# Live Bait techniques for catching BIG AJ



## RobATX (Apr 5, 2011)

I am going on my 3rd season of offshore fishing and have yet to hook an AJ deep dropping with live bait. I have had more success catching them with dead bait on top water if you can believe that... but nothing larger than 35lbs. Dropping dead bait has yielded me nothing but endangered snapper and I'm determined to learn how to catch big AJ on live bait! 

We are going out of Packery and have a 50mi range, so we are fishing Southern, Hospital, Baker, Ant Hills, etc. 

Every time I have tried to use a sibiki to catch bait at a rig, I end up hooking big pompano that straighten out the hooks. I don't even know what the proper bait (blue runners?) look like! We have had 0% luck catching live bait at rigs. Any tips on how to do this quickly and successfully would be greatly appreciated!

Another option.. I could use a cast net as we are leaving Packery and probably catch a good assortment of perch and other fish if you think the AJ would go for that. 

My next question is which way of hooking live bait with those huge AJ circle hooks produces better results... through the back or the mouth? 

And finally.... if, i mean WHEN I do hook a 60+ pound AJ is it essential that we use the boat to pull them off the rig? We generally just tie up with a rig anchor, and when we do get a big bite it is kind of difficult to disconnect from the rig while the whole fish fight is going on. To date we have not tried backing into the rig and deep dropping. 

Any tips you guys have are extremely appreciated! I really want this year to be the one I catch my first donkey!


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## DRILHER (Apr 4, 2010)

AJs are usually not on bottom. They like the mid depths. Try Ranzells and the rigs near there. There are a few other bottom spots near there that are not named. You may want to catch some "Big" Pearch before heading offshore incase you cant catch bait offshore. The bigger the better. Large jigs also work very well.


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## rookie06 (Oct 1, 2005)

Hook thru the back of the bait just in front of the fin. Drop down and wait. When it doubles over, lock down the drag and use the boat to get away from the rig and the fight is on. If you're fishing by a rig and tie up you stand no chance of landing a decent one.


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## SeaCreecherJR. (Oct 14, 2010)

X2 on what Rookie06 said 

You really don't stand a chance actually landing a large AJ while tied off to the rig they will wrap you up in a heart beat, plus you really don't want to waste a lot of time and money loosing your hook, weight, line, leaders etc. in the rig. The bigger the bait the better. Good luck!


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## Swells (Nov 27, 2007)

Hate to bust your dreams but big bait doesn't always mean big AJ. Jerry "Snagged" (r.i.p.) caught a 101# AJ on a skinny Williamson Benthos metal jig of maybe 8 inches long. 

The trick to AJ is to mark them and send down some knife jigs and then I use bonito or blackfin chunk to see if they want metal or meat. AJ are really dumb animals and you'll know if they're feeding right away. Need over 150 feet of water over a reef, not some stupid oil & gas rig to hang you up. Gosh AJ are retarded.

Now grouper, here you're talking serious live baiting, and way down on the bottom. I take a hand-size bait and make a cut on one side of the tail so it is slightly wounded. The 8/0 or larger hook goes through the shoulders of the fish behind the head above the backbone in the meaty part. 

With circle hooks it is almost impossible to do this because the gape is so small, near impossible to hook. So what we do us use rubber bands, dental floss, or fishing twine and use a fishing needle to pierce the live fish and tie on the hook. Big live bait don't seem to mind this as long as you don't hit the backbone. 

Now a big AJ will hit this rig is you let it down slowly and let the live fish swim without bursting its air bladder. They naturally want to hide in the bottom because they're wounded. Not a bad way to catch giant AJ if they're hungry. Who knows?

But I digress. Sewing up live and dead fish for big game is quite an art and I am not the best. Squid for deep swordfishing requires some major stitching so the tentacles won't separate from the mantle. Trolling big bait is harder because unless it's a small, like a ballyhoo, you have to sew their mouths closed. If you're fishing 11/0 hooks (or bigger) and live or dead bait you really need to learn some of this stuff. 

Buy a fishing needle and you'll be good. It's a biggun.


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## Angler 1 (Apr 27, 2005)

Location, Location, Location.........Shoot me a PM and I will try and help you out finding a big one!



