QueenFish

[Geraud]

What kind of rig are used to catch queenfishes? And what kind of bait do they usually take?

[ilurbtambans]

u can try cable car rig, or long snood bottom feeder, as for baits live fishes eg. tambans

[Peace]

I've caught queenfish on bottom, midwater and surface rigs but the midwater rigs like cable car is probably the best. Although they do take dead baits, live baitfishes like tambans are most effective. Therefore, it's important that you hook the live bait proper such that it can stay alive long enough till the queenfish sees it.

[Geraud]

How do you hook tambans properly? You hook them from the head,body or tail?

[Peace]

There are several ways of hooking a live tamban. It is important to do it fast and accurate because tambans die fast when out of water and you want it to be in full health when it's back in the water. You can also have a bucket of seawater ready and hold the tamban in the water while hooking it, that gives you more time and won't suffocate the fish.

I marked 4 points on the tamban in the picture of the possible spots to hook the fish. I've not extensively tried point 4 although it seems to be the most secured one. Usually, we will want to avoid hooking below the fish lateral line. Another point to consider when choosing hooking point is the current flow. If the current is strong, I'd advise choosing point 1 because it'll help the tamban to face against the current with proper oxygen intake. If it were to be hooked at point 3 or 4 for example, it can be hard on the fish with the current forcing against the fish from behind. So 2-4 is good for the fish to swim freely if the current is slow or dead.

Another interesting method I've read about but yet to try is using a needle and thread to pierce through the baitfish's eye socket. You tie both ends together so you can hook onto the thread itself. Survivability of the baitfish does not depend solely on how the fish is hooked. Casting adds tremendous amount of strain on the fish, the harder and more times you cast it the faster the fish dies. The tamban can also die if it gets entangled on the leader itself or get suffocated when sinked too low into muddy seabed.

Cable car rig has the extra advantage here because the tamban need not be casted but slowly glided down into the water along the main line. I ever had a single tamban that lasted me a whole day in water. Needless to say, I didn't catch any fish that day.

[Geraud]

But after hooking them up,i can't seem to cast them as most of the time they would fly out of the hook.

[Vidic]

Hi Geraud, do you fish from the jetty or high ground ? Are you using a live tamban ?
If yes u could use the cable car method. A guide can be found in HLF site. Attached is the link to it

Low ground ? dead tamban ?
If no, tamban if not kept fresh, the meat will be very 'soft' and tears off easily. Another method would be to thread through the tamban with a baiting needle, this way u can secure it tightly. Also when u do a cast, just do a loop cast with a heavier sinker which ur rod can managed, this way u could get better distance with the tamban still attached.

[Peace]

But after hooking them up,i can't seem to cast them as most of the time they would fly out of the hook.

That's the limitation with using live baits, you won't be able to cast very far, the cable car method is about the best as you can get. Anyway, the live bait will most likely be overly traumatized or even die from the g-force if given a hard cast. You can only cast swiftly (lobbing), and length of rod will help a lot with the distance.

[fishingboy]

if you are fishing from bjt == just hook the tanban , no nid cast de . and can just leave the line down the water and there will still be bigfish

[Geraud]

Thanks for all your replies! I'm going to try it out the next time i go fishing!

[fishingboy]

good luck for your next fishing trip dont forget to post your CR