whiskers as crab bait

[URAGANGI]

Has anyone used live fork tailed catfish as crab bait? I've found that the smallerer the forky the better the chances are of potting a decent crab. The first thought comes to mind is the spikes,thats the first step taken care of. A pair of tin snips helps give the grunter a short back and sides.

[bennykenny]

yeah ive used them before they are not bad if thats all you can get, but i much prefer chicken frames or mullet. cheers BK

[URAGANGI]

Benny Kenny thanks for your reply. It's just that i've found that you tend to pot larger crabs using live grunters, other than using chicken frames. The big plus with this is that the pickers down below don't knock off your bait so fast. And I guess the smaller crabs aren't quite up to taking on larger fish?

[mod5]

Has anyone used live fork tailed catfish as crab bait? I've found that the smallerer the forky the better the chances are of potting a decent crab. The first thought comes to mind is the spikes,thats the first step taken care of. A pair of tin snips helps give the grunter a short back and sides.

So what you are saying is that you get a live catfish. While it is still alive you cut off it's spikes with a pair of tin snips then you secure it in a crab pot while it is still alive.

Do you realise what you are doing is ethically and morally wrong and also I would suggest illegal.

[Paul007]

So what you are saying is that you get a live catfish. While it is still alive you cut off it's spikes with a pair of tin snips then you secure it in a crab pot while it is still alive.

Do you realise what you are doing is ethically and morally wrong and also I would suggest illegal.
Illegal? So tell me how it is substancially different from putting a hook in to the back of a live mullet or prawn and throwing it "live" into a creek. It's called live baiting and it has been and still is acceptable fishing practice since man first went down to the sea in search of food.
I'm no lawyer and I don't crab using that method but I would be very surprised if it were illegal.

[URAGANGI]

moderator 5..... Man you sound like a full on tree hugger, I hope you use nets instead of the age old practice of using hooks.... Have you ever baited with prawns LIVE Yabbies LIVE Mullet LIVE worms, should I go on? Ask any blue water fisherman LIVE bait for bigger targets is Better. Your forgetting that fish are predators and not VEGENS unlike yourself. SALTWATER CATFISH aren't a protected species.... SO go and get back in your cotton wool box, munch on some more cabbage and have a good nannners Nap. Are you sure fishing is for you Cause I'd hate to see you on a pig shooting trip... When your ammo is out you use your Knife! And yes I'm a hard wired HUNTER as well. GREEN>>> GREEN.

[lunchcutter]

well said long shift

[URAGANGI]

Paul 007 Hey what can I say but thanks for your cover fire!! I've looked meaner Boars in the eyes, than helpfull MOD5. Prehaps our friend should design a soft touch hook, just for those soft touch applications? Thanks 007 SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED.

[URAGANGI]

Jason I thank you also. I've had my chew. We are all here to help each other Not rip each other to pieces! Never the less if MOD5 was in trouble I'd still go and Help out.... That's what AUSSIES DO!

[Benno1]

i thought he ment "whiskas" like the tinned cat food. Ive heard it works quite well...punch a few holes in the tin with a screw driver let the current do the rest.

Mrs Benno1
Sunny

[Noelm]

I think you are all forgetting that a lot of people read these forums, not just gun toting killers, and what Mod5 is saying is, the greens have enough ammunition to hit us with, without the added written and easily quoted (and then proven) barbaric acts (in the eyes of the greens) they (Mods) run the site and keep it civil when we all at times tend to hit send long before we think about what was written, the age old saying, "battleship mouth, but a row boat brain"

[URAGANGI]

Noelm thanks for your fair comment. I had no intention of causing a meltdown! Just maybe I should've rolled over and played dead. This all started with a simple question and ended badly. I just carn't stand it when greenies hit the panic button,like I said it all started out as an honest/simple question.

[URAGANGI]

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures\Humpback Whale.jpg

[Owen]

I reckon everyone should use whiskers for crab bait.
They scratch like hell when you're trying to shove 'em in the pot though!

