Balloon Fishing with a Twist?????

[Uncle Russ]

Gentlemen: Consider this and please provide your feedback: The purpose of kite fishing, as I understand it, is to keep a live bait on the surface, far out from the boat, where its struggling will attract game fish. Now, although I have never fished with a kite, I have problems with it--first, it's more gear to fart around with and second, it almost seems to require two people, and third, it is a little hard on a head boat, where, until I can buy my own 52 footer, I am likely to practice my offshore fishing.

I have known for years that people use balloons as bobbers and as sails to carry the bait out, and the bait typically hangs a foot or more under the balloon. Balloons are also used to keep the kite up in still airs. I even had an older buddy who had had groin surgery and after it was over, he couldn't...uh, so they took this balloon and uh...but that's another story.

But consider using a balloon for fishing livies in a different way: You blow up a small red balloon just enough to keep a livie from diving down at will. you then put a hook either in below his dorsal fin or near his rectal opening. You then run a rigging needle through his lips and bridle him with floss or mono to the balloon up close and tight. Then you drift him out just like you would a free-lined bait or a chunk. He stays on the surface, where his panicked thrashing will attract the attack of game fish, and in fact it virtually looks as though his asshole blew out from coming up too fast. (now read that last paragraph again and consider that you sometimes think that you've had a bad day!)

Points to ponder:

1. Would the balloon puncture due to contact with the bait (assuming you didn't blow it up real tight) and assuming also that you had the hook far enough back that he would not be likely to contact the balloon with it.?

2. Would the presence of the balloon so close to the bait be more likely to scare off game fish (read "tuna") or to attract them?

3. Is this process legal in Federal waters? (I have searched the internet and do not find that it is except in some county jurisdictions in Florida--where they don't even know how to punch a hole in a ballot.)

4. Even if legal, would it be considered politically incorrect since I understand that a couple of sea turtles once were found dead somewhere in the entire expanse of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans? (Uncle Russ is a sensitive individual and would not want to offend anyone or run afoul of their disapproval.)

I would, as always, appreciate your comments on my hairbrained schemes.

Russ

[BretABaker]

as far as point 2......i just think its a lot of crap at the surface to make a tuna want to try and swallow a blue runner (or whatever) plus a birthday balloon.

3. no clue
4. yeah id feel like a jerk if it got off and floated away. but then again i see assbags throwing their dorito wrappers over all the time.

[DeepBlueGulf]

The kite is flown on the Big E with great success! It is easier with to fly with two people, but one person can do it if he knows what he is doing. No big deal there.

As for the other questions...

1. No
2. No and No
3. Yes - not specifically outlawed
4. Huh?

DBG

[gman]

I fish a lot with balloons for shark and tuna, so from June-September I am basically blowing up those things. Kites and balloons are very different. Kites allow the baits to thrash and cause a commotion, balloons keep a bait close to the top and the bait normally tries to dive away until it is tired then it will thrash

Balloons are great for keeping baits close however they are a pain because they constantly deflate at the worst times and sharks are attracted to balloons as they make a lot of noise while floating. If I had a dollar for every shark that ate the balloon instead of my bait I would be rich LOL

IMHO nothing beats a kite for live bait presentation. Kite fishing honestly is an art. I spent a lot of time sailfishing off Miami the last several years and managing 6 baits on 2 kites is tedious as you need to constantly adjust the line however the results are amazing. fish explode on kite baits.

If you really want to get creative buy a portable balloon inflator and inflate the balloons with helium and send them up with some floss. The giant bluefin tuna fleet off Massachusetts uses balloons to drift live bluefish for giant bluefin ... very effective for big fish.

Definately effective in other parts of the world so I'm sure it would work down there

**honestly the bad thing about balloon fishing is all the plastic that ends up in the ocean

[gman]

In order to not have the knot of the balloon stay on your line and end up being picked out of your reel or line don't tie an overhand knot directly on the mono ...

1. Blow up balloon but don't tie the knot, just pinch it so air doesnt leak out
2. Make a loop in the mono line
3. Tie an overhand knot in the balloon around the loop in the line

When the bait is attacked, the mono loop will pull right through the overhand knot leaving the balloon floating away and not ruining your gear

[ahistick]

Originally Posted by gman

If you really want to get creative buy a portable balloon inflator and inflate the balloons with helium and send them up with some floss. The giant bluefin tuna fleet off Massachusetts uses balloons to drift live bluefish for giant bluefin ... very effective for big fish.

Definately effective in other parts of the world so I'm sure it would work down there

A few of the San Diego Long range boats fishing down the Baja coast for a few years have been carrying helium tanks for balloons for the last few years.

YouTube - Balloon Fishing Puerto Vallarta

On a side note, on a kite rotation, I used frozen flying fish (wings frozen in the open position) and tuna were coming out of the water after the bait. Boats have also have used jumbo squid under the kite.

Originally Posted by gman

**honestly the bad thing about balloon fishing is all the plastic that ends up in the ocean

I agree

[Uncle Russ]

Interesting and valuable responses and my thanks to all of you. Thanks for the info, deepblue and Bret.

gman: I understand what you are recommending and it makes sense. Actually, I was not planning to tie the balloon to my line, but rather to bridle it into the bait's mouth--in other words, the balloon and the bait would float together on top of the water, and hopefully any predator would think the balloon was a part of the fish--no doubt it would pop on impact. That way, if I hooked up and brought the fish in, the plastic would not float away. The only bad outcome would be if the fish swallowed the bait--and the balloon--then broke off. But the balloon would not be any more likely to prove fatal than the swallowed hook IMO.

ahistick: For this hypothetical method, I would not need helium since I would be using the balloon chiefly to keep the fish right on top of the water--not as a substitute for or addition to the kite.

Would anyone know if the Big E provides a kite for general use and sharing or do you have to bring your own setup??

Thanks,

Russ

[gman]

IMHO Russ I think bridling the balloon to fish fishes mouth would tire it out extremely fast therefore killing the action and the fish therefore ruining your soak time. As you know live bait fish are extremely hard to handle, they die quickly when touched or altered even large skip-jacks must be bridled and set back out immediately or they wont swim properly

Ideally you want a big natural bait that is in great shape so you spend more time fishing and less changing baits and you would need to let it swim naturally to attract game fish and I believe the balloon would stop that from happening under this theory

Just my 2 cents

[Uncle Russ]

Good point, gman. I had not thought about that aspect.

[gman]

I could be totally wrong just one mans opinion