Salted Pillies Or Not

[adznapper]

Hi all

I dont know what to think, I save a lot of money salting my pillies,but are they as good as the unsalted ?

[southerly]

Hi all

I dont know what to think, I save a lot of money salting my pillies,but are they as good as the unsalted ?

Hi Adznapper,

I find salted pillies are too tough for most use. I prefer the frozen ones, they are soft but that is what the fish like. The exception is if I am fishing leather jackets offshore where the toughest bait I can find is great as they will eat everything.

I have not tried to salt pillies myself just used the commercial ones and they are too salty. A light salting may be ok. I lightly salt stripey and bonito fillets and they are fine, if I oversalt them they turn to leather.

David

[Bruce the Postie]

Try brinning them instead, as they toughen up nicely but still retain a shiny skin and a nice plump look about them.

Cheers,

Bruce

[adznapper]

Try brinning them instead, as they toughen up nicely but still retain a shiny skin and a nice plump look about them.

Cheers,

Bruce

Do you have a reciepe?

[noisy]

i buy the salted pillies all the time ..i am past throwing half frozen bait into the sea just to watch it break up in mid air... i use salted pillies from my local tackle store for tailor..and half a pilly for winter bream....bob

Edited May 18, 2008 by noisy

[adznapper]

Hi all

I dont know what to think, I save a lot of money salting my pillies,but are they as good as the unsalted ?

Good to here a few veiws anyone else?

[hottyscotty]

i like using unsalted and i've never had the problem flying off the hook.

if using half pillie, thread your hook once before embedding it into the chunky end and make a half hitch at the tail or the nose

for whole pillie, use gang hooks.

[Bruce the Postie]

Recipe For Brined Pillies (etc)

1 x 20l Bucket

1x bag pool salt

1 x block pillies

Place water and a couple of kg's of salt in the bucket (sea water if possible) to make a good strong brine

Add pillies and a good dash of vinegar to kill the germs

Store in a cool dark place (as you would for salting )

Check on them and stir the brine to disperse the salt

When your happy with their appearance pull 'em out and freeze till your ready to use them.

Cheers,

Bruce

[frangkie]

i personally don't reckon salted baits work as well as fresh bait, i have used salted pillies once while a mate used iqf pillies we were fishing for tailor and i ended up using his bait cause mine was useless.

[Anti-Carp]

I reckon salted pillies work better then fresh, if u salt them down properley you'll find that the oils with in the bait come to the surface via osmosis and u've got a natural berley trail. I find that a salted bait always gets hit a lot quicker then a fresh one.

[glennmreid]

I buy the salted pillies from my local tackle store and they get smashed in the water.

[frangkie]

I reckon salted pillies work better then fresh, if u salt them down properley you'll find that the oils with in the bait come to the surface via osmosis and u've got a natural berley trail. I find that a salted bait always gets hit a lot quicker then a fresh one.

the pillies i used must have been salted with fertiliser or ratsack cause the didn't even get a sniff

[humesy]

I am all for the salted ones. I don't tend to use pillies as my primary bait, but Iif I am using the salted pillies, I can get 8-10 casts before they fall apart. If I don't use the whole pack, they can go into the freezer and be just as good next time. Failing that, they go into the burley pot.

I have asked around a few tackle store when I am shopping for them and owners have some definite opinions and won't consider stocking them. One reason was that they do not release as much blood/juice/odour into the water.