# The Secret to catching Pinfish



## Whipplejack

I know there are many methods to catching pinfish (castnet, trap, reel and rod), but what is the best.  If you use a castnet, what do you chum with?  What is the best bait to use in a trap?


----------



## Parker Phoenix

In a trap we use what scraps we can find around the cleaning table. In Florida we atch them on small bits of squid or GULP by pole.


----------



## Doyle

Use tropical fish food.  You can get it in big bags from the feed supply house.  Mix it with some pogy oil and red clay to form a ball.  The ball will dissolve slowly and chum them in.


----------



## bouymarker

Doyle said:


> Use tropical fish food.  You can get it in big bags from the feed supply house.  Mix it with some pogy oil and red clay to form a ball.  The ball will dissolve slowly and chum them in.


yep


----------



## jamessig

It depends. A castnet is great when the water is warm and the pinfish are shallow. I like using fish carcasses to concentrate them for one easy throw for a day's bait. A plus is even if the water is a little stained, you can usually see the carcass which makes a good target. In the summer if the water is clear you can see pinfish flashing the grass as they feed and you don't really need to chum them although chumming will concentrate them. You will tend to catch smaller pinfish with a cast net, better for inshore fishing. If you can find a productive grass flat it shouldn't take more than a couple of throws to load up a bait well.
 A trap will typically catch on average somewhat larger pinfish than castnetting, many of which will be excellent snapper baits and some of which may be decent grouper baits. My favorite bait in a trap in warm water is king mackerel and in cold water bonito. In cold water pinfish will not be shallow, they will be in deeper water. If you put a trap out in cold water and fail to catch any bait, you need to find some deeper water. The biggest advantage to a trap is that it takes very little effort if you can find a concentration of pins to drop it on. One downside of traps is losing your bait and/or trap to thieves which is aggravating and unfortunately fairly common.
A rod and reel with sabiki rig tipped with small pieces of squid is the best bet for large offshore sized pinfish. Of course you're still going to catch some smaller pins depending on the size hooks on your sabiki, but you have a better chance of catching baits 6-7"+. At times I can find pinfish in the 9-12" range which are great grouper baits. The downside is that sabiking will require more effort especially if you are culling out the smaller ones. It could easily take an hour or more just to catch some good sized pins which could be an issue if you're on a tight schedule.


----------



## d-a

jamessig said:


> It depends. A castnet is great when the water is warm and the pinfish are shallow. I like using fish carcasses to concentrate them for one easy throw for a day's bait. A plus is even if the water is a little stained, you can usually see the carcass which makes a good target. In the summer if the water is clear you can see pinfish flashing the grass as they feed and you don't really need to chum them although chumming will concentrate them. You will tend to catch smaller pinfish with a cast net, better for inshore fishing. If you can find a productive grass flat it shouldn't take more than a couple of throws to load up a bait well.
> A trap will typically catch on average somewhat larger pinfish than castnetting, many of which will be excellent snapper baits and some of which may be decent grouper baits. My favorite bait in a trap in warm water is king mackerel and in cold water bonito. In cold water pinfish will not be shallow, they will be in deeper water. If you put a trap out in cold water and fail to catch any bait, you need to find some deeper water. The biggest advantage to a trap is that it takes very little effort if you can find a concentration of pins to drop it on. One downside of traps is losing your bait and/or trap to thieves which is aggravating and unfortunately fairly common.
> A rod and reel with sabiki rig tipped with small pieces of squid is the best bet for large offshore sized pinfish. Of course you're still going to catch some smaller pins depending on the size hooks on your sabiki, but you have a better chance of catching baits 6-7"+. At times I can find pinfish in the 9-12" range which are great grouper baits. The downside is that sabiking will require more effort especially if you are culling out the smaller ones. It could easily take an hour or more just to catch some good sized pins which could be an issue if you're on a tight schedule.



If your trowing a castnet in shallow clear water, take and spray the water with your wash down hose so that the pin fish(or any other bait your cast netting) dont see the net. It makes a huge difference in the amount you catch.

d-a


----------



## The Captain

Throw out grits, works everytime


----------



## crackerdave

Great info from all!

If this is a hijack,ignore it,but - what's some good mud minner tricks?


----------



## grim

I use my little girl's barbie rod/zebco with an itty bitty gold hook and a pinch of gulp.  Her rod is nice in that it is small and easy to stow.  I have a friend that doesnt even use a rod, he just unrolls enough line from a spool and holds onto the spool.  In the summer, the pinfish are so thick on the flats, you just need to find grass, no need to chum, although is couldnt hurt.


----------



## jimbo4116

12 ft. breambuster and no. 8 aberdeen  hook. Shrimp bits, cut bait, gulp bits all work.

Save all the shredded gulps for pinfish bait.


----------



## crackerdave

There's been a lot of times in my 55 years of fishin' when I had as much fun ketchin' bait as I did the "target" species!


----------



## brantd

I hear that Dave , I like using an ultra light rod and spinning reel with a sabiki rig on it..and its pretty fun if you are in south florida just find the grass like they said ...if youre on up the panhandle you can go to the boat docks and usually find them and needle fish..also its really easy to build your own traps me and my father in law built some really ease with some wire mesh we just stuff the center with any kind of cut bait and soakem for a while...


----------



## Chris S.

Tiny hook and tiny pieces of cut squid...........like breamin' in a farm pond.Harbor/marina Dock pilings  are a great place to get em.Take a basket to keep em alive.


----------



## crackerdave

Chris S. said:


> Tiny hook and tiny pieces of cut squid...........like breamin' in a farm pond.Harbor/marina Dock pilings  are a great place to get em.Take a basket to keep em alive.



Cabela's makes a real good bait cage - a friend gave me one of the large ones.I'm raisin' brim in my pond with it now!


----------



## Chris S.

Well take one to fla.( st. andrews )when we go out for snaps and groups...or atleast used to when we had a real bottomfishing season.


----------



## Whipplejack

*Pinfish*

Great info!!


----------



## Whipplejack

*Pinfish*

Can you catch pinfish in the flats during March or is it too cold? Does the weather affect the baitfish?  Will they be up in the creeks or will you be able to catch them in a trap in the flats?


----------



## jamessig

If you're talking about the Florida panhandle, the water right now is still colder than usual for this time of year. Water is in the mid 50's. I wouldn't expect pinfish to start moving into shallower water until the water temps get near 70. 
If you don't have a boat you can catch pins and pigfish off most bridges. Use a sabiki tipped with squid to find them and when you find a good concentration then you can try trapping some.


----------



## Whipplejack

*T*

ttt


----------



## squirrelhunter912

In nc we just put all the small croakers in an that caught em


----------



## Sea Fox

All good info. I will just mention that #8 cricket hooks have a long shank and is handy because pins often swallow the hook and if they bleed much they will not last long.


----------



## grouper throat

The best way I know to catch pinfish is to buy a 12 pack of natty light and a pack of marlboros. Then you meet the shrimp boats coming in the channel and trade them that for a livewell full of pinfish

Seriously, chum with grits and use the biggest castnet you can throw. Or seeing as I don't like to throw a net for bait anymore, use a panfishing combo with pieces of bacon fat to catch the first pinfish. Cut it up and use pieces of pinfish from then on for bait.


----------

