We have had excellent results using 10 inch or larger frozen herring. So far this season everyone in my boat has got their ling with the smallest one being 28 inches. Last saturday we caught and kept a 39", 35" and a 28" in just under an hour and a half. Fishing was great and we would have liked to upsize the smaller one as there were plenty of fish in the area but we only brought about 18 herring and ended up running out. With results like that I haven't found the need to invest in live herring or the gold fish.