Help me catching skipjack

[rasimmons]

everyone i talk to auround the festus area says that skippjacks are the bait to use. i have caught a few in my throw nets anyone have a better way of catching them would really appericiate any help

[Dwednuts]

We generally catch them on Sabiki rigs or 1/8oz jigs with a white curlytail grub on them.
Jigs:Tie three on your main line 12" apart and cast it into the fast water below dams. You will have to find the retreave that they like by experimenting a little.
Sabiki Rigs: tie them on an put a 1/4oz spoon or weight on the end of it to Enhance it's sinking ability and casting distance. Do the same with the retreave as above.

[rasimmons]

thanks dreadnaught have heard about the sabiki rigs before i will give them a try

[BKS72]

What does a skipjack look like? I wouldn't know one if I caught it. I've bought frozen skipjack from a bait shop, but it was already chunked up. Also, I don't know if the are as far west as KC. Any help?

[rasimmons]

stolib would like to show a pic but i can not figure out how to put them on here some of the other members have posted pics just look around and you will find some thats how i found them

[catmankev]

here's a pic of a skipjack herring.

[GaryF]

Be carefull about the Sabiki rigs in Missouri - regulations limit us to 3 hooks per pole. I bought one before I realized I couldn't use it around here :sad:

[Dwednuts]

Gary, I hadn't thought about hook limits!!! Good save there brother!

[rasimmons]

thanks for the reminder on that gary i forgot about the limit myself.

[thomas feldon]

Go to Alton dam, use twister tails with 1/4 oz heads and real in fast. The faster the better. try different colors. White with lime green heads works good. You'll have a heck of a time. Remember cold nights and sunny days. Take your skipjack and wrap'em in newspaper, freeze them and you'll have bait for blues and chanel all year. Thrrow the fingerlings back as they don't hold up, get mushy. Don't stay on the hook.

[NANNER]

Are you guys catching the skipjacks on sabiki rigs this time of year?

[TOPS]

Do not throw the sabuiki rig away, Cut the rig down to the hook limit and USE it. I cut mine in half anyway because the rig is so long I can cast it better when cut down.:) :)

[TeamWhiskers]

You are better off tying your own rigs using white crappie jigs. Tie a 1/16th ounce on the end and 2 more 1/32 nd ones 16 inches apart up the line. Pay attention to the hook size as you want atleast a number 6 size hook or bigger. The added weight of the crappie jigs will let you cast out further than the Sabiki rigs and sink faster to hold in the current where most skip jacks are located.

[derbycitycatman]

Is it possible to catch skipjacks off minnows? Ive caught some fish that look close but not exactly like that pic off minnows on the Ohio River.

[TeamWhiskers]

Most of the places I have caught skip jack have pretty heavy current. I have never used minnows although my son has added a small piece of worm on the end of his jig as one of these bright 7 year old ideas they seem to insist on. I just chalked it up to beginners luck as he still has me take his good luck Mickey bobber with me on tour. What can you say.. If it works, use it. Keeping an open mind in this Sport is the best option as we all are learning something new every time we hit the water.

[Whistler]

We catch a ton of skipjacks here. You'll find them just about anywhere the shad are. They do seem to love the hard current best though. We catch them anytime of the day or night if they're running good. I use white and yellow curly tails on 1/8 oz jig heads. I tie two of them on about 12 inches apart. I've used sabiki rigs and when they are working they can't be beat, but I'd have to say that the most productive rig is the curly tails. Skipjacks are like any other fish in that you never know exactly what will work. A few weeks ago we casted for over an hour and caught 1 or 2 skipjacks. We noticed a few of the other guys were tearing them up so we started watching them and noticed they had a white curly tail on one hook and a red and white tube jig on the other. Bob and I switched to this combination and proceeded to catch about 80 in an hour. Sometimes they will hit nothing but a blue and white spoon. You just never know what they'll do. There's one guy that fishes at the steamplant here and tears them up on two curly tails like I described, but he hangs them under a bobber and just lets it ride the current. And yes skipjacks will hit minnows very good. But I have more fun with the lures.

[thomas feldon]

Went to Barkley and KY dames this last saturday, from 8am to 3pm. Didn't get a thing. The blue herrin were doing better than anyone there.Tried everything I have in my 2 tackle boxes. Curly tails, all colors. Spoons, spinners, tubes, minnows, worms, nothi'n worked. Water was low. The old boat dock was stick'n out about a a foot. Going to watch the weather and wait for some warm rains to pass through a couple times then I'll try again. Water was really cold. About 20 guys were snagg'n off and on, up and down the banks, Caught noth'n. I lost about 3lbs of lead and grabs.:sad:

[tryin2learn]

i live in missouri and was wondering if you can cath skipjacks in my area.. i usally fish around waverly mo can i cath them in this area..

[SkipEye]

Be carefull about the Sabiki rigs in Missouri - regulations limit us to 3 hooks per pole. I bought one before I realized I couldn't use it around here :sad:


:crazy::crazy::crazy: Darryl1 will be digging through the wildlife code!!!!!!

Reps to you for that one, never thought about it.

[TeamWhiskers]

Hey Cuz.. Ask your buddy the agent about the regulations on the rigs. Otherwise, Im just going to cut off 3 of them. Id rather use a net anyway like we did down in Henderson.. Cuz is great at throwing nets.. Ill watch all day long!

[BKS72]

We hit them at Mel Price a couple of weeks ago when we were there. We were using Sabikis and were right up on the dam. I didn't notice the "Stay 500 away" sign and once we got kicked off that far, we couldn't buy a skip. We had to be right in the boil or real close to it or nothing.