GioSparro Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 hey there everyone, Im a guy who will go to the servo and buy a pack of frozen prawns to fish with, sometimes i use them all, other times i freeze the rest for next trip. Now im thinking, is fresh best when it comes to bait or the older and smellier the better? I have used prawns all my life but was thinking is it worth swapping to pilchard cubes or squid, this is all from the servo. Or should i pick up the cheapest prawns i can find from coles/woolies and use them. Im basically looking to get more fish since its quite common to go out and not have a bite or get baby bream, toadies or yakkas. I mention pilchard but everytime i use them when i cast out (using a long rod from shore) they fall off the hook. So this made me think servo squid but it looks horrible, even for a fish. Any recommendation guys? Im using a running sinker, 50cm to a swivel for bream, trevally, whiting or flathead. Depending on the day ill use circle hooks but sometimes long shanks keep prawns on better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Fresh bait is 100% absolutely better. From my experience, you will catch about double the amount of fish from fresh prawns or squid than was caught on the day than stuff that has been sitting in a freezer. Even prawns from coles will do though, I would just avoid servo prawns, they are pretty crap most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaxland Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Hi Gio I think fresh is better and presentation is also important, prawn sometimes work better peeled and different rigs can make a difference try a few options and see what works but if you do the same thing every time you will get the same result. Keep trying mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzybass Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 DO NOT USE the cheap raw imported prawns from the fish shop or supermarket for bait!! I'm sure they catch fish but you run the risk of infecting local waters with white spot virus. OK to use cooked imported prawns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 1 minute ago, Ozzybass said: DO NOT USE the cheap raw imported prawns from the fish shop or supermarket for bait!! I'm sure they catch fish but you run the risk of infecting local waters with white spot virus. OK to use cooked imported prawns. Yeah, I forgot to mention this. If you do go to coles, make 100% sure that you are buying Australian prawns. They have the country of origin written on the label, if none of them are Australian prawns definitely do not use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioSparro Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Oh wow, ive heard of white spot but didnt realize that dead or human grade prawns were still able to spread it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob81 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 For the pillies falling off could be that it's thawed and gone too soft and you're doing a hard cast. Better use them frozen or use salted ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_clownface Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 1 hour ago, GioSparro said: hey there everyone, Im a guy who will go to the servo and buy a pack of frozen prawns to fish with, sometimes i use them all, other times i freeze the rest for next trip. Now im thinking, is fresh best when it comes to bait or the older and smellier the better? I have used prawns all my life but was thinking is it worth swapping to pilchard cubes or squid, this is all from the servo. Or should i pick up the cheapest prawns i can find from coles/woolies and use them. Im basically looking to get more fish since its quite common to go out and not have a bite or get baby bream, toadies or yakkas. I mention pilchard but everytime i use them when i cast out (using a long rod from shore) they fall off the hook. So this made me think servo squid but it looks horrible, even for a fish. Any recommendation guys? Im using a running sinker, 50cm to a swivel for bream, trevally, whiting or flathead. Depending on the day ill use circle hooks but sometimes long shanks keep prawns on better. I did exactly that a few years ago,my results were poor. now I often use salted Pilchards on 3 ganged hoods(great for flathead and tailor) i also get chicken thighs and remove the soft part and cut the remaining into bait size and add some garlic salt and freeze it,I have since caught my best bream on this bait and it’s very cheap. another cheap option buy some mullet at the local fish shop,fillet them and salt it with sea salt, put in fridge for a few days then remove the water the salt has drawn out and freeze the fillet. there is some good cheap options that will catch fish,just some preparation will get better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 you can still get decent frozen prawns- find a tackle store that stocks Hawkesbury prawns- they do cost more but they are a far superior bait and they are packaged properly at the time of capture, as someone said earlier DO NOT use supermarket prawns as bait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 13 hours ago, GioSparro said: hey there everyone, Im a guy who will go to the servo and buy a pack of frozen prawns to fish with, sometimes i use them all, other times i freeze the rest for next trip. Now im thinking, is fresh best when it comes to bait or the older and smellier the better? I have used prawns all my life but was thinking is it worth swapping to pilchard cubes or squid, this is all from the servo. Or should i pick up the cheapest prawns i can find from coles/woolies and use them. Im basically looking to get more fish since its quite common to go out and not have a bite or get baby bream, toadies or yakkas. I mention pilchard but everytime i use them when i cast out (using a long rod from shore) they fall off the hook. So this made me think servo squid but it looks horrible, even for a fish. Any recommendation guys? Im using a running sinker, 50cm to a swivel for bream, trevally, whiting or flathead. Depending on the day ill use circle hooks but sometimes long shanks keep prawns on better. Fresh is best for sure,but servo prawns and pillys will catch the odd fish too.With squid try to buy squid tubes from your fish monger and use them as strip baits. As for type of hook and pillys I find long shank bait feeder hooks in size 1 or 1/0 work for us for those species mentioned. I always rig half pillys cut diagonally and if using the tail section pin it once about 1cm in from the cut end so the eye of the hook lies just past the wrist of the pilchards tail and put a couple of half hitches around the hook and the tail. With the head section I pass the hook through the pilchards eye twice and then pin the bait in the same area as above pulling the slack line up taught. Try to rig pillys up semi frozen or salted as they go very soft fairly quickly when completely thawed. I find a running rig with a 1-1.5 meter trace superior to a short one which I use to use too as it slows the bait to drift around more naturally in my opinion and will stay higher off the bottom away from those pesky toads and small fish hidding in the weedbeds etc. I'm no expert by far but these things have helped us in our fishing adventures. Try to use some kind of burley too. