Catching Bait Fish

[ryhno]

Hey Raiders,

Was finding it a bit difficult to catch a decent amount of yakka's and slimey's over the weekend.

Only ended up with 4 or so in about an hour... (must be doing something wrong)

So i thought i'd ask you guys your opinions on what type of rigs, etc you use to catch liveys?

What works for you?

Cheers Guys,

Ryhno

[slinkymalinky]

With little yakkas, berley and a sabiki bait jig with the smallest possible lures on it. Last Summer it never took more than about 20 minutes to get a bait tank full of the little kingy jellybeans... assuming we found a school.

With bigger yakkas and slimeys, just scale up the size of the bait jig.

Only one other useful tip... a steady stream of fine berley makes a big difference holding the bait at the back of the boat. I freeze blocks of bread minced in the blender with water and a teaspoon of tuna oil to a slurry. I then drop a frozen block in the berley pot when I get to the spot... as it thaws you get an unbroken stream of fine particles. Works heaps better than using the berley pot.

Cheers, Slinky

[ryhno]

Thanks Slinky,

I'll have a look into these Sabiki jigs.

Much appreciated.

Ryhno

[Kit]

ryhno,

You fishing wharf or off a boat?

I'm shore based and have caught yakkas on bait jigs but have found a light handline with an unweighted sz 10 hook with a sliver of pilchard to be more effective.

Sometimes I like to stir them up a bit with some bread mushed up in seawater as berley.

But sometimes even if the baitfish are there, they just don't cooperate.

I've found when fishign this way, handlines are more effective cos you can feel the fish better than through a rod.

Chris

[King slayer]

Hey Ryhno,

my most sucessfull method to date is my home made sabiki rig, consisting of 3 top shelf brand octapus hooks in tiny size (6 or 8). Little peices of squid on the hooks with good barb exposure, and a little snapper lead at the base.

Burley is bread crumbs and tuna catfood with a small dash of tuna oil and mashed in water, put lumps in a burley net and it lets it out slowly. Throw the odd bit extra out if you need to but no too much.

Put the rig into the trail and just try to stop them! you'll get two and three per second when they're hungry no worries.

Just find the school or a likely place then burley up. BILLIONS of yakkas around the markers last week and in deeper water in North Harbour near structure.

Too easy, good luck.

Now just turn them into kings for much enjoyment!

Dave