What do you guys do when bait is scarce ?

[Kam_Walsh98]

I’ve been trying to stock up on bait for sharks and it’s been tough. Macks have been very scarce; even tried for a couple hours at the bait barge and didn’t get a single one. I’ve yet to find any grocery store or tackle shop bait that I’ve had any confidence in; seems like the stuff just gets ignored for me. Next summer/fall when the macks are thick I’m gonna stock up and try to vacuum seal some but for now do you guys have any good bait suggestions for this time of year? I’m even thinking about going surf perching so I can get something fresh thats worked for me before.

[spideyjg]

IQF Sardines

This is the time of year perch come give birth. May be the time to use them.

[xjchad]

A medium size bat ray will give me enough bait for several trips.

[sasquatch]

I have done pretty well on that white meat no blood havin Norwegian mackerel from the Asian store.

Not super convenient for me though. More often grab a few from my local tackle shop.

Think I’m going to take tha sawzall to a 15lb yellow fin I have in the freezer. Too much for one session, too frozen to cut with a knife.

[Pinoyfisher]

Like Jim said, bsp is kind of plentiful if you can find the right beach. Probably top 5 forage fish for soups right now. Lucky Seafood and Manila Seafood got fresh deliveries on Tuesdays, so I check them out every so often on that day and if I see fresh green backs, I stock up. If fresh, it's worth buying until the macks make and appearance.

[Chris]

If only there was a fleet dedicated to providing live bait to anglers daily.

[Latimeria]

Jeez, no kidding.  By now i would have about 200 macks and bonito in the freezer for shark season, but I can't remember the last mackerel I caught.

I think I'll be at the Asian market here soon buying something that I hope will attract the grinners to bite.  Next time I actually find macks, I'm just going to load up.  BTW, Blacksmith Perch are TERRIBLE bait!  I got shark bit 3x in a row on old bonito, then cast a BSP out for nothing.  Not even the lobsters touched it!

[BenCantrell]

BTW, Blacksmith Perch are TERRIBLE bait!

That's too bad, because I caught 33 of them on a kayak outing a few weeks ago. All jumbo sized.

[Dark_Knight_9C1]

Was BSP supposed to mean Barred Surf Perch?

[Pinoyfisher]

Was BSP supposed to mean Barred Surf Perch?

Yes