Pouting as bait

I was interested to read the comments about pouting deadbaits in the 'baits' portion of the site, suggesting they're not very effective. Here in the south of England pouting is the no. 1 bait for big bass from piers and harbour walls, outfishing anything else by a distance. I fish a small pout on otherwise weightless tackle, so it drifts just below the surface, and on a moonlit night you can sometimes see the bass hit the bait. Fished on the bottom they are also successful for conger. I'm told live pout are even better, but of course livebaiting is illegal in Ireland. On one occasion I had a savage take on my tiny pout bait and reeled in ... a 2lb pouting!

I'm told live pout are even better, but of course livebaiting is illegal in Ireland.!

Only illegal in Fresh water, I believe..

I'm told live pout are even better, but of course livebaiting is illegal in Ireland.!

Only illegal in Fresh water, I believe..

Only illegal in respect of live roach in freshwater (when fishing for pike). I think the idea is not to cross pollute roach-free waterways, but maybe a coarse angler could confirm. It definately doesn't apply to sea fishing.

[Donagh]

Definately only illegal in fresh water. I believe it was introduced to protect trout fisheries. Thats not to say it's not still being used to catch pike.

Donagh

Last edited by Donagh on Thu Jun 10, 2004 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

There is a difference in bait success between the Irish and british mainlands. Take squid for example which is not half as effective as it is in Britain.

over the last two years in particular i have noticed that pouting getting 'hit' is not uncommon. when leaving out multiple hook rigs and hoping for a treble, myself and friends have occassionally had a large knock on the rod tip only to real in a half eaten pout. i have never experienced this with other fish- pout seem to be attacked in preference. just thought that this might be of interest. i can only guess as to what the fish where, but even doggies will take a small pout.

I've had excellent success using dead pout and poor cod for conger, if anything I'd nearly be tempted to say the eels ive got on it have tended to be bigger than those falling to mackerel.

Pete

We regularly catch Pouting when fishing the Laurentic wreck in Lough Swilly. A couple of weeks ago, during competition, I was fishing three hooks hard on the wreck. We were about to move further inshore so I was desperate to get another 'counter'. I hooked what I knew was an undersize fish, and, reluctant to bring it up and miss the drift, I decided to leave it there and hope that I connected with something bigger on the other two hooks.

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later I went much heavier. When I brought it in I had a reasonable Ling which had grabbed the small Pouting and in the process had amazingly shoved the Pout up the trace and hooked itself firmly on the hook!

fishing for dab today in balscadden and felt a very small nibble. on the way in rod bent for a second and then went normal again.brought in a small pout who was bleeding on its back nowhere near the hook :?:

On another trip during the summer I used a full side of Pouting to try and get another Ling. Wwe had drifted off the wreck so I wasn't hopeful, but got a good bite and landed a specimen 2Lb 3oz Red Gurnard.

used pouting off fenit pier on flowing trace caught reasonable conger during the day which is unusual for Fenit

I was interested to read the comments about pouting deadbaits in the 'baits' portion of the site, suggesting they're not very effective. Here in the south of England pouting is the no. 1 bait for big bass from piers and harbour walls, outfishing anything else by a distance. I fish a small pout on otherwise weightless tackle, so it drifts just below the surface, and on a moonlit night you can sometimes see the bass hit the bait. Fished on the bottom they are also successful for conger. I'm told live pout are even better, but of course livebaiting is illegal in Ireland. On one occasion I had a savage take on my tiny pout bait and reeled in ... a 2lb pouting!

hibigden
bottom fishing off helvic peir 27/6/05 seen bass attack pout on surface
(twice)
returned next evening float fished small pout 4lbS bass first cast

Nice one! There are a lot more bass around piers and breakwaters than people think, and I'm sure this is one way to sort them out.

used it for conger from teelin, no success changed over to mackerel head and guts , took a strap of about 9lbs instantly!