Live Baiting Techniques

[nautilus]

I have just started getting into live baiting and I have a couple of questions. First, when fishing for kings, what size yakka should I be using? The first time I tried it, I caught a 73cm king on a large (25cm) yakka. It was the first bait I put out and I hooked up. The other day I went out using small (15cm) yakkas and I lost them all (6 or 7) without a single hook up. Everything else was the same. Also, I noticed that with the smaller yakkas, the hooks (I was using 6/0 Owner hooks) were getting hooked back into the bait and killing it. I was just pinning them through the nose. Should I be going down a hook size when using smaller yakkas? Are smaller yakkas any good, or do all sorts of fish go for them and only decent sized ones go for the bigger fish. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Al

[NAGG]

I have just started getting into live baiting and I have a couple of questions. First, when fishing for kings, what size yakka should I be using? The first time I tried it, I caught a 73cm king on a large (25cm) yakka. It was the first bait I put out and I hooked up. The other day I went out using small (15cm) yakkas and I lost them all (6 or 7) without a single hook up. Everything else was the same. Also, I noticed that with the smaller yakkas, the hooks (I was using 6/0 Owner hooks) were getting hooked back into the bait and killing it. I was just pinning them through the nose. Should I be going down a hook size when using smaller yakkas? Are smaller yakkas any good, or do all sorts of fish go for them and only decent sized ones go for the bigger fish. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Al

Hi Al
Nice to see another Sydney lad on Ausfish

hook selection is pretty important when fishing Yakkas! ....... I generally use a 6/0 Owner (circle) in the nose & often place a stinger in the tail! ( an 8" bait)
i've found the circles are less susceptible to turning back into the bait. The stinger most definitely improves results!
Here is an example of what I use for Kings & Jew ....... Attachment 22282
Yakkas are a second string live bait with Slimies the gunn bait (along with live squid). But any live bait will be in with a chance ...... The bigger ocean Yakkas are good for deep water locations ( The Peak) .... as they are very hardy

Hope you catch heaps

Nagg

[nautilus]

Thanks NAGG. This looks like the ticket. Will give it a go this weekend.