Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations sabiki rig to cull panfish

just a quick thought since I can't sleep anyway

When saltwater fishing we often use a sabiki rig to catch bait. These include pinfish/menhaden/blue runners etc.."panfish" sized bait. For those that have never seen one it is rig with a weight on the end with six or so shorter lines off the main line. To these branches are hooks which are usually "dressed up" to look like smaller prey, basically like little flies that you would fly fish with. We use this rig to catch a lot of bait quickly, optimally six or so at a time.

So my thinking is that if you had a pond that was overpopulated with small bluegill, this would be a fairly rapid way to catch a bunch at a time. Cast out the sabiki, work the rig across the pond, catch a bunch at once, cull and repeat.

Hints if you decide to try this

When you reel in your angry hoard of panfish grab the weight with one hand and place the rod in a rod holder. Then take a dehooker and remove each fish by letting them fall into their respective buckets (one for cull, one for keep) By placing the rod in a holder and stretching the rig out like x-mas lights you can avoid getting hooked yourself, and you never have to touch the fish. This would be a bonus because you wouldn't remove the protective slime coat from the keepers.

Once you get a strike, let the little guy stay hooked for a few seconds before reeling in. His strike will attract others to the now wildly "dancing" other flies. You may want to add a tempting morsel of bait to each hook as well.

Doing this on your on pond would probably be ok, but not sure about legalities otherwise

I realize this does not sound very sporting, but it may be an option for removing a bunch of fish in a short time, somewhere between regular hook and line and using a large net.

Crazy?

I've used them to catch bait in saltwater also and to catch river herring for bait in the spring for stripers. Can't say I've ever used them for panfish like BG. I am sure they'd work though.

I've used them to catch mackrel for bait as well. What you describe is exactly the way we'd hold the rod/sabiki rig for the deckhand to remove the bait without touching it. They'd use a butter knife or a smooth wire bent in a "U" shape to catch the hook and let the fish flop off. I don't see why it wouldn't work for any schooling fish that eats small prey.

I like it! Have used it in saltwater but it never crossed my mind to try it in fresh. HMMM think labor day weekend plans are to give each boy a Sabiki rig, sit back with my beer and watch the fun.

That does sound like a good time. (My wife would freak by the way with that many swinging hooks)

Here is a theoretical formula for you

(#of boys) X (#of hooks on each sabiki rig) X (combined age of boys) - (# of beers dad has) = total insurance copay for ER visits that day

In the end the entertainment value would be well worth it!

LOL, I'm a 20 year retired military medic. My boys would just have to deal with the old man, some forceps and a good betadine scrub. Now the sutures I can do but the amount may depend on how steady my hands are which would be directly proportional to the # of beers. The wife is not allowed to watch as her momma bear instincts in times like this make her think my daddy bear instincts are making me try to kill them.