Bait fishing

[Will Wright]

Can someone help me? I am fishing with bait and sick of catching small fish like wrasse etc. Does anyone have bait fishing tips to help me catch bigger fish? 

[wazatherfisherman]

46 minutes ago, Will Wright said:

Can someone help me? I am fishing with bait and sick of catching small fish like wrasse etc. Does anyone have bait fishing tips to help me catch bigger fish? 

Hi Will that's a bit too general of a question- if you say what you're after, gear using and locations then there will be plenty of advice.

Good bait this time of year is fresh prawns as they are in season now in the estuaries. If you are restricted to frozen bait (especially prawns) buy some from a bait shop in a 1 kg block and 'decant' into session sized amounts. Use the whole prawn hooked from tail to head so your hook comes out through the legs underside of head and do 2 half hitches around the tail. Good for most estuary species

Also try to keep your line strength in the 3-4 kg range maximum and as little lead as you can use- less is generally best. Live worms are expensive but are attractive to plenty of species as well. 

Better still, buy a prawn scoop net and a torch and scoop your own prawns- live prawns can catch pretty much anything and are around now til about March on nights with not much moon and a run-out tide. Most lakes, rivers, lagoons and creeks will have some sort of prawns this time of year

Edited December 26, 2019 by wazatherfisherman

[kingie chaser]

You might get something from this?

 

 

[Will Wright]

2 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

You might get something from this?

 

 

Thanks guys, I have a lighter rod in the 2 to 3 kg rating and a heavier one in the 8kg rating, I use 15lb braid on the big one and just 7lb on the small one. I want to target really anything a decent size, flathead, kingfish, big trevally etc. I have been fishing with strips of squid on both rods and all I catch is little fish. 

[mii11x]

Patience mate.....patience.

Your time will come.  How many hours of edited footage do you think makes up a half hour fishing program?

[Will Wright]

4 hours ago, motiondave said:

@Will Wright , what areas are you fishing ? from shore or boat?

time and tides can make a difference, and no , I dont fish early morning , sometimes late afternoon. Most of my fishing is done middle of the day.

different areas can require different baits. If you are getting wrasse, then Id guess you are fishing off rocks.

flathead, bream, tervally, the usual "rubbish" , are not usually found in wrasse areas, at least thats what ive found

As said by @wazatherfisherman , good bait can help.

Im 99% bait fishing myself.

I use, raw chicken breast strips covered in Parmesan cheese, fresh  or frozen bait prawns.

coles, woolies or cheap asian owned fish shops sell banana prawns raw, cut into chunks. 

I get live bait prawns ones these days at 50c each, as my catch rate has done better, although some days they only chew on a dirty bit of pilchard.

Salted pilchards can work well, squid not so much, unless im chasing something specific in a certain area (beach fishing)

garden earthworms work well on a soft plastic jig head ive found, hook worm on, cast, very slow retrieve, 

Id suggest head down to tackle shop and look for this book

 

https://afn.com.au/product/landbased-fishing-guide-to-sydney-area/

 

well worth the $10 

I saw copies at a shop yesterday when I was there. Ive got my own copy of it

 

Yeah thanks mate, I'm usually rock fishing 

[kingie chaser]

4 hours ago, motiondave said:

@Will Wright , what areas are you fishing ? from shore or boat?

 

 

Didn't think to ask that question but yes more info at the start of the thread helps in the search for the right answers!

[Will Wright]

4 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Didn't think to ask that question but yes more info at the start of the thread helps in the search for the right answers!

Rock fishing 

[DerekD]

Hi Will,

MattyMattMatt was in the same place as you are. Since he started that thread (pasted above) he has been working on the soft plastics, learned to catch squid, put out big baits, caught his first jewfish (mulloway). Last time we talked he was still chasing his first king.

Currently your questions are a little too general. Part of your learning curve will be targeting specific species and then also really looking at and then understanding your fishing environment. I've been fortunate enough to meet a few people in the fishing industry who are very good at what they do and most of those people are really switched on and can mix and switch it up.

Part of the advice to MMM was find a mentor (or even better more than one). Listen to what they say but learn the why behind what they do. Filter through the advice to find out what works for you. Do not take what people tell you as set in stone as they are probably still growing and refining their techniques too.

Soft plastics and flathead is an excellent place to start and ideally go with someone who fishes them successfully. Being shore based is not necessarily a limitation. My biggest fish to date was a 104cm jewie in middle harbour on a freshly caught squid.

Regards,

Derek

Edited December 28, 2019 by DerekD