Reel Screamers

Never thought of it before but I guess that sabiki rigs could be considered illegal unless you have a bandit gear license.

I would have to check it but going from memory, I believe that the feds consider any baited rig that contains more then two hooks on a line, "bandit gear". For that I also believe that you need a commercial license.

Again, don't shoot the me for this because I am going from memory but I guess I know what I will be reading tomorrow morning when I chase the wife out of the bathroom.

RUSTY

At one of the Outcast Seminars there was a Florida Fish and Game Officer going over the rules. He stated that he is not going to search out a boat for circle hooks, but if there are reef fish in the box, or live or dead bait aboard there better be at least one rod with a circle hook rigged up. I asked him if needle nose pliars are considered a de-hooking device and he said yes they are. This was of course after I had already bought a ARC De-Hooker.

Drew Mixon

dang. still so much advocating breaking the law. some things will never change, i guess.

the regulations are what they are. they cause some alterations to the way some folks currently fish. it am what it am.

stainless (or austenitic) steel can have magnetic properties. but most alloys wont. if you put a magnet in a bag of various hooks, chances are you wont see too many stick. but, unless you are purchasing hooks that are specifically 'stainless', pretty sure you are getting an alloy. laser sharps are alloy, btw. even the coated high-end hooks are alloy or ferritic steel.

the 'hook out', as was presented by the FWC, there is interpretation in this reg. pretty much, if you have some sort of hook removal device, you are doing what you are supposed to.

but, as for the sabiki, the normal and typical use of a sabiki is for bait fishing. the typcial bait fish is not listed by the NMFS or the FWC as 'reef fish'. unless you are purposefully attempting to catch mingos or triggers on a sabiki WITH natural bait, there should be no question. but, if you are, then by the letter of the law you are in violation--whether another boat is nearby or not. (the measure of one's character is what you do when no one is looking, not when they are).

if you bend the hook point back towards the shank (in a 'general circle or oval'), then you should be legal for pursuit of reef fish with this rig and natural bait.

but, um, we've been using circle hooks for triggers for years. when the bait stealing critters get a mouthful and attempt to swim away before being detected, as they often do, then they many times hook themselves. been working great for several years. Outcast does sell a small, thick wire circle hook that is easily tied into a 2 hook chicken rig.

cheers.

drew

gmoney

I second the statement that circle hooks work great on triggers/mingos and all other small fish. I actually prefer using them with new people on the boat becuase its like cheating-no matter how unskilled you are as long as you can crank the handle and the fish are eating you will catch fish. The only problem with circle hooks for triggers is that the smaller hooks tend to be light-wire and get warped after a fish or two. Last year on the new florida girl(my boats still not running) i was using a two hook rig with light circles and caught a nice 10#Red Snapper. He twisted the hook into a figure eight, ruining the hook but i was in no danger of him ever getting off. It was funny watching the deckhand try to use the flipping stick dehooker on that fish) We both had a good laugh about it after we figured out what had happenedAlso had that happen on several nice size trigger fish. So you can use circle hooks effectively on triggers/mingos, just bring lots of replacements. If you are using sabikis for thier 'flash' try applying a bit of mylar material to the hook shank just below the eye of the hook, you can get it anywhere you get fly tying materials. If you dont want to take the time to tie it on you could probably get by using a little dab of superglue to hold it on.