Tailor cutbait

[pommy]

Greetings all!

Can anyone give me some pointers on how to rig up cutbaits for green back tailor. There's a few being caught around Ballina at the moment and I would like to give them a shot.

What size baits do I use eg for bonito or mullet?

Do I use 4/0 or 6/0 and do I attach them to heavy mono or wire? (One guy I talked to recommended using about 8cm of wire so that it could be hidden inside the cutbait.

When passing hook and mono/wire through bait how many times do I do this and how do I stop the bait clumping around the hook?

Any chance of attaching a photo of a rig before and after baiting?

Does anyone use salmon for cutbait? There are plenty around at the moment and are too much like cardboard to eat.

Will tailor or jewies take salmon? (Caught my first ever jewie last week at 7kg.)

Any info would be a great help.
Best regards, Rob.

[carving it up]

Rob you wouldn't happen to have lived in bellingen at one stage would you?

[pommy]

Hi! sorry no.
As the name says I,m originally from the UK. I moved here in 2001 and spent 3 years in Toowoomba and have been living in Ballina for the last 3.5 years.
I teach at a local school.
Regards, Rob.

[nigelr]

Mate if you are targetting tailor with cut bait, use mullet strips on gang hooks,
either 3 x 6/0s or 4 x 5/0s. Gamakatsu gang hooks are deadly but expensive, and they don't make 6/0s, however you can choose between Mustad or pay more for VMC for 6/0s.
As for bait, I find mullet the best, but certainly bonito, mack tuna or tailor strips work as well.
I have tried salmon, others I know have taken fish with it, but I prefer the above baits plus most particularly whole squid, for jew.
Cheers.

[pommy]

Thanks for that!

Do you use wire on the gang or do you just rely on the hooks being long enough to stop a bite off?

Also what size cutbait?

Rob.

[mariner_22]

No mate I would be sticking with mono you should not get too many bite-offs using gangs just use a heavier mono leader about 50lb should suffice.

[nigelr]

Yep, agree with Mariner re wire, I never use it, I use 100lb mono trace about 40cm or so.
I fit the hooks to the strip, longer strip - 4x5/0s, shorter strip, 3x5/0s.
I like a strip bait about 12 - 17 cms, depending on the size of the fish that are about, bigger bait for bigger fish.
I fillet a mullet (legal size) and cut the fillet lengthways, voila, 2 baits.
Cheers and enjoy!

[pommy]

That's great!

Many thanks for that info. There's some big greenbacks off South Ballina so I'll give it a go over the next week or so.

Best regards, Rob.