Catching bait near PSJ or Indian Pass

STRAIGHTARROW

Senior Member
I have been fishing down there several years now, but have yet to find a consistent way to catch live bait.
I've put out pinfish traps in PSJ bay and maybe caught half dozen...tried Sabiki rigs at cans and bouys to no success.
Catching squirrel fish off shore is no problem, but even with the best care I can give them they go belly up in an hour or so.

Primarily I fish offshore for grouper, snapper, etc.

I will be setting my traps this time in the bay at Indian Pass and hoping for better luck next week.

If anyone has any techniques they have been successful with, I'd sure appreciate them sharing...

Thanks.
 

Ihunt

Senior Member
Find the grass for pinfish.
 

mr otter

Senior Member
The best place to catch pinfish is behind blue water outrigger store at the end of the street where the mouth of the marina comes out into the bay. I have a 50 gallon drum cut in half with a bilge pump hooked to a piece of garden hose that wraps around the top of the drum. Punch holes in hose every 4 inches so that the water shoots into the barrel. I drill holes in the barrel around the top and attach the hose with zip ties. Connect it to a 12 volt battery and hook the battery to a charger at night. Try using a venting tool on the squirrel fish that you catch offshore to keep them alive or butterfly them dead.
 

cathooker

Senior Member
I fish PSJ several times a year and I set out a pinfish trap in the grass flats in the bay. I find a clear spot in the grass flat and set my trap just inside one of those. I leave it out overnight and the next morning I usually have a trap full of pinfish. I use squid and chunks of fish for bait in them. When using a sabiki rig around the buoys I put very small pieces of squid on each hook and I catch several different kinds of bait fish.
 
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