A Leisurely Stroll In The Mud

[Guest johblow]

Gidday all,

Went down to ATB and Bobbo for a "research" trip yesterday, a touch before low tide. I have just bought a bait net trap thing, and want to get into a rhythm with it before i start to rely on it for bait. Ideally, i would get some live bait before going fishing, and im trying to work out if this is going to work. I focussed mainly on Bobbo, near the footbridge.

I caught one prawn in my trap. I was using fine ground bread for burley, and had some bread in the trap. There was not much sing of life down there at all. Other times ive been there, there have been many small fish around, and the od school of larger stuff.

In any case, there are tons of crabs down there that you can collect with your hands - the red/purple clawed ones dont bite too hard, but the green clawed ones are really aggressive. I am told crabs are great bait for bream and also jews eats crabs as part of their diet. They dont stay on the hook long but. I was actually using a bait pump and sieve at first before i realised that i could just pick them out of their holes. There are some really small yabbies down there too, which are not worth collecting. I kept two, for later use.

Then i went on to ATB, to the pontoon to scope it out (I will do another research trip to ATB to the sand flats part net week). There was some more fish around there - bream and some good sized blackfish hanging around the weedbeds between the pontoon and the footbridge. The blackfish and bream picked off the two yabbies with surgical precision, and my crabs were sniffed, but not bitten. They have been frozen now for emergency bait.

I also saw a small jew swimming around under the pontoon - it was make the odd venture out a bit and then head back underneath. It was definitely a jew - the shape - plus the fact that it was circumcised gave it away (no letters to the editor please - i myself am cicumcised too ).

So, next week i hope to find out that i can easily get some poddies down on the ATB sandflats, and see what sort of yabbie action is down there (i guess not much).

I would appreciate it if anyone could suggest a good time for getting poddies, or a sure-fire place. Thanks.

Cheers,

Jon

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

JOH , I just don`t know anybody who will give those traps a wrap , and don`t ask me why , but for what I hear , they just dont work .

Have a good read of this link , and if you decide to try this one , then let us all know how you got on.

Mick

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...5&hl=poddy+trap

[Guest Aron]

Hi Johnbow,

Mate you wasted your $$ on that trap - im suprised you caught a prawn in it, the only thing iv ever caught in one are puffer fish and baby bream.

I have tried various methods in the collection of poddie mullet

Bait trap - net style (commercial product)

Bait trap - plastic tube (commercial product)

2 litre cordial botle with hole cut into flat with flaps bent in (homemade)

pertik glass salad bowl (big w) with cling-wrap over top and slit cut in top

But the best result iv ever had

1 litre glass juice bottle (i prefer the tomato juice bottle because i like tomato juice)

I have also used the old oyster jars they work fantastic - small long glass jar about 40 mm diametre x 120 mm long

Also a lot of people swear by fluroscent tubes (with one end removed) - i have not used this method yet

Cheers

[kingpig]

Your can make a good trap for small mullet from a botttle a suggetsed and it will work. The best way I know is to get a plastic container I use a plastic washing up dish. Cover it with two layers of fly screen wire and tie it around the outside to hold the wire on. Cut out a hole in the center big enough to fit your hand in.

Put bread in-between the wire layers around the center hole. Sink it in water at least 300mm deep. Berley with small peices of bread to attrack the fish.

The hard part is to get the first one into the trap lots will go then once the first one does.

Good luck

[Guest johblow]

Thanks for your help fellas. Guess i better eBay the net trap!!! hahahaha... well, i cant use it as a boat anchor...damn.

[femalefisho]

We have only found one trap that works and it is made out of chicken wire and we used to buy them from a guy at the bait and tackle shop at Toronto ( lake macquarie)

Anyways small amount of bread and half hour later trap full of 15 - 20 poddies with the odd tiny tiny bream and puffers.

I have also heard the flurorescent tube working cause apparently they cant swim back out so thats how they are trapped?????

I suppose depends on what trap but if it is anything like the one we had then it might work.

Down here though in Sydney for fun we take the little fella and catch them with tiny hooks and this floatie thing a ma jiggie the other half made and a bit of bread and sometimes get easily 30.

We keep them alive also in the livie tank. They have stayed in there for nearly a month alive ( we feed them of course) till we used them.

I am weirdo I know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Flattieman]

G`day Fellas ,

JOH , I just don`t know anybody who will give those traps a wrap , and don`t ask me why , but for what I hear , they just dont work .

Have a good read of this link , and if you decide to try this one , then let us all know how you got on.

Mick

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...5&hl=poddy+trap

GO THE JUICE BOTTLE!!!

Flattieman.