I'm planning to head down to Rockport the weekend of the 4th, and will be staying in a house on one of the canals with a dock into the canal. I'm wanting to use some live bait (piggy, mullet, mud minnows, etc) but was wondering how and where y'all catch the bait? I know cast net is always a choice, but where to look for each bait? And I also hear you can catch piggies using a Sabiki rig (true? maybe off the dock in the canal). Any advice? Thanks much.

The piggies will be thick around canals, and a Sabiki rig will do the trick, or just use a size 16 hook with a tiny piece of shrimp. Have the cast net handy for the mullet as they pass by, too.

Good luck!

Should I chum? If yes, what is your favorite (dry catfood?)

Definately catch your own piggies. Two reasons. Like Panko said they are thisck in canals and in the shallow fingers off of the ICW.. Easy to catch with sabiki rigs and cast nests...Also while bait shops go to great lengths to circulate water and keep their bait as fresh as possible..it STILL isnt as fresh as bait that has literally just been caught by you and your buddies. A more fresh bait is more active and lively..this usually translates into more bites.

whats the going rate for piggy? will anyone buy them alive if i catch them? what is a nice size? them things are out of control! my friends were fishing with dead srimp thursday and thats all they could catch. the girl did pick up her first redfish at 18in in the mix of piggys. you should have seen the look on her face when i told her she had to kiss the redfish for good luck. she did it. priceless.

Well most bait shops do not sell piggie perch specifically. Most sell croaker. I guess this should be about pinfish. Croaker, piggieperch, little baitfish. But..the premise still is the same. It is really easy to catch them on your own with the methods described above..and the bait is much more active. There are a variety of species of pinfish, including piggie perch. Most are good bait.

Going rate for piggies in Rockport $5 a dozen

At SLP, dozen piggies were $6. He does not carry any croaker. For the croaker, I had to go to Rusty hook on Galveston side of the pass. Dozen croaker were $8. Croaker were worth the price in bait gold, we tore up the trout on them. Did OK on piggies.