Port Hacking Live Bait

[Larkin]

Gday Raiders,

it was time to replenish my bait stocks as all my bonito strip baits have run out.

Plan was to fill up the bait fridge with Slimies.

Hit up the reef on the outside of Jibbon Bommie on Thursday. Conditions were really good, other than a light sprinkle of rain. No wind, and swell was under half a meter.

Sounded up a good sized bait ball on the edge of the reef - it was quite thick and I could see some larger fish swimming around the outside on the sounder.

I use a small paternoster rig with a 1/0 long shank because I only have room for one bait rod that also doubles as my squidding rod. It has a fastclip, so I just clip on the paternoster with a small teardrop sinker on the bottom. 

I started pulling up slimies from 20cm to 30cm in size with a couple around the 35cm mark. All up caught around 25-30. Also caught around 5-6 large yellowtail. These were caught on the outskirts of the bait ball.

I tossed out a 25cm yellowtail on the live bait rod with an 8/0 circle hook through the top of the mouth - in case any monsters were about while I was catching bait.

About 20 min later the rod buckles over, I grab it and start to wind, but the hook doesn’t catch. Oh well.

All this time I’ve been bringing in slimie after slimie, with about 5-10 baracootas thrown in the mix. They were so voracious, that they were eating my sinker too. I caught one when it swallowed the sinker and it fell through its gills. Also got a double header on the slimies  - one on the hook and one on the sinker.

Hooked onto a small rat king on the bait rod - I run 12lb braid and an 8lb leader - for catching squid and slimies. It’s all reef below so had to put enough pressure on without snapping the 8lb leader - landed was around 50cm and gave a good little fight. 
Here’s a video - don’t mind my heavy breathing lol as the camera is on my right shoulder.

Later on did a bit of exploring to the north of bate bay on some new patches of deep water reef that I have never fished before - I put out a few fresh yakka fillets - caught around 4 sergeant baker & some small pinkie snappers that were just under legal. 
There was a school of fish below when one of the fish bit my braid in half - water was around 40m deep and was bitten off at around 10m from the water surface. I’ve been chewed off by jackets many times, and can usually tell on the sounder when the jackets come by due to the shape of the school on the sounder. They are also usually on the bottom half, but this was closer to the top 10m of water.

Here’s two bags of slimies as I put them through my salting/packaging process.

I also kept the frames - which I vac sealed and froze to use as flatty bait for future outings.

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Larkin

[Restyle]

quality bait! nothing better & fun gathering your own. Good video with the king, its surprising how often they take bait on size 2-6 hook while catching bait.

[Little_Flatty]

That’s a great salting operation you have going there @Larkin. That reminds me I need to pull the pillies off the salt that I put on last weekend. Nothing like having bait on the ready for any opportunities that arise!

[Isaac Ct]

Nice stuff mate, that will be a bunch of good sessions to come from you with the quality of baits you now have.

Well done.

[Larkin]

18 minutes ago, Restyle said:

quality bait! nothing better & fun gathering your own. Good video with the king, its surprising how often they take bait on size 2-6 hook while catching bait.

Thanks restyle

I really enjoy the whole “own bait” process from catching though to salting and vac sealing.
The king was caught on a 5 cent sized piece of bonito that had probably caught half a dozen slimies before it. 

[Larkin]

20 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

That’s a great salting operation you have going there @Larkin. That reminds me I need to pull the pillies off the salt that I put on last weekend. Nothing like having bait on the ready for any opportunities that arise!

Thanks little flatty. I do my own pillies too - some bait stores sell whole bonito frozen - it’s about $10 a fish whole - if you’ve never use salted bonito - it’s worth salting your own - it’s a gun bait.

I use a sieve cat litter tray - bottom tray collects the juices and keeps the salt dry in the top tray. One bag of fish did two layers high of strip baits (with salt in between and on top). I have another bag of slimies in the fridge to do tomorrow when I take these out and vac seal them.

 

[Larkin]

19 minutes ago, Isaac Ct said:

Nice stuff mate, that will be a bunch of good sessions to come from you with the quality of baits you now have.