RobATX said:


> I am going on my 3rd season of offshore fishing and have yet to hook an AJ deep dropping with live bait. I have had more success catching them with dead bait on top water if you can believe that... but nothing larger than 35lbs. Dropping dead bait has yielded me nothing but endangered snapper and I'm determined to learn how to catch big AJ on live bait!
> 
> We are going out of Packery and have a 50mi range, so we are fishing Southern, Hospital, Baker, Ant Hills, etc.
> 
> ...


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## coastman (Apr 18, 2013)

I caught a couple of ajs at ranzells a few weeks ago on bluerunners. The bait was caught while fishing for b-liners (which ajs love too). I've hooked them through the nose and back with the same results. They like piggie perch also. I start about half way down and keep lowering it till I find them. Mine were caught closer to the bottom which gives you a chance at grouper too.


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## wLeeBull (Oct 22, 2010)

Swells said:


> Hate to bust your dreams but big bait doesn't always mean big AJ. Jerry "Snagged" (r.i.p.) caught a 101# AJ on a skinny Williamson Benthos metal jig of maybe 8 inches long.
> 
> The trick to AJ is to mark them and send down some knife jigs and then I use bonito or blackfin chunk to see if they want metal or meat. AJ are really dumb animals and you'll know if they're feeding right away. Need over 150 feet of water over a reef, not some stupid oil & gas rig to hang you up. Gosh AJ are retarded.
> 
> ...


Benthos jig is deadly for AJs


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## crazytripp (Aug 14, 2011)

Hook your live bait through the eyes and you dont have to worry about sewing or bridleing your bait, it also keeps the bait alive longer because you stay away from vital areas. Mark them (AJ's) on your sounder and use colored braid so you know exactly how deep your bait is.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Use the sabikis starting about 15-20 miles out to catch Blue Runners (a.k.a. hardtails). Rig hop up to 80 miles out to find them. Fish the upcurrent legs of the rigs by dropping the sabiki rig with correct needed weight for the current and imagine putting it far enough away so as not to get caught in the rig leg, but end up close to it. Once you hit bottom, if you haven't gotten eaten yet, jig the rig up fast like you would a diamond jig until you catch one. Once you feel the first one, just jig in place till you "load the whole rig up with baits" then slowly troll away from the rig and put them in the boat. Good luck!

T-BONE


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## blaze 'em (Jun 4, 2012)

If you have plenty of time, as in the evening before, get some dead shrimp, a sabiki and sit across from the ramp at packery by the walls. Tip the sabiki with little pieces of dead shrimp and wait. We pull in huge pin perch and big croaker like this everytime. This works best if you have time to kill the evening before and plenty of beer. After we catch them we throw them in the trap at the house and let them sit till we leave the next morning. Just make sure you close the holes on the trap, they will all get out if not... Found that out the hard way!!


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## RobATX (Apr 5, 2011)

Wow, as always you guys have offered up a tremendous wealth of information. Thanks DRILHER for the depth tips, Rookie06 and SeaCreecherJR for info about using the boat to pull off the rigs, SWELLS - a tremendous amount of good information as always... I can sew already having been single way back when... I'm going to make a sewing needle an essential part of my tackle box and start practicing! Thanks Angler 1 for your offer - too bad you're out of freeport but I'll definitely msg you if I'm ever out there as my wife's mother lives out that way.. AWESOME AJ btw! Thanks for the location tips COASTMAN and the jig tips wLeeBull (I bought 2 online last night!) awesome baiting tip crazytripp - I'm going to definitely try that - awesome bait catching tips tpool and blaze 'em - I'm going to definitely do both! Could someone send me a link to the proper size and strength sibiki? Like I said, the hooks on every sibiki I've purchased have been straightened out. It would also be great if someone could post a pic of a bluerunner / hardtail that I would find in this area. The internet is full of fish that go by the same name! THANKS ALL.


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## Snapperslapper22 (May 28, 2009)

*No AJ but HUGE Snapper...*

B-Liners are the best Bait IMO for huge AJ's!!! Hardtails get hit by the BIG Snappers, Great day on the Water!!!


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## Snapperslapper22 (May 28, 2009)

*B-Liner Image*

B-Liner top, Hardtail (Bluerunner) bottom


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

No problem on the info... Mostly we use the Hayabusa 20-30lb test (size 10 to 14) sabiki rigs in white (white skirt). Also pictured is the blue runner (hardtail)...


