Freshwater Bait - Where do I start ?

[Texas]

NOXIOUS FISH..
You must not use live noxious fish (including carp & goldfish) as bait in Victorian waters..

UNDERSIZE FISH
You must not use undersize fish as bait in Victorian waters.

Cheers
Gra

[fitzy90]

Small redfin are legal to use as long as they are caught in the same body of water, i use them all the time as they are a great bait for bigger reddies.

[Basti]

Yeah Redfin aren't a "noxious" fish.

[drew 2]

A shrimp net is a good investment,just chuck some gum leaves in the net and some dry cat food or velvet soap in the zip up pouch and throw in the water.They are pretty cheap,at times round here you can get 2 for $12.

Yabbies are out in months with an R in them.While they are around in the rivers,farm dams are where they are a lot easily caught.See if you can find a friendly land owner with a dam.They can be caught with a piece of meat on a string through to hoop nets & opera house nets(illegal in public waters) good bait is meat,liver,chicken necks,dead carp.

Bardi grub's,probably the best cod bait going are virtually impossible to get legally from public land.You need access to private property and there is an art to knowing where to chip for them.It can be bloody hard work for little gain,hence they sell for $3 or more at times.The good thing is once you find them if you keep returning to the same tree's they will always be there with some careful managment.I've been getting grubs from the same tree's on my mates place for over 20 years.

Worms are probably the best all rounder as everything eats them,i dont use the ones with the yellow gunk in them,it seems to put natives off.

Pretty much any cheese will work but it does attract the little pickers,trout cod in particular seem to love the stuff.Cant recall ever catching a yella on it but silvers,carp & both cods like it.

The shrimp/worm cocktail is a favourite of yella's fished in around the snags on the bank edge in the warmer slower water.

[fitzy90]

Cant go past live bait, minnows, little reddies, gudgeon, i use a drag net to get these from lakes ( its a 4 meter drag net before anyone asks), you need to go at night to be able to get behind them with the net, the darker the better.
Mudeye are my fave trout bait, you can find them around a few of the daylesford lakes walking around the edges lifting rocks up, probably easier to buy from tackle shops for around $8.50 for a dozen, make sure you get the couta mudeye (longer in the abdomen)
Small yabbies can be found in almost every dam, i get mine from the fire dams dotted around the Brisbane ranges, a hoop net with a small bit of liver will get you as many as you need in an hour or so, you can get mudeyes from here as well in among the reeds.

[Texas]

Yeah Redfin aren't a "noxious" fish.

When you think about it,(you're right) they are not on the noxious list & there is no size limit.
It is only a "request" that you don't return them to the water.That's probably why I keep thinking their noxious.
Cheers
Gra

[4liters]

They are noxious in NSW I think, so you might get in strife if NSW fisheries catch you using them as liveies in the Murray but I don't know how the politics of all that works.

[eslop]

Put the bait away and use a lure :thumbsup:

[HarryS11]

My top bait for natives would be shrimp because every fish will eat them and they are easy to catch with a shrimp net put in near cover with some bread/meat/guts/gum leaves/corn inside. For trout I like to use scrubbies or worms from where ever i'm fishing flicked upstream and reeled in at the same pace as the water.

[BIG GAV]

No one said maggots..?

Mozzarella cheese is great cod bait!
And scrubbies are damn near impossible for any fish to ignore!

I thread worms onto the hook personally I think it increases your chances.