Balloon fishing a deadbait how do you do yours?

[grantbudd74]

Local guys are getting quite a few bust offs fishing live and deadbaits this way. Im going to fish deadbaits. Want to run 2 lines about 50m or so out the back of the boat.

From your main line how and what do you run?

Im thinking 60lb mono leader as im not burning more money on expensive fluro.....I have 60lb mono leader...

Saw 5 balloons with clips for $10 in the shop today....$10!! Id rather find a way to clip one on with no 3-way swivel.....ideas?

Thanks guys

im gettin there :-)

[Daltz]

G'day,

I have tried tying the balloon knot directly around the mono but it tends to move about. While reading your post I had an idea..blow up the balloon and tie the regular overhand so stop deflation. Use a toothpick/needle to put a hole through the tag end of the balloon and thread you leader through until it sits at the desired distance from bait (maybe through twice but without creating a knot -just an extra loop to create some resistance). Use two small splitshot sinkers or float stops on either of the tag to stop it sliding up or down the line.

Admittedly I've never tried it and there's probably better ways to go (search youtube), but it might be ok for a cheap option.

good luck.

[BARRAkid]

From your main line tie a clip swivel then tie up your leader I suggest make it atleast a metre or so with whatever hook you want to use and and a swivel on the opposite end clip the normal swivel onto the clip swivel that's connected to your main line. When you blow up the balloon I don't like to make it to big as wind catches them and they start to leave the water I normally blow the up abit bigger then a tennis ball. So blow up your balloon tie it like normal now cut a really small hole in the balloon between the knot in the balloon and the ring you put your lips around when blowing up and then put the balloon on your clip swivel through that little hole you made and clip back up then your done. It won't come off when your bait is swimming but don't go crazy when winding in but when a fish grabs it the pressure of the fish will pop the balloon off your line and float away and you will only be left with the little ring of the balloon on your clip swivel.. Hope that helps

[getrigged]

between the knot and the ring you put your lips around when blowing

:S

How immature of me !

[sehrguht]

I just put it on my mainline with a looop through the overhand knot 6 or 8 metres above the bait

[Bi_polar]

[ellicat]

Not sure if the turtles would enjoy that form of littering, Stu :whistle:

[dhess]

Not sure if the turtles would enjoy that form of littering, Stu :whistle:

The pink ones are particularly problematic for the turtles as they struggle tell them apart from their natural prey.

[Bri The Pom]

I buy biodegradeble balloons from woolies in the party section. 3 bucks for about 25. tie the balloon to seal it and then form a small double where you want the balloon on the main line and tie it on again and tighten and then i put a small peice of foam in the loop and tighten.As mentioned before dont fully inflate balloon.

Dont forget previous post about using swivels, no need.

Have you been out yet Grant, hope your remembering all this info.

[Daltz]

I was trying to think outside the balloon and had another idea for floating dead baits on the surface.

Could you use something naturally buoyant like balsa wood (enviro friendly) and insert it directly into the bait (inside a squid mantle or small fishes stomach) then sew it shut with braid??

I haven't done much big game fishing so I'm not sure if you actually want the bait sitting below the surface or need the balloon as a strike indicator. I'm definitely gonna try it next time I want to do some inshore float fishing and see if it works.

[demarc]

I was trying to think outside the balloon and had another idea for floating dead baits on the surface.

Could you use something naturally buoyant like balsa wood (enviro friendly) and insert it directly into the bait (inside a squid mantle or small fishes stomach) then sew it shut with braid??

I haven't done much big game fishing so I'm not sure if you actually want the bait sitting below the surface or need the balloon as a strike indicator. I'm definitely gonna try it next time I want to do some inshore float fishing and see if it works.

Awhile back I was broken down, dragging the anchor a few Ks from point lookout. To kill time while waiting for help we floated dead yakkas out the back. We scored two Dolphin fish at around 101CMs each this way.

/>http://www.australianfishing.com.au/south-queensland/435824-offshore-adventure

[Bri The Pom]

I was trying to think outside the balloon and had another idea for floating dead baits on the surface.

Could you use something naturally buoyant like balsa wood (enviro friendly) and insert it directly into the bait (inside a squid mantle or small fishes stomach) then sew it shut with braid??

