Catching herring?

[Yak Fish]

I've heard that some guys live line herring on the flats for catch and release.
Does anyone know how to catch them? Are there restrictions?

I've never live lined anything larger than a minnow, but I know there's been a lot of posts on that topic in the past.

[mdmakaira410]

this is a great question and im moving it back to the top. im pretty sure its just no eels though.

[Memory Maker]

Some use cast nets but their are restrictions. Check the fishing regs from DNR. I think you can net in the rivers but not in the streams but people do it. THey are usually kept in a live box on the river for until they are used for fishing then put in a VERY good livewell ........ somewhat delicate ........

Might want to call Mike Benjamin in Northeast ........ he catches his own ......

[plastic boat]

chunks work better in the muddy water then live ones. someting to do with the oils released from cutting them

I get mine from Mike @ Herbs. Fresh is better but frozen will do in a pinch. The Frozen ones get a little mushy after you thaw them and are harder to keep on a hook. I have seen guys do a chum slick with them. The fishing was good about a mile down current of where they were anchored up.

[BigYellowYak]

Where do people like to hook the herring to live line. Lips, back, etc.

[DOGFISH]

We used to catch them at Red Bridges on the Eastern Shore. We would use tandem shad dart rigs for the herring. We would just jig them along and catch the herring. It was great fun on light tackle. I did mostly catch and release. However, we would save some for bait. Back in those days we would have a good run of large bluefish in the spring. Cut herring was great bait, as these were probably one of the food fish the blues were feeding on while comming up the bay.

The herring are at Red Bridges, depending on the warm up, in early to mid April. We would also catch an occasional Shad, but in such a small stream, shad would almost alway get off due to snags or downed trees. I would not want to use drop nets or cast nets in those streams, as to the best of my knowledge, that is a no, no, of expensive proportion.