BARRY'S BASICS : PICK A HOT BAIT, KEEP IT LIVELY.

Byline: Barry Brightenburg

With its cold, nutrient-rich ocean currents sustaining a broad ecosystem, Southern California is world famous for its live-bait fisheries. Selecting an active bait is the best to way to put barracuda, yellowtail, tuna, calico bass, halibut and white seabass on a party boat.

The hardest bait to capture out of the bait tank - that is, the liveliest specimen - is the one to use because it looks most natural to the predator and triggers the attack instinct.

Make the task easier by slowly sliding your hand into the bait tank's hand well and cradling the fish under its belly; trying to grab the bait from above - like a seagull swooping in from the sky - will only panic it. Or use a small dip net, available at tackle stores and pet shops. Also look for a bait that is colored slightly different than the others; it might stand out more in the water and solicit a strike reaction from the target fish. Avoid exhausted or damaged baits by not picking those with blood spots, bloody noses or missing scales.

Now get the bait hooked quickly and into the water, being careful to ensure it remains as lively as possible.

Anchovies are hooked sideways through the nostrils or through the collar - a bone inside the gill plate - with a hook ranging in size from a No. 8 to a No. 1. Sardines (size 1/0 to 5/0 hook) and mackerel (size 3/0 to 8/0 hook) are hooked through the nose, or near the anal fin to swim deeper; since an anal-hooked bait tends to fall off the line more frequently when cast, toss the line underhand, which is not as forceful as an overhand cast. Mackerel also can be back-hooked, between the dorsal fin and the head, for deeper applications. A squid (size 3/0 to 8/0 hook) is hooked through the mantle, the pointy end away from the head and tentacles; pin the hook through the tail several times to better secure the bait.

When fly-lining - fishing top- and mid-water with little or no weight on the line - let the bait swim as free as possible by peeling line off the reel for it, instead of having the bait pull line directly off the reel.

Since bait comes with the price of the fishing ticket, change it frequently, unless otherwise directed by the crew. The smaller the bait, the quicker the change: anchovies, every 1 to 2 minutes; sardines, 3 to 5 minutes (or, on anal-hooked baits, until they stop taking out line); and mackerel, 5 to 10 minutes or longer. Squid, often tougher to acquire but considered candy by forage fish whether live or dead, can be soaked until the skipper calls it quits for the day.