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutch22 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 You mentioned catching yakkas try using them as live bait or even strip fillets are great bait! Fresh is always best! Even trying to catch some fresh squid is great bait and a great feed aswell! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioSparro Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 25 minutes ago, Mutch22 said: You mentioned catching yakkas try using them as live bait or even strip fillets are great bait! Fresh is always best! Even trying to catch some fresh squid is great bait and a great feed aswell! ? I only fish from land in botany bay so live yakkas arnt the best bait besides the odd big flathead, ill give strips a go next time though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggy Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Many bait shops sell live bait, usually blood worms and sometimes nippers. These are excellent baits to use so try them if you can get them. Whiting are suckers for blood worms and you'll also get bream and flathead on them. The downside is the pickers like them too! Cheers Jiggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 11 minutes ago, Jiggy said: Many bait shops sell live bait, usually blood worms and sometimes nippers. These are excellent baits to use so try them if you can get them. Whiting are suckers for blood worms and you'll also get bream and flathead on them. The downside is the pickers like them too! Cheers Jiggy I'd invest in a baitpump as it will pay for itself many times over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Ranger Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 On 11/6/2017 at 10:33 AM, Fab1 said: I'd invest in a baitpump as it will pay for itself many times over. Fab Would you reccomend the Wilson or Alvey pump especially since Alvey is sinking??? I need to replace mine from a shop off brand that is rusted out. Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 34 minutes ago, Noo2OzFish said: Fab Would you reccomend the Wilson or Alvey pump especially since Alvey is sinking??? I need to replace mine from a shop off brand that is rusted out. Bear I have both over 20yrs old and are as good as each other.Roll the dice which you prefer.Get the length to suit your body height,strength etc.Stay away from the plastic PVC ones as wet sand rubbing inside a PVC pipe is not the brightest idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Just give them periodic maintenance once in a while and change the rubber washer/s(I make my own),rinse them in fresh water after every use and they'll last a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Ranger Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Fab1 said: I have both over 20yrs old and are as good as each other.Roll the dice which you prefer.Get the length to suit your body height,strength etc.Stay away from the plastic PVC ones as wet sand rubbing inside a PVC pipe is not the brightest idea. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 What about some school prawns and pillys/tellowtail bought from say..Flemington fish markets? They are less than $10/KG & looks fresh enough? worth the try or a waste of time & $$? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioSparro Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 2 hours ago, ritchie said: What about some school prawns and pillys/tellowtail bought from say..Flemington fish markets? They are less than $10/KG & looks fresh enough? worth the try or a waste of time & $$? The money is fine but time, id be going too far out of the way, ill try some squid from the shops this weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, GioSparro said: The money is fine but time, id be going too far out of the way, ill try some squid from the shops this weekend valid point! Nevertheless, i reckon them prawns & squid from the local fish shop should be much better than the frozen servo ones eh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioSparro Posted November 12, 2017 Author Share Posted November 12, 2017 Update - after work last night i went to a fresh fish shop at the local shopping centre and picked up a squid tube, only $3 so alot cheaper than i thought. Went out today using strips and got heaps of bites and a small flathead, nothing big but definitely saw a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 2 hours ago, GioSparro said: Update - after work last night i went to a fresh fish shop at the local shopping centre and picked up a squid tube, only $3 so alot cheaper than i thought. Went out today using strips and got heaps of bites and a small flathead, nothing big but definitely saw a difference So you've made progress? Congrats.Those squid tubes cut into strips work well for plenty of fish and the best part is they are tough,cheap and easily obtained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioSparro Posted November 12, 2017 Author Share Posted November 12, 2017 Love how tough they are, they arnt ripped off like prawns are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 On 04/11/2017 at 9:44 PM, Ozzybass said: DO NOT USE the cheap raw imported prawns from the fish shop or supermarket for bait!! I'm sure they catch fish but you run the risk of infecting local waters with white spot virus. OK to use cooked imported prawns. Good advice. At the moment only prawns labelled as bait (not food) can be used as bait and deposited in waterways. The government really needs to do more work in getting the word out about this. Especially since they let the problem into the country. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/releases/2017/protecting-our-prawn-industries-against-white-spot-disease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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