Fresh baits….

[GazzaB]

Fresh baits….

I have only been fishing frozen baits and was starting to think that I now need to start mastering the art of acquiring my own baits; I was hoping that I could get some tips on locations around Brisbane, gold and sunshine coasts, mainly looking for worms, yabbies and pippies, but toying with the idea of giving, a cast net a go, so any directions or tip would be helpful.
Thanks gazzab

[danryan75]

for yabbies you could try the mudflats at nudgee beach havv't been there in a while.
you can get bucketloads of pippies at bribie. just look for lumps in the sand(need 4wd unless you like walking )
you shouldn't need to do the drive and look back over your tracks thing just find the lumps.
worms can be gathered along most beaches although more prevalant at some. at low tide use an oily fish and drag through the sand near the waters edge. when a wac\ve comes in and goes out look for "v" in the sand. go over to it with a small piece of flesh and place near the "v" when the worm grabs the bait wait til it arches up and using your thumb press it onto the bait and pull up.
this takes heaps of practice.
if you are looking at a net i say go for it. best investment i have made.

cheers Daniel

[GazzaB]

thanks danryan good tips i'll hopefully be giving it a go over the weekend!!! and ill take a look at picking up a net!!

[plaztix]

Catching beach worms certainly is a tricky skill to master.

Never been any good at it my self. Would love to learn but have found my time is better spent fishing with a packet of live worms bought from the bait shop........

[kingtin]

Gazza me old china :-)

The beach worms here are more like ragworm than UK lug, and are trickier than black lug. You really need to go with someone who has the nack as once you see it done, it's a lot easier.

For the fishing that you're doing, fresh ain't essential as after all, pillies are one of the most popular bait and they are frozen.

Look in the tips section for how to throw a castnet.............I'd show you myself but I'm out of action for a while yet.

If you want herring and haven't mastered the cast net, then bait jigs will catch 'em. you just have to locate 'em first. Small mullet can be got in traps for live baiting and you can buy fresh mullet if you want to use strips.

I haven't seen anybody using mussel since coming to Oz but I don't see why it shouldn't be as good as it is in the UK and peeler and softbacks are unheard of amongst most fishos but find yourself a rocky spot and look as you would in the uk......it's a killer bait.

nearly forgot.............those little soldier crabs that you see running along the beach in their thousands can be a good bream bait at times and they 're no problem to catch.

kev

Hats off to the England cricketers for their achievements in the Ashes this summer, which rightly earned Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff BBC Sports personality of the Year. Winning a two-team tournament against a nation with a much smaller population once in every ten attempts, then never shutting up about it makes me proud to be British.

[oldboot]

There is also an intermediate step...... buying fresh bait.

buying bait frosen in bags marked bait realy should be avoided for any body serious....except maybe pillies........i go to my local discount (direct from the trawlers & all that BS) large fish shop.

ypur money will go a lot further there... and its all food grade.

200 gram bag of frosen prawns marked "bait" $4.50 to $6 a pack depending on where and who.
Small green king prawns down the fisho..today $12 per kilo

get the drift.

cheers

[Cammy]

if u want live prawns, go to shorncliff pier, sry i dont know where u live, but thats good place. mmmmmmmm prawns

cam

[Scott nthQld]

Ok…lets try this again, damn double backspace….

I agree with oldboot, if you have a good fish coop nearby, utilise them to their full potential, as fresh bait from there will be a lot better quality and cheaper than buying the frozen bait bags.

For a cast net, I’d start with a 7-8 footer for a beginner, you will find this will be plenty big enough in time, once you get your technique down pat, I myself only use a 9 footer, and that’s heaps big enough, sometimes you see people with these great big bloody things that take heaps more effort to throw, for little or no extra benefit. Also make sure the net has 3/4inch mesh, as the larger mesh allow small baits to get through and entangles the gills and makes it a lot more difficult to get bait out, especially if you want live bait. Don’t forget to get a mono net as other types hold more water and mud which makes it more difficult to throw after a few casts. Also just start off with a bottom pocket net, not a drawstring or top pocket as these just make more hassles in my opinion.

Another way to get live poddies is to take a clear, empty cordial bottle and cut a hole about 1 ½ -2 inches in diameter in the side. Put a couple of snapper leads in the bottom to keep it under the water and put bread inside the bottle. Make a burley trail with some more bread in the shallows to bring the poddies around and sink the bottle (hole side up) so there is no more than 9 inches of water above it. Leave the bottle for a bit and once the poddies are around it won’t take long to get heaps of bait, all relatively unharmed, and in better condition than just out of the net. To retrieve bait, simply remove lid from the bottle and pour onto the ground and pick em up, simple as that.