Balloons from the Beach

[SI Osprey]

Some mentioned it in my thread on sharking and it go me thinking...

Have you ever tried balloons from the beach? If so, what are your thoughts.

As that a relative owns a balloon business, I have virtually unlimited supply and I'm wondering whether its worth carrying a few in the tackle bag for floating bunker or worms out on days when the wind is pushing off the beach.

Obviously, this would work out front and would be more of bay tactic, but then again...

Another question would be about casting. Could you, in theory, cast a ballooned rig out, set a baitrunner loose, and then tighten the drag when it gets to a spot you like?

What about ballooning from a kayak? Would seem like a good thing to try.

You tell me.

[civicntheyak]

it might work from the beach. i would try a real short leader maybe 18in tops with a swivel and a fishfinder rig. then put a small bead above the fish finder rig with a overhand knot a couple feet above that just to stop the balloon from running all the way up the line. i would think this setup would be your best bet for being able to cast much farther. but then if there is any waves hitting your line it would probley just pull it back in shore. only trying it will tell. with perfect conditions. g/l

[Punisher]

Have done something similar off my beach.
First thing you need is an west wind.
2nd thing, is use 3 balloons, to carry larger weight and bait.

The biggest problem you will have will be current, the current running north or south will start to work against your balloons going east.

We figured a way around having your bait being pulled back to the beach by current.
What we did was tie the balloons to a candy Lifesaver or 2. Then tie the Lifesaver candies to your swivel. Usually, by the time your balloons have got your bait out far enough to the point the current starts moving your bait down the beach, the Lifesavers have melted and releases your balloons.

Bait and weight drop to the bottom. The only downside to this, is you now will have 3 balloons floating off to be eventually eaten by Sea turtles, who think they are jellyfish. The turtles will probably die.

That being said, I no longer deploy baits that way. YMMV

[nja1379]

punisher, your whole life saver idea is pretty creative. although i see what you mean by the whole sea turtle situation. that is not the best out come. those guys are already in trouble when it comes to population.

[SI Osprey]

Thanks guys.

I considered the environmental thing too. Prolly will never do it, but I was curious about it.

Thanks.

[fishon]

A guy I used to fish with would run a live bait, (blue runner, jack, or pompano) out from the beach under a baloon. Most times it would only take about ten minutes for a shark to grab it.

Punisher is right about the turtles though, they will scarf a baloon down and choke on it.

Does anybody remember about ten years ago a group of geniuses launched something like 1000 black helium filled baloons from the beach to raise awareness for the plight of sea turtles? Wonder how that worked out.

[Lt.]

Simple solution to the problem.. Don't use Balloons.. The life saver thing works well.. Done it many time.. However I got a bit creative and this works for sharking.. Find any item that floats and has a dead load capacity of ten pounds while floating. A couple jugs tied off together works. I have a pool noodle cut into about sixteen inch segments and duct taped six of those segments together.. Tie them too the life saver that is tied off too the swivel. About twenty yards up the beach from where i am drifiting my bait, I set up an open faced free line retrieval rod which is also attached too the noodles. This allows me to retrieve my noodles after the life saver has dissolved and separated from my bait. A few times they get tangled but not too often...Just keep in mind that the wind and the tide has to be working together and fishing the rip is the best place to drift. BTW.. Its best to have someone working the slack in the float retrieval to eliminate line tangle.. I also use a slip knot method.. I have a small segment of rope that is tied off too the noodles with a knot on the tag end of the rope. I mostly attach them together with a slip knot. This allow me to give the bait line a good tug and the drift float is released where I want it.

[ricksconnected]

theres a turtle safe type balloon. im not sure what it is made of.
some web research can be done on that if interested. ballooning is a great way to rig. i use it everytime i go to the beach. i run the lip part of the balloon up through the swivel eye and let it rip. once it gets to where i want it set the hook really hard and the balloon pops and there ya have it.

[redfish-bluefish]

At the risk of going off-topic (but definitely related), has anyone tried Kites? It seems more complicated, but has the benefit of no balloons. I've wondered in the past about this off of a yak, too.

[MarkCz]

I have seen a kite used off of a boat with great success on TV. I am sure it can be done from the beach with a nice stiff offshore breeze. Maybe one rod for the kite and the other with the bait and some kind of release klip when a fish hits. Or the lifesaver route if you just want to send it out and leave it.