When Is Bait Not Bait?

[CHAPPY]

A new Woolies Shopping centre has just opened at Cooloola Cove near Tin Can Bay and as an opening special, have green aussie banana prawns on special for under $10 a kilo. Naturally, we purchased a couple of kilos for consumption. But when I wanted to buy some for bait, the boss was not amused. I tried to explain that this price was cheeper than those 250g packs of crappy bay frozen prawns.
Anyway, I am going to buy a couple of kilos and freeze them in 250g lots for
peeled prawn bait.

I believe that better quality bait gets better quality fish. Has anybody else done the same when seafood is at a low price?

Regards Chappy

[FNQCairns]

Get the feeling we are being asked to settle a mild domestic LOL!

The poorest quality fresh bait bait you can use is a plastic but it's presentation is terrific!
You cannot go wrong with the freshest bait if only because at the end of the day it stays on longer, still unless your lucky enough to drop down to where a bite on, so completion for any morsel is fierce - presentation is always the key but the freshest bait can never hurt......also makes eating the packed sandwich a little nicer after only a quick oceanic wash of the hands .

Don't think using product sold for food as bait is legal at a regulatory level but for me personally it's seriously hard to resist whole food quality squid as potential bait.

cheers fnq

[seatime]

Don't think using product sold for food as bait is legal at a regulatory level but for me personally it's seriously hard to resist whole food quality squid as potential bait.

cheers fnq

Really... why is that?

Could understand it the other way around of course,,, though nothin much surprises me anymore when it comes to regulators.
How on earth would they enforce it?

[zigfreed]

I always buy whole squid for bait from the fish shop ($10-12/kg). You would be flat out catching a feral cat on the sunburnt purple cr@p they sell at the servo.

Mick

[FNQCairns]

Really... why is that?

Could understand it the other way around of course,,, though nothin much surprises me anymore when it comes to regulators.
How on earth would they enforce it?

Basically they on paper assume that most product sold as bait is vetted in some way against the possibility of it spreading a water born disease, it is in practice an absolute technical tick that cons/attempts to forces consumers into wasting their money/experience.

Enforcement = by the goodness of heart or prig-ness of nature.

cheers fnq

[Daryl McPhee]

There are no regulatory controls on the use of Australian seafood produce for bait.

The use of imported vanamai prawns for bait is prohibited due to the likelihood of spreading white spot disease to our local waters.

I like to use mullet from seafood for bait in preference to that in my local bait stores which have been in the freezers since the 60s.

[the gecko]

Ive used fresh green prawns from the seafood shop at $30 a kilo for bait. Ive also bought fresh whiting, mullet and tailor from seafood shops as bait when i was hunting for jew. Since Ive yet to catch a jew, I was in a phase where Id try anything, but alas none of em worked. I did catch my pb tailor 75cm on fresh tailor fillet tho.

It made no diff for jacks, my pb jack was on servo mullet, so go figure.....

Yes, Im well aware that we never use imported seafood for bait, as there is a risk of disease. Hopefully the price of fresh seafood puts most people off. I havent bought any for bait for 2 years now, and wont bother with it again.

Andrew

[Ozie_3]

those banana prawns (they have been frozen and thawed) are sold as australian local catch and work great...
i get them on special at about $12 K ... they can be used whole on an 8/0 or ganged 5/0s or peeled and cut for 2/0 to #8 ..
servo prawns are round $20 K and are only any good on 1/0 or smaller (great for catching catfish but)..

you do get some weird looks if you mention theyre for bait....go figure...

cheers chris

[seatime]

There are no regulatory controls on the use of Australian seafood produce for bait.

The use of imported vanamai prawns for bait is prohibited due to the likelihood of spreading white spot disease to our local waters.

I like to use mullet from seafood for bait in preference to that in my local bait stores which have been in the freezers since the 60s.

Totally agree with the prohibition of vanamai's for bait.

The earlier statement inferred that all seafood for human consumption was illegal for use as bait.

Thanks for the clarification.

[FNQCairns]

Daryl is your comment related at a state level or a federal level or both?

cheers fnq

[STUIE63]

I have used australian caught prawns for bait for years they are much better quality .and probably work out cheaper per kilogram and about even per hook
Stuie

[Daryl McPhee]

I'll have to get back to you FNQCairns. The whole vannamaei issue was bubbling around in 2006. There were two issues the importation of them and import controls of which was a Federal issue and their use which is probably a grey area between the Commonwealth and the State.

Certainly the State Fisheries Minister made a number of strong worded calls recommending they not be used:

http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/St....aspx?id=49170

But despite my previous advice I'm not sure if any prohibitions made their way into regs.

My attempts to clarify things have probably muddied the water further!

I am sure however that the use of seafood for human consumption is allowed. Further in the SE corner of Qld and NSW, you still run across the occassional salt who uses steak to catch bream.

[Pilchard]

reckon they'll go QUICK!

[cormorant]

You sould be able to buy them at the co-ops frozen for that 2kg-5kg box and they will stay in better condition as you don't hav eto refreeze them.

I know the 2 big chains have a policy of not selling their "thawed" seafood as boxed frozen bulk product and they don't have a code o the register for it. They wan't you to buy the 250gm packs they pack up from Thialand as there is a bigger margin and they want you coming back regularly not once a month.

Many packeted seafood has a lable ( even if Australian) theyt it is only for human consumption and it has to do with Food safety regulations concerning separation or bait , animal feed and human consumption goods. Other labeling is to do with disease and fisheries are aware to look out for bait in human consumption packets.

Remember much of outr seafood is caught and shipped to be processed in overseas locations only to be sold back to us in packets. There are rules on the import ( even on Austrlian caught fish like whiting) that it not be used for bait.

[Janelle]

There are food safety regulations regarding the sale of seafood for human consumption. There is also another major difference between seafood sold for human consumption and for bait - it is called GST. Whether it be fresh or frozen. If a shop knowingly sells product for bait then they must pay GST on that product and if they don't then they are committing tax fraud.

There was a brochure put out by DPI a couple of years ago about when it is safe and when it isn't to use prawns. I can't find it now. On the DPI website all I could find at a quick flick was


Protecting against exotic disease
The use of product not caught in your local area for bait in recreational fishing is a major concern because it has the potential to spread disease in Queensland waters.
It is important to ensure that only approved product is used for bait or enters retail bait outlets. Licensing standards ensure that aquaculture product (except those authorised for bait species by DPI&F) is not diverted to bait use, thus minimising the risk of spreading disease.