Live Baiting

[OSHISWET]

Hello guys , I just like some information on live baiting for kingfish. I would like to catch some yellowtail around middle harbour and Balmoral. What good and reliable spots for yellowtail are there around the harbour? What method is used and what set up is good to catch them?

Part 2 : once you have your yellowtail--- what is the best way to present them for kingfish. I have no downrigger. Where do you pin the yellowtail if you just want to dangle it over the side of the boat. Diagrams will be great.

Thanks

Lumpookey

Edited January 7, 2010 by LUMPOOKEY

[hooklineandsinker]

LUMPOOKEY

here are some diagrams that were posted on fishraider once before there is thread somewhere

credit goes to the drawer /artist

think this i jewgaffers

cant help on the bait collecting bit via a boat as im LB and get mine from wharfs/ shallow bays

hope that helps

mike

[SZ1]

HI Lumpookey,

Balmoral Island is a good place to start with the yakkas just fish over the weed bed and burley with bread piece shouldn't be to long before they start swarming under your boat, another place to try is the spit, both spots you can get squid as well, so it is pretty productive. As for rig it is really simple, i normally tie a swivel to the main line and leader to swivel and a size 10 mustard sneck wook ( i find the sneck hook great for catching livies), i don't use any sinker as the swivel is enough to the bait down most times it is only 3-5meters water we are in, if you want you can us small split shot sinkers or bait jig as well.

As for hooking the yakka i normally only pin it through the nose once and that is it linke numebr 2 in the above drawings.

Cheers,

Sz1

Edited January 7, 2010 by SZ1

[framedtrash]

im lazy catching yakkas

i burley up then just use a bait jigg they only cost $2 and they come prerigged

just tie it onto your main line and your set

as for rigging them up for use at anchor i just stick it threw the nose of just behind the fin like shown in the 3rd drawing on the left

kings take the yakkas from the head so i dont like to add extra hooks that are just going to kill the yakka faster

works well for me

Edited January 7, 2010 by Framedtrash

[Dangas]

Hi Lumpookey

i hook in in the back behind the head like in diagram third from top. i Hook through the nose if trolling or fast running current.

i use size 5 gamakatsu hook octopus style and attach 2m of 60lb leader (Jinkai) to large swivel with size 10 ball sinker above.

This holds the yakka down at desired depth while letting it swim around freely. Also prevents the yakka from swimming around other lines that may be out at the same time and causing tangles.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Dangas

[Mik]

Balmoral!!!!!!

Oh yeah baby. Gotta love that little slice of reef. My brother-in-law & I were there between christmas & new year chasing up some livies.

When we first arrived there was a guy with a dead battery, we ended up removing my aux battery & he got thingsgoing, then we followed him up river to the ramp he'd launched at & retreived the battery (2 beers & lotsa smiles, too easy matey (PS-Cash offer refused)). It took us about 3/4 hour all up & when we returned we kinda thought maybe the bait was gone (We'd left a hot yakka bite to go up river) But Posiedon or Neptune smiled on us for our good deed & as soon as the sabaki jig was dropped I began pulling in another yakka....... only to be nailed by a rat. The mayhem that followed must have been hilarious to any observers. I fought a 55cm rat on a 6lb mainline with a bait jig. Farkin funny & great fun!

Of course that was just too tempting so after being finally thrown off at the tiny bait jig hook we sent a couple of fresh livies on the serious gear & had about 1/2 hour of thight slappin fun with some hungry rats & also managed to get a few livies into the well.

Anyway, the moral of this story, if livie gathering at Balmoral, don't forget to chuck the first one back with a hook in him & maybe you'll have as much fun gathering bait as we did that day.

Oh yeah, we also saw three HUGE!!!! hoodlums cruise past us in 4 metres of clear water, oh what a sight they were. If only they had taken an interest in our In-Out livies I probably wouldn't be sharing this story in case everyone has the same idea. Alas, they were only there to tease us.

Good luck with the livies.

[zephi]

ah those old diagrams I drew ... Nice to see people still using them.

Well I'll answer part 1... Just go to any wharf, pontoon, baths... Basically any structure which can give the baitfish some sorta protection. I've been to balmoral and I gotta say there are plenty there, although sometimes they're not feeding when the water is too dirty.

Best rig I use to catch them is a 2 hook rig, size 10-12 hook, with the most smallest split shot sinker you can get. Bait.... pilchards, beef, chicken, yellowtail meat, bread.

Burley up with lots of find bread and you will see them cruising around.

What I do is burley up, if I don't see any then drop a line down, if within the next 10 minutes of burleying and fishing and you don't land one.. Move to another spot.

BTW, they love calm waters. I dont' fish the parramatta river much, or sydney harbour for yakkas... But down at Port Hacking, they are literally everywhere.

[clem]

Hey there Lumpookey.

I totally agree with Zephi. There are millions of them at Balmoral warf as I was there a couple of weeks ago.

Funny story though. We tried getting them for two and a half hours only to have 2 yes 2 in our bait tank.Needless to say we did not have the correct gear i.e. small hooks. We were on a boat and pulled in next to the warf/pool area. Finally we pick up a mate at the warf who had a bait jig with 4hooks on them. He snips it in half and gives me 2. My excitement grew as I was ready to get more live bait only to have it taken clean off by Leather Jackets . Yes they will show up eventually, so take a bit more than 1 bait jig.

Cheers and goodluck.

Clem

[OSHISWET]

Thanks for all the good advice raiders. I will put it to practice soon and let you know how I went.

Yous guys are fabulous.