I haven't done much big game fishing so I'm not sure if you actually want the bait sitting below the surface or need the balloon as a strike indicator. I'm definitely gonna try it next time I want to do some inshore float fishing and see if it works.

The bait you fitted with a float then sewn up would last about 30 seconds before the birds take it.

[demarc]

I was trying to think outside the balloon and had another idea for floating dead baits on the surface.

Could you use something naturally buoyant like balsa wood (enviro friendly) and insert it directly into the bait (inside a squid mantle or small fishes stomach) then sew it shut with braid??

I haven't done much big game fishing so I'm not sure if you actually want the bait sitting below the surface or need the balloon as a strike indicator. I'm definitely gonna try it next time I want to do some inshore float fishing and see if it works.

The bait you fitted with a float then sewn up would last about 30 seconds before the birds take it.

This actually happened to me at Curtain one day. I didn't put the livies down deep enough and then the eagles came in... Smart birds, they grabbed the balloon and flew up until the bait came out of the water, they then dropped the balloon and dived for the bait.

[RUSSIAN]

Start watching at about 3.50 and you see Paul with an easy method to attach a balloon to his main line...
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC2oHwSnTog

Cheers

Anthony

[Seiran]

Not sure if the turtles would enjoy that form of littering, Stu :whistle:

The pink ones are particularly problematic for the turtles as they struggle tell them apart from their natural prey.

All balloons, including the biodegradable ones, are a serious problem for marine life. Have you ever seen what a burst balloon looks like in water? It looks just like a squid.

Turtles, birds, dolphins etc eat them and struggle to digest them. I've posted before about turtle 'floaters' in Moreton Bay, not a pretty site.

So, if you're going to use balloons please try to collect your balloons when they come loose. Letting them float away without any attempt to collect them is equivalent to throwing your bait packet or old fishing line overboard.

I used a float today with one of my livey set ups. But instead of using a balloon I used one of those red and white ball floats I bought in a pack of two from kmart. I had the livey about 3m below the float, with a small sinker about 1m above the livey.

sorry for the lecture :blush:

[RUSSIAN]

I also these days use floats as they stay attached to your line. From ebay, you can't go wrong with these big floats. I bought a pack of about 20 a year or two back and never have even lost one yet!
/>http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10-hard-foam-fishing-float-17cm-x-3-8cm-/290969541122?pt=AU_Accessories_Tackle&hash=item43bf22da02

Cheers

[Gary_C]

You could also use edible condoms. That way the turtles and birds only mistake them for Jersey Whitefish.

From what I hear, the hard part is trying to keep yourself from snacking on them.

:evil: :whistle:

[Bri The Pom]

Not sure if the turtles would enjoy that form of littering, Stu :whistle:

The pink ones are particularly problematic for the turtles as they struggle tell them apart from their natural prey.

All balloons, including the biodegradable ones, are a serious problem for marine life. Have you ever seen what a burst balloon looks like in water? It looks just like a squid.

Turtles, birds, dolphins etc eat them and struggle to digest them. I've posted before about turtle 'floaters' in Moreton Bay, not a pretty site.

So, if you're going to use balloons please try to collect your balloons when they come loose. Letting them float away without any attempt to collect them is equivalent to throwing your bait packet or old fishing line overboard.

I used a float today with one of my livey set ups. But instead of using a balloon I used one of those red and white ball floats I bought in a pack of two from kmart. I had the livey about 3m below the float, with a small sinker about 1m above the livey.

sorry for the lecture :blush:

Hey Seiran,

I hear and understand what your saying, But, you certainly need to stay away from palm beach reef in January, I stopped counting at 150 boats most of them with possibly a couple of balloons out. These boats are anchored up so after a strike they are not going to pull up anchor just to chase a balloon, thats the way it is. But most people if within a nets reach will scoop up a passing balloon and the guys trolling will do the same. Like i say thats the way it works.

Those floats great for gar fishing, not so good for fishing a livie 10 mtrs below the surface.

This topic gets bought up every mackerel season and by using boidegradable balloons and scooping up a passing balloon, Im happy i play my part.

Cheers

Bri.

