Tile fish baits

[Deepdeckhand]

In my experience whatever you have that is the freshest is generally the best. My best tile trip the magic bait was triangles from a lost giant bluefish I caught on a sword bait. I usually avoid strips because I feel they can wrap in the line easier on the long drop down and hungry tiles at 500 ft don't care that much so long as they can smell the fresh meat.My buddy that long lines swears by fresh Doggie/ doesn't come off the hook :-) catch emm up...

[NJ Fisher]

Thanks again for all the good advice. I'll report back with pics. Tight lines!

[NJ Fisher]

All baits worked well. Even plain squid on naked (no glow beads, skirts, etc). I tried blue fish and salmon belly which also worked well on some drifts. Well over the limit on both species. I posted a picture of my biggest catch of the day on the other tile fish thread. Thanks again for the suggestions.

[jjdbike]

Originally Posted by Garone Custom Rods

My favorite tile bait is fresh squid and freshly cut strips. Fluke, Bluefish, tilefish and also rosefish all work great. Mahi and skipjack or false albacore strips are also awesome but harder to come by unless you can catch them while you are out there.

A big thing with strip baits is to keep the fish whole and packed in ice until you are going to use them. I typically will fillet one side of a fluke for instance and cut strips. When that is done I will cut the other side and use that before cutting any more of the same bait. Also keep the majority of of the cut bait cool otherwise it turns to mush and is a waste.

This is great info here.
I understand keeping baits fresh & packed in ice. What I don't understand is why do we need to keep the fish whole till we need it? Why shouldn't we strip it out a head of time (eg when it's convienent) as opposed to when we want to be fishing? Doesn't it stay just as fresh filleted & striped I ice as it would whole?
Thanks
JD

[NJ Fisher]

JD I think it's important to keep it cold. Especially on hot days. I don't think cutting in advance is bad as long as you keep the bait on ice till you need it. Don't take too much out of the cooler because it will turn to mush as mentioned before.

[tautog]

It stays better if it is whole. I would not cut them more than a few hours in advance. Also all the flavor leaks out if cut baits sit too long.