How to Prepare Fresh Herring for Bait
Fresh herring is a popular bait when fishing for salmon, sea trout, halibut and other species. Herring are a natural food source of predatory fish and produce a strong, oily smell in the water, which serves as an attractant. Preparing fresh herring for bait depends on your planned fishing technique. Still-fishing requires different preparation than trolling deep water, for example. However you slice it, keeping the bait fresh is vital to the effectiveness of herring in the water.
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Things You'll Need
- Fresh herring
- Thin-bladed fishing knife
- Rod and reel spooled with line
- Hooks and tackle
Instructions
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Rig live herring for fishing in lakes and rivers by hooking the fish through the lips with the barbed of the hook pointed downward. As a variation, hook the herring through the meat just ahead of its tail and allow the fish to swim with the current.
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2
Preserve the freshness of dead herring by making an incision with the fishing knife in the belly of the fish, cutting lengthwise from the anal fin to the center of the belly and removing the entrails. The stomach and intestines of a dead herring contain acids that will cause swift decomposition when the fish is dead. Removing the entrails preserves the quality of the bait.
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Tie the line to a hook using a clinch knot (instructions for knot tying are linked in the reference section of this article) and hook a dead herring through the mouth, out through the gills and bury the barb in the stomach cavity for trolling behind a boat in deep water. A short length of line can be wrapped and tied around the herring to hold it together longer.
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4
Cut fresh herring into strips for surf fishing and hook a strip near one end so the rest can flutter in the water.
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Save herring chunks, entrails and heads for chumming from a bucket while trolling. The parts can be scooped overboard at the stern at regular intervals to set up a chum line. The oily herring guts attract predator fish.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep fresh, dead bait on a bed of crushed ice in a cooler. Herring are easier to rig on a hook when firm.
Herring are delicate and shock easily, so use caution when casting or dropping live bait into the water.