[grantbudd74]

hey guys

So we went out to North reef yesterday but didnt manage to get any livies so we only had one small pack of pillies. We did get a few small reef fish on the live bait rigs but they didnt last the pressure change so we had fresh bait.

My mait threw a whole one on a 9/0 and big ball weight and dropped it down while drifting. I had out the new sea anchor from e-bay and what a treat that was :-) Not only did it slow our drift to less than 1 kmph but it swung the boat around so we had the sun behind us and not in our faces.

Something picked up the whole fish and unfortunatly no hook up. He did get a nice 60cm snapper fishing the same way later so this was probably what took the first bait although much bigger going by the bend in his rod. The snapper was released to grow bigger....:-)

Me, I fished light with ganged hooks and a ball weight over the top with no bites. The mutton birds were out in force and they were getting my bait from 12m down!!! Little buggers they are funny at first but got to be PITA :-)

Tried a bit of trawling around 7-8kmph we didnt catch anything except for something huge below the water surface....The reel screamed off but it wasnt my side of the boat and after a few head shakes it fortunately came off....42m deep, big and white??? Dugong? No sea grass bottom though.

Saw a few bust ups on the way home but couldnt get close enough so no takers....Good day and a sketchy bar crossing at low tide. I didnt catch anything but thats ok...I could have taken the snapper but its not always about killing fish....Take a photo and let it go is how im tending to fish:-)

No way could I have used a balloon given the bird situation.....Waiting for the Spanish to turn up:-)

With balloons I would always go and get them as I am not about to start littering the sea.

The balsa wood in the dead bait would be a concern as if you lose the fish it would not be able to pass the wood and die a very horrible death :-(

I respect my environment and the fish I catch :-)

[Bri The Pom]

Quote No way could I have used a balloon given the bird situation.....Waiting for the Spanish to turn up:-)

With balloons I would always go and get them as I am not about to start littering the sea.

The balsa wood in the dead bait would be a concern as if you lose the fish it would not be able to pass the wood and die a very horrible death :-(

I respect my environment and the fish I catch :-)

[tugger]

If your drifting there is no need for balloning but when your anchored up and you want to target large pelagics with livies or big fresh baits there is no better way than using a balloon just suspend your bait about 5 to 6m under the balloon you can tie it on to the line so it slides along the line when the fish is on but it will eventually get reeled on to your spool and there is a chance it gets stuck in your rod tip the balloon normally pops after it goes under water after the first run so if you catch the fish just strip the line back off and free it from your line.

If you do want to chace big pelagics like spanish mackerel and cobia etc regularly tying the balloon onto to a loop of line so its slips off is the better way to garantee you land the fish you spend alot of money on targeting plus always have out pillies just drifting in the current with no weight or float, plenty of pelagics will hit these baits before any others. Those other bought floats will not work with big pelagics as there is just to much drag in the water when these fish are doing warp speed on their runs after hitting your bait good luck using them for big fish which is what this thread was about originally

[grantbudd74]

I was thinking about this the other night as one does and thought why not have the balloon attached to a swivel that runs up and down the mainline. When the fish hits the bait the mainline straightens and the balloon pops off but stays attached to the mainline via the free running swivel.

This would create some drag during fast directional changes left and right but it would not pop. Bri your right about moving off anchor after throwing $$$$ worth of burley and fuel to get out to sea....

THis is why im keen to try the more environmental option....

[Bri The Pom]

I was thinking about this the other night as one does and thought why not have the balloon attached to a swivel that runs up and down the mainline. When the fish hits the bait the mainline straightens and the balloon pops off but stays attached to the mainline via the free running swivel.

This would create some drag during fast directional changes left and right but it would not pop. Bri your right about moving off anchor after throwing $$$$ worth of burley and fuel to get out to sea....

THis is why im keen to try the more environmental option....

Glad to hear the tick tock of you thinking Grant,

When tying on a balloon you set the depth you wish to have you bait, these maybe two different depths if using two rods. If you have a free running balloon you have no idea on the depth as the bait and the balloon will float away at different speeds. Also if you run a long leader the swivel will not go over the knot so you will be left with fish on and you will have to bring it to the gaff by hand, but not a major problem.

If your not happy using balloons consider a downrigger or just float line your livies out or both.