Interesting Live Bait Set-up At Seal Beach

[Fishman Fishman]

Today at Seal Beach I watched a fisherman catch live smelt using a hoop net, pulley system and bread. He was successful and caught a lot of smelt that he planned to use at Bolsa Chica for halibut. He was kind enough to let me take pictures of his system.

My fish report:
2 Thornback Rays.
1 Shiner perch.
10 Topsmelt.

Beautiful day but fish bite was super slow.

Good luck everyone!

 

[dosabear]

A ballyhoop! Never seen one used around here but it makes sense they would work.

 

[Magix]

Great clear pictures!

 

[ghost1234]

That is neat, I never seen anyone use an actual pulley on the net. I also found out that the cheapest bread you could buy is white bread from food4less, walmart is ok but you want clearance bread that is about to expire. At food4less they cost about 1.40 cents each bag and when on clearance just about 84 cents. Last weeks, I leave it in my car for fishing but have not seen mold yet. 1 Bag of bread is very powerful if you play it right

 

[Ken Jones]

Never seen a need for a pulley system but perhaps some do. As for the bread, yes get the least expensive and every area has its "cheaper" markets. And yes, the older bread on sale is the way to go. Some people use pizza dough but not sure the cost of that dough.

 

[Makairaa]

When you pay in the range of $200-$300 for the net, why not a pulley system

 

[Ken Jones]

There are all kinds of nets but a simple umbrella drop net, the type used by many pier anglers, should cost less than $30 and are not that heavy. Do remember that cast nets can not be used in SoCal.

 

[Makairaa]

There are all kinds of nets but a simple umbrella drop net, the type used by many pier anglers, should cost less than $30 and are not that heavy. Do remember that cast nets can not be used in SoCal.

I have always used the umbrellas and they work fine. I was just curious about ballyhoops and looked them up and they are like $300

 

[ghost1234]

The one I have is from anglers choice for 100$, the original hoop ring is too heavy so I swapped for a lighter one. At the lb fred hall there was nets at turners for really cheap but I didn;t want to haul with me. I also swapped out the rope 3 way for 100lb mono crimped to create less visibility, was thinking of full 100lb spool for the throw line too more stealthy