Advice on trapping poddy mullets

[Gengar]

Ok I must be doing something wrong as those on youtube make it look so easy!

I posted earlier about targeting these large jumping mullets. I haven't landed one yet but in the same area I saw these small mullets (i think they are poddies) so did some research on trapping them use these clear plastic bottles (2L and 4L bottles). Here is what i have been doing:

(a) Cutting a 5cm hole in the bottle

(b) squishing a couple slices of bread and putting it in the trap

(c) putting the trap in about 30 to 40 cm of water

(d) chuck a few small pieces of bread around the trap

(e) wait!!!

I have tried it about 4 times but no success yet. Once i couldn't see any poddies so not surprised i didn't get any (it was low tide). The other times i see them around the trap but they don't seem too interested in either the bread i chuck around the trap and/or the bread inside the trap. I have tried going to high tide at noon, low tide at 5pm. Is it because they tend to only feed at certain tides or time?

If anyone can help with where i am going wrong that would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Little_Flatty]

Hi @Gengar,

I struggle with this too. It's part of the reason why I focus on lures! 🤣

What I have noticed is that some spots it's easy and in other spots it's much more difficult. Could be the species of mullet in a locale.

One thing I have noticed is that I can only trap mullet in a spot where they are interested in eating bread in the first place. If you throw some bread in the water, do they eat it? I find if they don't, then there is no point setting a trap.

Hope this helps. I'll leave it to the experts to say something useful.

[Gengar]

Hi @Little_Flatty thanks for sharing your experience!

However you are absolutely right that they are just not interested in the bread pieces I chuck in water which then i guess is why they are not going into the trap. It could also be location as you said as my attempts so far has just been a couple of spots along lane cove river.

I also do lures mainly but my boys say those youtube videos and got really excited! They don't have as much patience as me so trying to get them interested for longer. 

[Isaac Ct]

When you put the bread in, ball it really tight in your hand then rub it against your palm to make it almost like breadcrumbs. I much prefer breadcrumbs in my poddy trap. Also if a Bream/different small baitfish enter the trap then the poddies will never go in, once one poddy gets in the will usually all follow.

[Gengar]

3 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

When you put the bread in, ball it really tight in your hand then rub it against your palm to make it almost like breadcrumbs. I much prefer breadcrumbs in my poddy trap. Also if a Bream/different small baitfish enter the trap then the poddies will never go in, once one poddy gets in the will usually all follow.

Ok let me try to make it into breadcrumbs next time

[Little_Flatty]

3 hours ago, Gengar said:

Hi @Little_Flatty thanks for sharing your experience!

However you are absolutely right that they are just not interested in the bread pieces I chuck in water which then i guess is why they are not going into the trap. It could also be location as you said as my attempts so far has just been a couple of spots along lane cove river.

I also do lures mainly but my boys say those youtube videos and got really excited! They don't have as much patience as me so trying to get them interested for longer. 

Yep there's a lot of knowledge and skill behind successful bait fishing as well. Most of it starts with fishing with bait.

I have a suspicion it could be the species of mullet. The oft touted comment re mullet in the salt is if they are taking bait, they must be sand mullet. If they aren't, then they are sea mullet. Maybe the poddies you see (and the ones I see in my local spots) are juvenile sea mullet.

See how you go with @Isaac Ct's breadcrumb tip.

[noelm]

OK, all species of Mullet will trap when small, all species are termed "Poddies" it's just a generic term for small, bait sized Mullet. Now, how to catch them, old fashioned oyster bottles are the best, but most are gone now, a plastic trap is good (cheap at most bait and tackle shops) or a clear plastic bottle will work OK, don't toss bread in, if it floats, it will attract Seagulls, and Seagulls will scare Mullet real quick! Places to catch them, at high tide, they will be up on the sand flats, at low tide they will be lurking close to the sand flats in close, set your trap with bread inside, stand well back, but still be able to see the trap, you will catch them. Note, those big jumping Mullet are not worth targeting, they can be very difficult to catch (but not impossible) but unless you are up for a challenge, are very good with very light tackle or fly gear, just forget they are there.

[Smobaby]

The trick to a bait trap it needs to be virtually invisible under water. If you can see it easily the fish will. Shop brought cylinder types occasionally work. You need to make one from Lexan to DPI specifications use bread crumbs you will succeed. Check out the internet bait traps. I have made one from mr10 Lexan very heavy and clumbersome but works like no other.

