[john316]

I am predominantly a lure fisherman although when I do use bait it is mostly cooked prawns and I still use the same jig heads I use for plastics. Last Sunday afternoon I went to one of my common haunts and couldn't find fish anywhere. I had taken a couple of king prawns and after not getting any interest in the plastics or HB's I broke out the prawns. Normally I would use the head and break the body into two, giving 3 baits from each prawn so off came a head which was dropped to the bottom on a slow drift with an immediate hit which turned into an under sized flathead. I have had a few lost fish recently and all baits have been presented with the hooks threaded through the prawn (similar to threading an sp) to look as natural as a cooked prawn can. This time with so little bait I just cut the prawns into small pieces and made no attempt to hide the hooks, simply pushing the hook through the prawn piece and leaving the whole jig head totally visible with the bait hanging in the bend of the hook. Result... every bait presented was converted into a flattie and every fish was neatly pinned through the lip. Some baits were still in perfect condition and when dropped back down resulted in second fish.

NSW legal size is 36cm for duskies and every fish caught was in the 33 to 35 cm range...

worst bait presentation ever but 100% effective - go figure

cheers

John

 

[grinner]

john,

this has been the subject of extensive research .

findings, baits work fine on jig heads, in fact, why wouldnt they. i really like a pillie , beheaded, put on a jig in a similar fashion to a jerk shad style gulp.

what makes baits not work ?

2 things in my opinion.

1 unnatural presentation in terms of rate of descent of bait.
solution, zero weight, i dont care if it takes 5 minutes to get to the bottom, no weight.
(hay interesting too, i was getting a few gar with some bread and i got a snapper (almost a keeper) on a size 4 hook that took it on the surface in 22 feet of water,
amazing....no weight

2 the second big killer of baits is bait spin. this si the one the amateurs all stuff up on, with paternosters and bits of leader twisting and current producing bait spin. its just going to produce a god-awful mess of spinning un natural looking muck falling to the bottom. and no self respecting fish (short of a flattie) will touch it.
the way to counter this, i have found, is keep the rig really simple, use good quality braid.and agin let the bait drift down. if there is current, anchoring is a no-no.

cheers pete

 

[Dodge]

John years ago there was a gun angler from Queensland, Len Thompson, who won dozens of comps and his technique was simple.

Just a triangle of mullet [or other flesh] with the hook pushed once through one corner and hook fully exposed [as mentioned by krayley], and using an Alvey was able to fish ultra light weights [mentioned by grinner].

 

[Beekeeper]

Billy Turner, (in a wheel chair all the years I've known him) who has forgotten more about fishing than I've ever known, presented baits better with almost incapacitated fingers than I could with nimble fingers.

However... when fishing from the old Hornibrook Highway (since demolished) using strips of mullet, he advised me not to fish for bream with the rod in hand. When I quizzed him on the reason for this, he answered that when the little pickers are on the bait, you will probably catch them... we're not here to catch the little ones... we want the big buggers!

The little ones will pick away at the fish-flesh, almost demolishing the bait, then the big one will come around, and like the bully that he is, will bore in and grab the bait and tear away!

When the rod tip takes a big dive and stays down, THAT's when to pick up the rod and hit it!

He caught some monster bream (over 2kg, and biggest 5lb 7oz) doing just that!

When the bait hit the water, it looked mickey mouse... by the time the big bream hit it and hooked itself, the bait would have looked like a piece of rag!

Cheers, Jimbo

 

[Zed]

Here I clicked this link thinking it was some sort of dancing prawn show.

 

[cheaterparts]

I am predominantly a lure fisherman although when I do use bait it is mostly cooked prawns and I still use the same jig heads I use for plastics. Last Sunday afternoon I went to one of my common haunts and couldn't find fish anywhere. I had taken a couple of king prawns and after not getting any interest in the plastics or HB's I broke out the prawns.

John

Down here in Vic and fishing mainly Westernport most of my bait is food grade banana prawn ( green not cooked )
almost everything takes it
at about $ 7 for 1/2 a Kg is a pretty cheap bait as well
its the main bait I use for every thing from King George Whiting to Gummy shark
Presentation is simple enough on hooks for small hooks like a no 6 just head tail and shell the prawn then cut it into 2 fillets then cut each fillet into 4 or 5 piece so thats 8 to 10 bait from each prawn

for larger hooks like 8/0s just thread the whole prawn meat on just head tailed and shelled

the heads , tails and shells go good in the burley mix to after its been put through a mincer