Well done.

Thanks Isaac, all my salted Bonnie’s had run out and I needed to do a decent bait run. Got enough now for a while.

[Yowie]

Looking good for when I head back to NSW in the next few weeks. Not much fishing happening in south Qld at present.

[Larkin]

14 hours ago, Yowie said:

Looking good for when I head back to NSW in the next few weeks. Not much fishing happening in south Qld at present.

there were quite a few boats out fishing on the south side of the hacking - close into the reefs there. Plenty of bait around.

Shame about the weather though, forecast for high wind and 2m+ swells all week down here.

 

[Squidless]

That's a nice session you had there. Lots of bait for some awesome sessions as the weather warms up.

I enjoy the whole bait collecting, storing and using process too. Love the glad wrap over the kitchen bench, that's a great idea that im going to steal. Very Dexter like.

[Rebel]

Great haul.

Top report.

Well done.

[Pickles]

Great report @LarkinI’ll have to try the “sieve” method of eliminating juices - very clever. Slimies, Yakkas and Bonito are gun baits and save heaps on buying.

[Larkin]

8 hours ago, Squidless said:

That's a nice session you had there. Lots of bait for some awesome sessions as the weather warms up.

I enjoy the whole bait collecting, storing and using process too. Love the glad wrap over the kitchen bench, that's a great idea that im going to steal. Very Dexter like.

Wife hates it when I clean fish inside. The glad wrap makes clean up easy. Just use a double layer.

Have you had a chance to get out lately? I’ve been checking the squid spots with a few casts on the way out and back in, but haven’t seen any around for a few weeks. 
 

8 hours ago, Rebel said:

Great haul.

Top report.

Well done.

thanks rebel 👍 
 

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

Great report @LarkinI’ll have to try the “sieve” method of eliminating juices - very clever. Slimies, Yakkas and Bonito are gun baits and save heaps on buying.

Thanks pickles, just put the last batch through the process.

The tray I use is an “oz-pet” brand of sieve cat litter tray - most pet stores sell them. It’s a good size and very sturdy when full of salt. The top tray is raised, so the juices drain. Keeps the salt dry + you end up with salted essence of fish 😂 great in burley or for soaking lures/soft plastics into. All the salt preserves the juice, so it doesn’t go off.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Larkin

[jenno64]

Great stuff Larkin!

fresh bait is not only the best but catching it is part of the fun….I never get tired of finding a patch of large poddies!

[Squidless]

17 hours ago, Larkin said:

Wife hates it when I clean fish inside. The glad wrap makes clean up easy. Just use a double layer.

Have you had a chance to get out lately? I’ve been checking the squid spots with a few casts on the way out and back in, but haven’t seen any around for a few weeks.  

My wife is the same.

Haven't have much of a chance to go with work and a few personal things popping up. I did have a go a few weeks ago but no luck with wind making the drift too fast.

Had another chance last Monday but with conditions so good opted to go to Towra Point to flick around some plastics for flatties. Managed to get a few fish for a feed.

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Squidless

[Larkin]

4 hours ago, Squidless said:

My wife is the same.

Haven't have much of a chance to go with work and a few personal things popping up. I did have a go a few weeks ago but no luck with wind making the drift too fast.

Had another chance last Monday but with conditions so good opted to go to Towra Point to flick around some plastics for flatties. Managed to get a few fish for a feed.

 

 

 

Nice mixed bag! Looks like a decent size flatty

[Squidless]

Thanks! The flatties was in the low 50s was the second fish caught on the day after a just legal flatty that looked like it was on a diet that went back in to grow some more!

Edited September 4, 2022 by Squidless

[bessell1955]

I like the way you preserve your bait.

[Larkin]

7 hours ago, bessell1955 said:

I like the way you preserve your bait.

I have a full process 😂 

Here’s the finished baits - after the salting I vac seal them, date/label and then they go into the freezer.

I ended up with about 12 packs of bait all up - which will last me a couple of months - I also give a few to some mates that I fish with.