Technique 02
Live bait fishing in the Canary Islands
When a fish has seen everything and refuses all of it, you put a live one in front of it. Nothing else swims the way a frightened baitfish swims.
What live bait fishing is
We catch bait first, keep it alive, and present it where the current delivers food to a waiting predator. That is the whole technique, and every part of it is harder than it sounds.
Bait handling decides the day. A bait that has been squeezed, dropped or kept badly swims wrong, and a bluefin in clear water will refuse it from ten metres away.
When and why
When and why we use it here
This is our bluefin technique. During the spring migration the fish are selective, the water is clear and the difference between a refusal and a take is often the diameter of a leader.
We also use it deep for bigeye at first and last light, and over structure for amberjack when they will not commit to a jig.
Tackle
Tackle and rigging
Fluorocarbon leaders, thinner than most people are comfortable with for the size of fish. Circle hooks sized to the bait, not to the target.
A well-kept live well is not a luxury on this technique. It is the technique.
On board
What it is like on board
Slower and more patient than trolling. There is time to talk, and then there is a run that empties a reel.
Expect the fight to be long. On a big bluefin, expect it to be genuinely hard work.
We don't wait for the fish. We follow them.
Tell us when you are coming
Send us your dates and the species you are after. We will tell you honestly what the ocean is likely to be doing.