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## FishBurd27 (Sep 18, 2012)

Man, lots of good info here. thanks guys! An AJ is next on my list!


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## Marcos Domingues (Mar 10, 2013)

I like Swells explanation :

The trick to AJ is to mark them and send down some knife jigs and then I use bonito or blackfin chunk to see if they want metal or meat. AJ are really dumb animals and you'll know if they're feeding right away. Need over 150 feet of water over a reef, not some stupid oil & gas rig to hang you up. Gosh AJ are retarded.


Pretty much sums it all , if you're able to mark them its easy to catch them . Like swells said they will strike for either live bait or jigs . Personally catching then on irons it's the climax ... Lock down enjoy the ride


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## MakoT (Feb 22, 2005)

I have a piggy trap that not only catches the bait, it's pretty fun. I have had good success using the pin fish or sun pearch (what ever they are) we catch in Port A mostly near the Bay Tree rocks and dock. Lots of medium AJ and we got several big Warsaw Grouper at rigs. No giant AJ to date.


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## krouchchocolate (Jan 11, 2009)

Sorry to bump a old thread, but how do u know if it is a AJ mark vs a snapper mark on the fish finder? Still learning this offshore game!


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

I used a #11/0 circle hook on a blue runner (ak hard tail) and hooked either from under lip to top lip (bait lives longer) or at the back just below the dorsal fin. I prefer the first one since AJ attacks it faster each time and get hooked all the time. Beliner is a very good bait, but I think it is illegal to use a game fish for bait.


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## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Nothing beats experience. Find you someone who knows what he is doing and take them or go with them on a trip. Quickest way to learn.


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## photofishin (Aug 7, 2009)

krouchchocolate said:


> Sorry to bump a old thread, but how do u know if it is a AJ mark vs a snapper mark on the fish finder? Still learning this offshore game!


 drop a big live bait down and you'll find out pretty quickly!


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## keywest244 (May 18, 2017)

nothing wrong with bumping an old thread, at least your doing some research before posting.
When we have found AJ's, like was mentioned in the older posts, they're about half down in the water column, usually a group of 6,8 10 or so marks and they are big marks (arches). Best baits we have found are the hardtails, use a six ounce weight to get the bait going down. First time, drop to the bottom then count the number of cranks to get the bait back up. Then you can drop to the bottom and crank half the turns to be in the middle....adjust from there.


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## krouchchocolate (Jan 11, 2009)

How are you guys keeping the bait alive in the livewell? Last time I caught some hardtails, threw them in my live well and they were all dead about a hour later.


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

krouchchocolate said:


> How are you guys keeping the bait alive in the livewell? Last time I caught some hardtails, threw them in my live well and they were all dead about a hour later.


Only thing I can think is maybe youâ€™re pumps arenâ€™t exchanging water fast enough?


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## Drundel (Feb 6, 2006)

krouchchocolate said:


> How are you guys keeping the bait alive in the livewell? Last time I caught some hardtails, threw them in my live well and they were all dead about a hour later.


Kids on boat putting hands in water with sunscreen on?

Water to hot or to cold?


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

^^^. All above. Use an O2 system and your baits will be frisky.


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## keywest244 (May 18, 2017)

krouchchocolate said:


> How are you guys keeping the bait alive in the livewell? Last time I caught some hardtails, threw them in my live well and they were all dead about a hour later.


We never shut our livewells off. Keeps fresh water circulating even when we are running.


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## dinmax82 (May 15, 2013)

SeaCreecherJR. said:


> X2 on what Rookie06 said
> 
> You really don't stand a chance actually landing a large AJ while tied off to the rig they will wrap you up in a heart beat, plus you really don't want to waste a lot of time and money loosing your hook, weight, line, leaders etc. in the rig. The bigger the bait the better. Good luck!


It's tougher when tied up for sure but that's how we do it everytime.

Never had good luck pulling a BIG one up with a jig as the line breaks or the drag too much to hold onto.

I use 100lb braid and 200lb wind-on/leader with crimps and have 40/60 success pulling up the big one with live bait. The bigger the better. Blue runners, hardtails, mullet and etc.


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## krouchchocolate (Jan 11, 2009)

keywest244 said:


> We never shut our livewells off. Keeps fresh water circulating even when we are running.