[Gengar]

16 hours ago, noelm said:

OK, all species of Mullet will trap when small, all species are termed "Poddies" it's just a generic term for small, bait sized Mullet. Now, how to catch them, old fashioned oyster bottles are the best, but most are gone now, a plastic trap is good (cheap at most bait and tackle shops) or a clear plastic bottle will work OK, don't toss bread in, if it floats, it will attract Seagulls, and Seagulls will scare Mullet real quick! Places to catch them, at high tide, they will be up on the sand flats, at low tide they will be lurking close to the sand flats in close, set your trap with bread inside, stand well back, but still be able to see the trap, you will catch them. Note, those big jumping Mullet are not worth targeting, they can be very difficult to catch (but not impossible) but unless you are up for a challenge, are very good with very light tackle or fly gear, just forget they are there.

Thanks mate. The area i see them isn't really a sandflat.....its more like a gently sloped beach along the river. Maybe I am not standing far away. Anyway will try again at high tide next time either in morning or late afternoon.

[Gengar]

15 hours ago, Smobaby said:

The trick to a bait trap it needs to be virtually invisible under water. If you can see it easily the fish will. Shop brought cylinder types occasionally work. You need to make one from Lexan to DPI specifications use bread crumbs you will succeed. Check out the internet bait traps. I have made one from mr10 Lexan very heavy and clumbersome but works like no other.

As in all clear bottles? Mine still has a label on it.....maybe i take that off next time.

[noelm]

It's not that difficult, been trapping Poddies for decades, the right place you will get all you need, minding fisheries limits of course.

[Koalaboi]

Sometimes poddies can be trap shy. Using breadcrumbs and some bread is my preferred bait. I’ve tried lots of traps but now use the cylindrical plastic traps only. You have to be careful as the little catches can break easily. I also put a couple of pieces of styrofoam in the trap to stop it sinking. If I can’t see any poddies in the location then I’ve found it’s not worth placing a trap there.

Im up on the Central Coast and have noticed that the poddies disappear from the eastern shores of Tuggerah Lakes during the cooler months. Not sure what they do but suspect that they move to the western shores to escape the westerly winds.

KB

 

[XD351]

In this video Roger shows how he catches poddies and makes his own trap , can’t say it works better or worse than any other trap as I haven’t used his type yet but it might give you a few ideas to work with .

Sometimes I do better catching them on a light line and small hook than I do using a trap and some days they can be impossible to catch .

Ducks , seagulls and pelicans are your worst enemy when trying to catch poddies , I have in the past resorted to placing a loaf of bread in an old keeper net and placed it on the bank a good 50 meters away from me to keep the birds amused long enough to catch some bait .

 

[Rebel]

There are several posts on the Forum, you might want to have a look at.

Cheers.

[PaddyT]

I used to spend a huge effort trapping poddies for both livies and dead bait. The video above is pretty spot on but a few little tricks that will help are1. dont trap where there are no poddies- i used to walk up and down sand flats chucking very small pieces of bread until i found some

2. sunny days are heaps better than overcast or rainy days-im guessing the poddies could see predators better

3. gentle sloped sand flats or even the top of the flat work best

4.. 30-40 cm of water is TOO deep , i liked to use a dish bowl trap with about 5 cm of water over the top

5. plain white bread -the crap from the supermarket is the way to go, brown bread, wholemeal etc doesnt work very well at all

6. i used a small clear fishbowl witha bit of flyscreen on top for years, 

 

have fun

[Gengar]

Thanks all for the replies. I have seen that YouTube video (and quite a few others as well). I mainly use lures but the videos made it look so easy I thought I could get the kids involved while I go fish but seems it's an art more than an exact science.

The suggestion of chucking in bread to find them is a good idea. Maybe i need to go elsewhere to try. Will post back how I go. Thanks all!

[Larkin]

I have one of those “reel it in” brand of acrylic poddy traps. It catches a lot of poddies if they are around. The clear sides makes a big difference in catch rates. Usually up river areas are better spots for poddies. In the hacking, around grays point boat ramp works really well. 

I bait with bread crumbs and slices of white bread.

other times I’ll just catch them on a line with rolled up balls of white bread.

[Smobaby]

This is the on I made corlette shore today