Mackeral Live Baiting

[AH]

I need some advice on which is the optimum method of hooking live mackeral for Bass. On a recent boat trip to a renowned Bass hot-spot we used live macky free-lined over a shallow reef sometimes using a slight weight to keep bottom. Within half an hour a 6 Pounder came over the side to my mate, shortly followed by two good takes back-to-back both of which tested my mate's new 15 lb Class uptider only to let go to our puzzlement. In my opinion hooking the livebait in the nose with a 5/0 Treble took the first fish but missed the other two better fish. I noted that the Bass took the Macky head-on and if this is the case then it is likely that the Bass would immediately come into contact with the line attached to the hook and prevent a proper take. A change of tactics came a bit to late in the day in the form of hooking the Macky behind the pectoral with a treble as an experiment. The Macky was so lively that it shot down-tide then back up-tide entangling the anchor rope and annoying my mate whom earlier boasted on how well his nose hooked Macky moved. I concluded that Back-Hooked Macky kick far more but I am unsure about the hooking capabilities. If anyone has caught Bass using a treble hook behind the pectoral fin then your comments would be much appreciated.

CHEERS :?: