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Bait
3. Where's the best place to buy the? (i live in encinitas so someplace in north county is preferred).
Where to buy the bait? Any Asian market will have bait. Some guys prefer to make bait but I always buy it. I usually spend between $5-$7 dollars and that will be enough bait for 4-5 bait cages. Some guys stuff their cages with bait, I just stick a few pieces in there and call it a day.
Sorry jorluivil, but I think you are a bit off base here...
Catch your own bait...have a Sabiki Stick ready at all times and when you find some Macks, put the wood to em and load up on the slimey buggers. Save your tuna trimmings if you get on a party boat tuna trip...Bonito also make a great bloody bait...The Red Baits are the best baits...Bonito, Tuna, Salmon, Sardines and Macks are all oily bloody baits and they work great to stimulate the anntenules...these are the smaller pair of antennas that the Bugs have in-between the two large spiny antennas. This is the "nose of the lobster. Think shark fishing and get a good strong chum line going out from your net to attract the Bugs. I think you get a better chum line if you stuff your bait cages as full as you can. I literally jam the bait in the cage with a stick until it's pushing out of the sides.
In doing my Promar R&D with a underwater camera, jorluivil I've noticed that the bugs may be attracted to your nets with just a few pieces of bait but if it's hard to get to, they will leave and look for a meal that's easier to access. I once hooped with a guy who used a half a salmon head in each cage, I limited out and he only had one or two bugs at the end of the evening. Most of his bait was untouched because the lobsters couldn't reach it. Yes I know there will be some evenings when the bugs are really crawling and you could have just some scent in there and score a limit but why not increase your odds by filling that cage to the max?
I just bought a #50 box of medium size Macks yesterday from New Fish All Bait Co. for a friend. It was a much better deal than the Asian market. You can order bait like this through your local tackle store. #50 is a lot of bait but you can split it with a friend so you can fit it in your freezer.
The Ambush nets are a great net but a lot of guys do better in the shallow water with the traditional flat nets. Lobsters are not the sharpest knives in the drawer and it takes them a while to figure out how to get in the conical style nets... sometimes they don't even it figure out. With the flat nets they just walk right in.
if you are serious about hooping get yourself 5 nets. If you buy the Ambush nets get the Hoop Net Pro Kit with them. It has a large commercial float, a bait cage, 75' of some good quality braided hollow rope, and a light stick.
Go hooping when you can but there are better moon phases, and swell or weather conditions and tidal movements to target when the Bugs will be moving better.
Lastly...Don't count on any individual or forum to inform you about the DFG rules...get the DFG Saltwater Regulations booklet for 2011-2012 and carefully read the regs yourself. I have noticed some bad info on the web about regs. Recently, someone quoted the Dungeness crab regs. as the regs for our local crabs...not true and the limit on crabs is 35 not 25 as reported in the same thread.
Hope this helps!
Jim Saba / Slayer
Good Luck
Jim
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