Same as for Mackerel, the herring is a favored baitfish for hand baiting longline fishermen, and it goes far back as baitfish. In Norway, the use of herring in the deep-sea Autoline fleet has decreased over the later years.

The herring is typically 20-25 cm when harvested, it can reach 40 cm length. This species is distributed in Eastern Atlantic (Northern Bay of Biscay Northward to Iceland and Southern Greenland, Eastward to Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya, also Baltic; Western Atlantic (Southwestern Greenland, Labrador, Southward to South Carolina). Fishery for Atlantic Herring is regulated and sustainable and is classified as “least concern” by IUCN.

Same as for mackerel, some hand baiters favour big herring for bait. For optimum performance with a Mustad Autoline system we recommend using whole fish from 200 to 250 gram for best baiting efficiency.