Clip Rig for bridling baits

[mwardncsu]

Ran across this on Facebook/YouTube. Seems somewhat similar to the zip tie method that StriperJohn uses

[Deleted]

If the fish can see the metal, which I think they can, then I like John's bridle through the eyes. Although this technique seems easier.

Not sure about bridle versus hooking through the nose. It seems to me that the big baits swim really good no matter what you do to them... With the exception that a red nose would occur faster if you drag it by the nose versus using a bridle. Additionally, a bridle exposes more hook for hooking but may be more of a visual deterrent as a result.

I am convinced that no stinger will produce less playing and more eating. I have watched hours of video that shows stripers that look like they see the stinger and actually try to remove it. This results in them getting stung in weird places that don't correlate with a head first strike. But don't get me wrong, I have no evidence to suggest that no stinger equals more fish. Just that no stinger equals less playing around.

If I were a betting man and I was competing for a trophy fish and a successful release, I would use a bridle through the eyes just like John does with a sharp circle hook.

[BentRod]

You could be right Yam, but I highly doubt a fish can see and process what they're seeing as a hook or even danger. I think it's more "that looks natural" or "that doesn't look natural" Therefore, if your bait looks and acts natural with 5 hooks in it, a Striper will probably eat it over the guy with one hook in his bait that doesn't look natural. How smart are these creatures?!

I know we catch more fish this time of year using stingers than we did without them. That's not to say that you can't catch them without stingers, but you'll be cussing a few more times per trip, guaranteed. I'd be interested to see where and how a lot of you guys stinger them. I feel there's an art to it and a perfect spot to hit them. If you're just pushing it through randomly then it's gonna come undone 9x out of 10, IMO.

[Deleted]

We will never know how animals process things. A caveman wouldn't call a hook a hook.. But I think he might remove it before he eats.

I agree they see it as unnatural.

I also don't doubt that their act of removing the stinger and then getting stung may produce more fish than a natural hook set.

This question intrigues me as much as bait.

[mwardncsu]

I really question that the striper is making a move in on the gizzard to tactically extract an odd looking hook from the bait More likely they are hesitantly attacking/nudging it because it does not look quite natural...

But who knows - always amazes me how these creatures with their tiny little brains can out-smart us

[Brian]

My big fish last week came on a mostly dead shad that had been hit a couple of times already losing a lot of skin and scales (which resulted in having a stinger added) and then got smacked around for 5 mins wrapped up in the outboard's prop. I had no other big bait left so I put him out corkscrewing along behind a board when a 34" striper inhaled him with no visible foreplay. Anecdotal, not scientific, but I am sure that striper didn't identify that as a "natural" presentation.

[Deleted]

Apr 22, 2015 8:46:40 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

I really question that the striper is making a move in on the gizzard to tactically extract an odd looking hook from the bait More likely they are hesitantly attacking/nudging it because it does not look quite natural...

But who knows - always amazes me how these creatures with their tiny little brains can out-smart us

It's just a human interpretation of what I see. I don't have a clue and never will know WHY they are doing what they are doing. We have a hard enough time quantifying an interpretation of human behavior, let alone a fish. At least with humans, we can use empathetic reasoning to make sense of things. With animals, the why will never be answered. All we can do is watch for repeating behavior and use it to predict.

On many, many occasions, the stripers play with the bait until the stinger is dangling, then they get more aggressive. This keeps happening every time I look at the film and covers two very different locations. I noted it the first time I took video, didn't think too much of it..then it happened again and again.

I'm not married to this though...could be the season...who knows.

The why question here is interesting though... I like to think that nature is smarter than we are. Can't prove that either!  

[mwardncsu]

Apr 22, 2015 13:18:39 GMT -5 Yam said:

The why question here is interesting though... I like to think that nature is smarter than we are. Can't prove that either!  

I'm pretty sure Nature has proved that time and time again already

[striperjohn]

These fish just seem to prefer to disable a bait, then attack and swallow it. If you bridle a bait and then attach stinger (if you use them) with a rubber band (leader/bend of hook just in front of anal vent, rubber band tight to prevent hook from sliding forward by placing it in the middle of the anal fin and behind ad fin) then cut off pieces of the pectoral fin and dorsal fin, the fish will swim in crazy hurt like fashion. This is what the big fish already want. They just appear to be lazy folks.
Brian that's more then likely why your big disabled shad got hit, I like them active (thus no hooks in the bridle method) but appearing to be hurt. Attracts bigger fish. Rockfish, God Rest His Soul, and I discussed this in the back of Indian Creek one day cast-netting in two feet of water. He actually showed me and worked with me in "rounding them up before we cast", first time I ever saw that done.
You get into a school of stripers on topwater, the smaller fish are producing all the frenzy going after bait, you either drop a lure down below that action, or slowly pop a topwater lure like it's a hurt shad and the bigger fish will take that bait.
Dang it Bigun, now you got me giving our old-timer secrets away! Soap box kicked back under the bed.

[Deleted]

So perhaps what I am seeing is the disabling process of the shad that looks like they are removing the stinger. Certainly could be just coincidence that their side attacks eventually remove the stinger. Could also be a coincidence that when I removed the stinger, the fish stunned and ate with minimal playing. Maybe it was just time to eat. Not enough data.

No doubt, I have yet to witness a striper eat a shad that wasn't stunned. Yet.

With this said, why do we all desire shiney lively baits?

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2015 5:19:55 GMT -5 striperjohn said:

I like them active (thus no hooks in the bridle method) but appearing to be hurt. 

To clarify what you are saying. You don't like stingers because they keep the bait from being able to swim crazy as a result of cutting their fins??

[striperjohn]

Nope I switched to the bridle rig for two reasons. 1. no hooks in bait at all thus is stays alive longer. 2. Its easier for me to pre-rig baits.
I learned to trim the fins from some SW guys out of Oregon Inlet years ago. They do it because the bait hits the water acting up like an alewive on steriods, trying to keep itself upright, twisting this way and that way and they attract attention of the predators. It just works for me with the big baits. I forget what bait the guys in NC were using but they showed me with bait in water normal, then trimmed off pieces of pectoral and dorsal with scissors and the thing went nuts in the water. Works for me.

[smlmike]

I read where some guys trim the fins of bluegills to make them easier for stripes to consume the bait. Especially those sharp dorsal fins. Also removing one eye from the bait will make it swim erratically or in circles.