with a baguette from the new bakery, that's what got me wondering. I've noticed they are often different sizes and shapes so I guessed there were several varities. Try em with Chipolte salsa, which by the way you can get at Ley, Knorrs brand, in a box, delicioso !!
Wood Spinner
Guest
They were on the shoreline at Plya De Oro last weekend. Little guys tho, 2 in. but thousands of them. Pelicans thought they had gone to heaven.
jmcdtucson
Guest
Some of the little fish I've seen in schools along the beach looked different than the ones in the video. The kids caught them by hand by driving them up on shore. They were about 6 inches long and look had a mackerel pattern on the back (at least it was similar to the markings of my mackerel-pattern fishing lures).
The hand in the picture is a 2-year-olds -- the fish were 6 inches long.
The hand in the picture is a 2-year-olds -- the fish were 6 inches long.
Attachments
That looks like a horse sardine or mullet. However, macks do cruise very close in. We were sitting no more than 25 ft. off Las Conchas beach one time when a school of small sardines surrounded the boat. A school of mackerel came in and started devouring them, along with a group of pelicans. The mackerel were so intent on devouring the sardines that they were actually crashing into and thumping against the side of the boat. It was a total feeding frenzy. We dropped sabiki rigs and caught a bunch of the mackerel and some sierra that were under them for bait. Within 15 minutes, the huge school of sardines was reduced to a couple dozen, which were trying to take cover around the outboard engine on my boat. Felt like I was watching the Nature Channel in real life!
Seadweller
chum
That looks like it could be a Gulf Grunion, broad silvery stripe along the side, protrusible mouth. I can't tell by the pic because of the position of this little guys hand but it should have two dorsil fins. They are abundant in the northern gulf, from Rio Colorado delta to Guymas and Bahia Concepcion... they grow to 7 inches long... they spawn on beaches during full and new moon high tides from January to May...
Seadweller
chum
Dan, I was getting my info from the "Gulf of California Fishwatchers Guide" (Donald A. Thomson & Nonie McKibbin) and according to the size, discriptions and illustrations in the section on silver fishes, to me it bares closest ressemblense to the "Gulf Grunion".
it also ressembles the "Gulf Anchovie" but they only reach 3 inches in size which leads me to believe that was what I was chasing in my video.
But like you said they do make great bait...
and BTW I'm happy to hear that you worked out the oxygen problem for your sister-in-law.
moore_rb
Stay Thirsty My Friends
I asked a guy on the Long Beach bait barge once how they kept their sardines alive for the California sportfishing fleet, because I've had the same results with fresh bait going belly up within an hour- but If I bought a 1/2 scoop off the barges then they would last all day- He said that they bring them in and hold them in the big bay tanks for over a week before loading them back on the boats.
Yeah, they are net caught and "cured" out in California. They do the same with mackerel. It's that curing process that lets a scoop live in your bait tank all day. I'm surprised that no enterprising soul has set up a bait operation in Penasco. I'd actually buy good bait rather than spending time making it.
I always thought the bait guy was the one that owned the mansion on the hill in Cabo. $20 for four or five live macks!
I always thought the bait guy was the one that owned the mansion on the hill in Cabo. $20 for four or five live macks!
moore_rb
Stay Thirsty My Friends
B
bahiatrader
Guest
I haven't tried this with sardines, but a friend of mine who did her master's thesis on the same subject gave me a really good tip for keeping bait alive longer. For every 5 gal of water in the bait tank, add approx 1/2 cup of powdered Gatorade. It seems the electrolites allow them to live longer. Also adding ice to the bait tank lowers their metabolism thus keeping the little fishies alive longer. They might seem a little sluggish when you take them out of really cold water, but they liven right up as soon as they get in the warm sea water. I used ice for a long time before I learned the Gatorade trick. I like the lemon/lime flavor best so that's what I use. I usually have some live bait left at the end of the day.