Pictured above: Bridled live-baits, like mackerel, scup, and menhaden, can be very effective for big stripers.

As with all fishermen who target striped bass and fluke using live bait, one of my primary goals (in addition to catching the aforementioned species) is keeping that bait alive as long as possible.
 
In my case, I use live bunker when targeting striped bass. Further, I use live peanut bunker or snapper bluefish when chasing after fluke in the summer months.

Up until a few years ago, I hooked these live baits through their nostrils, via their eye sockets, or through their lower lips and out their top lips. These hooking locations kept my bait alive, but not for an extended period of time. The more time I spent changing baits, the less time a bait was out there swimming, attracting fish.

Looking for a better solution, I tried bridling my baits. With this technique, the hook does not pass through the bait at all. Instead, a piece of rigging floss or wire is worked through the bait’s eye socket, forward of the eye. The hook is then attached to the wire or floss. It’s a popular tactic among offshore and southern fishermen, especially for trolling. Not only does it keep the bait alive longer, it leaves the hook free for more secure hook-ups. No more having the hook spin back into the bait, resulting in a missed fish and a dead bait.

At first, I was somewhat skeptical of this hooking method; in fact, my bridling tools collected dust in the tackle bag for several seasons before I gave them a try. Once I did, I became a convert.

For Fluke

Fluke love eating juvenile (“peanut”) bunker, but these small baitfish are notoriously fragile on a hook. This meant they were a prime candidate for bridling, and I was pleased to discover it worked beautifully.

You can bridle a peanut to a bucktail jig as a living trailer or on a bare hook on a fish-finder rig. I’ve found that a 4/0 octopus-style hook works best for fishing the peanuts on their own.

When you feel a fluke pick up your bait, don’t set the hook too quickly. Since the bait tends to be large and lively, wait a few seconds for the fluke to engulf the peanut before raising your rod tip to set the hook. You’ll get more quality fluke (and keep them hooked) this way.

Juvenile (“snapper”) blues are another prime candidate for bridling. These fish aren’t very hardy when hooked, and a bridle greatly extends their live-lining life. The world record fluke (22 pounds, 7 ounces) was reportedly caught using a live snapper bluefish.

Bait Bridling 101

For Striped Bass

Swimming a full-size live bunker behind a drifting boat is nearly guaranteed to bring a quality striped bass to the boat.

Many fishermen, who acquire their bunker on location with weighted treble hooks, employ the snag-and-drop method. After snagging a bait, they simply leave it to swim around the school. While this can be very effective, depending on where the bait is snagged, it could look unnatural when drifting behind the boat. Plus, a striped bass that engulfs a treble hook is less likely to survive the release.

By re-rigging a snagged bunker with a bridle, you have a bait that will swim more naturally, live longer, and increase the odds of a caught-and-released striper’s survival. The eye bridle keeps the bait facing forward and upright, while its placement allows the bunker to use its mouth and gills to stay alive much longer than a hook placed through the lips.

After trying various hooks for live, bridled bunker, I’ve settled on a 10/0 red circle hook. The red hook disappears more readily in the water column, and the circle style reduces bass mortality. Also, with the circle on a bridle—instead of worked through the bait, the point and barb are clear to secure purchase in the corner of the striper’s jaw.