Catching Bait

[Yakfisher]

Hey
Just new to the game.
*whats the easiest bait to catch?
*how do you catch it ?
*is eel or rays good for anything but sharks?

I've had a run at prawns, but looking for more options
I'm not specifically targeting any species, just thought i'd reduce my pilly budget

cheers

[Shitty_Master]

The easiest bait to catch is probably herring, all you have to do is burley up using pellets/wheetbix, bran/ pollard and let the fish come to you.

If they on the surface all you need is a float line and a little piece of squid and you should get a few.

If you burley up really well you can catch them in a net.

[Lucky_Phill]

What bait ?

Well that probably depends on your target fish species.

You say you want to reduce your pillie budget. Several things to do there, buy pillies in the carton ( 8 blocks ) or a 15kg IQF box then seperate them in the amount you need for each trip.

The alternative baits to pillies, I would say , is Yakka ( yellowtail ) or Slimies. These would need to be jigged on offshore locations such as reefs, hard ground, wrecks and coffee rock areas.

Certainly Herring can be obtained from landbased areas like jettys, pontoons etc using either a cast net or bait jig.

Gar cannot be taken out of the equation either, and these good baits ( and eating fish ) can be caught in shallow water around weed banks in estuary systems. Around rock walls you can also jig up Pike, trevally and assorted baitfish species.

I personally spend a whole day, every now and again, just collecting biat. Very rewarding and the freezer has always a stock should I get the urge to hit the water.

Phill

[Brett1907]

Herring are good inshore bait but they don't last too long as livies. Poddy mullet are a much hardier live bait, they can last for hours in the tub or on the hook.

To burley up I mix some chook pellets with tuna oil, the fish love it. And while you are getting more bait, have a livie floating around for the larger specimens that turn up.

Brett

[imnotoriginal]

As Lucky Phil said, it really does depend on what you're targetting. #I personally don't do a great deal of bait fishing these days, but I do occasionally live bait, and I have certain areas where I know I can catch pike or herring, and a live bait bag to transport them in. #These fish, live or dead, will catch you anything from big bream on the herring right up to all sorts of monsters with bigger pike. #You just have to be responsible with how many you take.
Joel

p.s. I catch the herring on a bait jig, and the pike on small soft plastics. I've used stingray as burley but not as bait.

[rockfisho]

Hi

If you've got a lot of time up your sleeve you might want to have a crack at beach worming.
It's great fun, a bit challenging, and when you become proficient at it, it can save you heaps.
I think there are DVD's on the market showing you how to worm in you're intrested

Good luck

rockfisho

[Yakfisher]

Thanks guys
muchos appreciated

[Cammy]

hey fishos

can u live bait fish with a float? does it work as good?
just wandering

cam

[Brett1907]

Use a float if you want to keep the bait in a certain level in the water column. Unwaited seems to work fine for smaller livies though.

Brett