[URAGANGI]

Owen good morning to you. I'm so glad that someone else can add a little colour to the world today. We are far too serious and pollitical nowdays, some of us have forgotten how to laugh. Like the comedians say (It's a tuff gig!) Well done and good one you.

[Nico.d.R]

catfish is my prefferd crab bait , it works well and last a long time . I have not tried a live catfish but i have had some big muddies chew on the dead ones . Good tip on removing the spikes i use pliers and snap them off just to make sure nobody gets spiked while checking the pots , i have had a catfish spike in my shoulder blade on night and it doesnt tickle .
owen , nice one im still in tears lmao .

cheers nico

[URAGANGI]

Nico.d.r Thanks for your reply. Your telling me it kills when a catty gets the first plug in. I remember when I once stepped out of the boat and right onto the dammed thing. It's like having internal larva pumping around your wound. And the swelling well WOW. I watched my foot grow in minutes. Yeah anyway at least I now Know There is a few of us who use this practice for larger crabs. One thing though, on these sites I've also learn't :o is to not be so descriptive on just how I go about cutting and hooking things up. Yep I've been cautioned and spanked, you know what I mean.Freedom of speech has been tweeked here. Anyway Big hits for yourself in the future. Cheers Long Shift.

[Nico.d.R]

when i got spiked we were catching heaps off catfish one night when i was a teenager and we were putting them into our crab pots , my mate had just lost his last one so when he was on i said quick get it up . He got it up alright , he yanked it into the air and it came down and went through my jacket and 2 shirts into my shoulder blade . It did hurt like hell and swelled up a bit but my mates mum cleaned me up with boiling water and disinfectant which stopped alot off the swelling ( the clean up hut as much as the spike lol .

cheers nico

[Robbo76]

mmm, don't think it's illegal mate. What is the diff between putting a live catty in a pot or putting a legal stripy on gangs out the back?

I have never tried catty for crab bait, catch plenty of the buggers in the barron river with my boy. Might have to keep a couple.

Funny stuff Owen!

I see what your saying noelm, but in the eyes of the greens, I think everything we do is wrong. Are you saying greens don't know we use live fish for bait? actually don't answer that, they prolly don't::) . Does this mean we have to tip toe around and look over our shoulder when we put a livie on, or speak of it, or dispatch of a fish? Might as well hang our rods up, Hang on, thats what they want!

I think Mod5 casts lures into a fish shop. A size 6,0 gangs will pull them fillets off the counter pretty good mate.

Just joking, Hope you have a sense of humor:-X .

All the best,
Rob

[URAGANGI]

Robbo Thanks for your voice on this topic. I'll post back friday, bloody updates are due. I just lost my last post.... are crap.

[URAGANGI]

Robbo thanks again, anyway Yes the greens might be getting a little top heavy. Control and power can help you rise but too much and it can also cause your downfall. This whole deal with catfish started out at least 4 years ago. (It was an experiment) Live bait V's cut or frame baits. And the result is Live bait can pot better crabs. Your fishshop caper well LOL till I couldn't breath, top stuff that I love it, truely golden. Some people collect stamps, I study mudcrabs. Yep I've got a life but this is part of it. A good fisherman/hunter studdies his intended Quarry(feeding sites breeding seasons territory's water holes and migration habbits) Better understanding yield's better results. Look I understand your plight with the green team, cause I could fuel a campfire all night long on the topic .When you chain your good self to a tree .....Well how's the koarla's supposed too get up there? Fishing and green's is a sensative topic so I'll leave you with similar thought's. BIG strikes and plenty of colour for you. Cheers long shift.

[tiny_tinny]

Best crab baits are freshly killed endangered marsupials, closely followed by the brains of intelligent politicians (assuming you can find any).

[URAGANGI]

Tiny Tinny. Hmm pollititians brains hey, To soft , colourless, small, odourless, not much good in any form. Your other suggestion .......well take cover cause that'll stir up the green team for sure.I had no idea that this simple question early in the thread, would uncover some heavy views on the greens, as far as fishing goes anyway. Hope you pot a few whopper's next time your out. I'll do a poddy mullet and duck back under cause small fish become bigger fish. Cheers long shift.