Quote:
Originally Posted by tkwalker
Now I really don't want to step on anybody's toes here ... Just speaking from experience (can't say you can or can't)... I have caught literally thousands of skip Jack on Piscey rigs, (in fact make my own) And when I was in Japan in 1998 on Business I bought 50 of the original Piscey rigs that was feature in the video .. (except Academy's were made in China) ... But I have never caught a threadfin nor Gizzard shad with a Piscey rig ... Shad are Plankton eaters ... Don't eat minnows that I am aware of ... Like you will rarely if ever catch a skippy in a cast net .. (They will out run it)
Now to make a cheap piscey rig (Short for piscator) this works for skippies ... .. Now Skippies can be kept alive for a short stint of time if you can keep fresh water flowing through your baitwell... No matter How big of a baitwell you have or Oxy you pump including bottled Oxy ... ... Skippies give off a toxic oil that is even detrimental to themselves ... ... I have fished with skippies with a 8/0 Gamakatsu through it's nose all day and be perky at the end of the day ... but put this fish in a baitwell with out enough water flow ... won't last long ...
Sorry off subject ... Piscey rigs ... Take three Crappie Tube jigs ... Using a Palomar knot .... tie them 5 to 6 inches apart directly to the line and make a leader with a double blood knot as the terminal end ... Color ... white or red is good ... But the action is what makes skippies bite ... Here is an example ... You need a pulse .. just not a retrieve ... The best way is to use a Micro lite spinning rig .. Hold the reel handle ridged and reel the rod ... It may sound strange ... But believe me folks it works !! ... I am getting old and I am letting my trade secrets go LOL !! <'TK>< 
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I have never heard that skippies were toxic to themselves, but it makes sense. I have a 40 gallon, round, insulated, filtered, oxygen infused bait tank and experience keeping fair amounts of bait alive, but have never been able to keep even one or two skippies alive for long. But I usually do not run the fill pump much, about 5 minutes an hour or so, other baitfish seem to do better with it off. I just thought 40 gallon was too small for them. What do you think?