Livebait in the surf

[Horse]

I went along to Nuggets seminar on Wed and as usual picked up a lot of info:D . Dave looked at surf fishing for big Tailor and Jew and gave me a different slant on how to go about it. He talked about using 10-12" Mullet as livies:o . Next time I see Mullet in a gutter I will certainly be trying to get one on the end of a hook;) ;D . Has anyone used legal sized Choppers as a livey and how did they behave? Dave said small Mullet would not swim out properly but I was wondering how various other species might go

Cheers


Neil

[Jackinthebox]

Hi Neil,

have used good sized choppers as liveys before in the surf.

Big pair of hooks lightly in the back with the fishes head facing away from you and freespool them into a gutter(no sinker). They will swim out nicely and stay there until they get chomped.

Usually it's a never ending run that you can't seem to stop and you get left wondering how big that shark actually was!

cheers,
Mick

[stonecold]

Neil as Mick said 2 * 10/0s lightly in the back with the head facing away from you and just drop in the gutter. I Use my live 7ft fibre jig stick with a TLD 20 for live baiting the beach...I get lots of funny looks, but hey it works for me.
Choppers dont have the stamina of a mullet about the length of your forearm but if you can't get a mullet its better that nothing.
The smaller mullet wont swim out and its prolly related more to the fact that they cant pull againt the water pressure on the line. They need to be lobbed out.
If you can find a school of mullet on the beach thats a great place to start.

Cheers Mark

[pommy]

G'day mate!

Sea mullet also important. Tried using river caught mullet of 30-35cm as livies off the beaches near Ballina. They lasted a while but then drowned. Didn't seem to have the required stamina.

Regards, rob.

[84mick]

Nugget put on a good night and a lot of info! I will be keeping an eye out on the mullet in the surf too. Is it easy to spot the difference between the choppers and mullet while in the surf? I'll be hitting up the goldie beaches this winter ;)

Cheers, Mick.

[stonecold]

Managed to get up the beach on Friday arv and took a few pics of my version of live baiting in the surf.

First step is to get your mullet, 2 snelled 10/os are placed in the back as below pics show. End hook of trace goes closest to the head rear hook near tail.

[stonecold]

Bait ready to swim

[stonecold]

Feed him out in the same hole that the mullet are swimming in. The predators wont be to far away. Hopefully this is the result.

[stonecold]

If all else fails...take the bait and turn it into beer battered fish

[stonecold]

The wife and kids cant tell the difference,

[duncan mcwhirter]

Mate what a great progression!! topstuff

[deepfried]

Nice work mate. Would have been a few serves of battered fish in that jew.

[stonecold]

Yeah heaps mate but to be honest the next one that size is going back...great to catch but I prersonally prefer eating the ones 8-15kg. Just a personal thing

[fishheadstew]

Hi guys. Only my third post. Appreciate all the advice. Great site.

Can someone briefly explain how to go from seeing mullet in the surf... to having a live one in your hand to hook up as bait?

Also... should one use a swivel?

thanks
Stew