That might be the reason why. I don't leave it running constantly. I will try that again next time. Probably doesn't help that we also do have sunscreen on our hands!


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## Marshman (Jul 24, 2008)

krouchchocolate said:


> That might be the reason why. I don't leave it running constantly. I will try that again next time. Probably doesn't help that we also do have sunscreen on our hands!


Keep your hands and everyone else's out of the bait well. Use a small net to grab your bait, then handle it only with a clean towel. The towel makes it easier to hold the fish and having it across the fish's eyes keeps it settled down while you do the surgery parts.

FWIW, we hardly ever deal with live bait for AJ's. They will bite jigs readily, without having to tie up to structure. Pull over mark, drop about 2/3 to half the way to bottom and jig. A lot of fish are caught on the drop, if you are dropping, and get a bit of an over run ( backlash) most of the time a fish has it. Lock up the drag and set the hook. If false alarm, just resume the drop. If no bite, then go deeper or shallower, in ten minutes you can cover the whole column, and know where they are. Once you are hooked up, boat in gear and drag him away from the structure - we fish a lot of artificial reefs, you lose a lot of fish in rigs legs trying to fight them up and down, just tow them a couple hundred feet away, and you won't lose as many fish or terminal tackle.


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## TXFishin (Apr 26, 2010)

Last trip a few weeks ago, we stopped at the first rigs about 5 miles out to catch live bait on Sabiki rigs, all we caught were red snapper about 3 or 4 inches long

We used to load up on bluerunner even that close in

It's bad enough that you can't drop anything past them when fishing structure, now you can't even get past the tiny snapper to catch bait

Just wait until they show up in the bays and destroy everything in the bay

Relentless


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## freespool (Oct 1, 2005)

Live hardtail for this one Saturday. Right on bottom.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## krouchchocolate (Jan 11, 2009)

Dang nice catch!! How far out did u go? What was the water depth?


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

^^ Very nice AJ!!!


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## freespool (Oct 1, 2005)

krouchchocolate said:


> Dang nice catch!! How far out did u go? What was the water depth?


65 miles 150â€™

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## chuck richey (May 22, 2004)

Saturday 100 miles out of Galveston. Live or dead bait it didn't matter. They ate both.

I would highly recommend the AJ leaders that Mark Holland makes. We put them to the test on Saturday and no issues at all.
www.matagordatackle.com


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Biggest one I ever caught was 80# on Salvador ridge, he ate an average sized Bonita that was hooked on a kingfish rig, swallowed it right off the surface 20' from the boat. They will eat BIG baits, trust me. We had another try to swallow a 10# king but didn't get the hook.


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## fishinguy (Aug 5, 2004)

Nice fish. I'm hoping to get a run in before AJ season shuts down.


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## RobATX (Apr 5, 2011)

I love that this post resurfaced í ½í¸ Even more great information! Sweet pics and props to krouchchocolate for doing a little research before posting í ½í±


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## krouchchocolate (Jan 11, 2009)

RobATX said:


> I love that this post resurfaced ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Even more great information! Sweet pics and props to krouchchocolate for doing a little research before posting ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½
> 
> Did u have better luck catching ajâ€™s on live bait?


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## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

Great post Rob

Thanks to everyone that has posted up. This thread is a wealth of information.

What size and colors jigs are you guys using ?
I looked at the benthos.
3.5oz to 11.5oz.
And lots of colors.
I have plain chrome, 6oz to 12oz. Will those work or do I need to go with something prettier ?

Like others before me, I have never been able to catch much on sabiki's. And there are only a few rigs right of Sargent to try at. (Not even rigs really)...
So where else do large bait fish congregate ?
I have a big square bait trap. And I have used all kinds of fishy stuff to get them done in there, but only get a couple of 2 - 3" perch and some baby crabs.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Robert.Parson said:


> Great post Rob
> 
> Thanks to everyone that has posted up. This thread is a wealth of information.
> 
> ...


Sometimes hardtails won't hit sabikis, try Mann's Mann-O-Lures jigging slabs, hammered chrome or silver and black. Try smashed blue crab mixed with smashed mullet in your traps. I use the word smashed for a reason. Also you won't catch piggy perch at night, they are only active during daylight for the most part.


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