I keep losing my bait

[Russ]

Cool ....... thanks 'SFP Chick' (aka Amanda). This really is a new world for me. I'm fishing bare foot ......... and my bait wears socks. %$#& unreal!

Cheers,

[purple5ive]

you dont need anything fancy, just learn how to rig the baits up properly, with time you will work out what to do
the reason your bait gets pinched straight away are because there must be pinkies where your fishing, they will smash the bait as soon as it lands and i mean as soon as it lands..
bluebait will stay on longer than normal pillies.. but if you want more tougher bait use squid tentacles..
use a small circle hook with just a tiny bit of blubait on it, the fish will hook themselves

if your game enough try some soft plastics, 3 inch minnows and use them.
cheers

[cheaterparts]

My question is this. How do you keep your bait on the hook? I was using blue bait.

Cheers,

I would change my bait -- almost the best bait for Flatties is flatty it self -- take a fillet off one cut into small bite size pieces and pin through the skin
snapper like it to

as metioned Chicken is a good bait

I use Banana prawn from the deli at ether Coles or Safeway - cut into baits that fit the hook I'm using
Flatties as well as Snapper rush prawn , So do many other species

don't discount Squid ether

all of the above will stay on the hook better than blue bait and all of the above will catch fish

[kevinprasad1]

try using circle hooks,
the hook up rate is really high.

[Luke1989]

Hey Mate!

to keep the bait on the hook they have bought out a "Bait Elastic" witch keeps your bait secured to your hook, awesome for keeping pipes on the hook! :fishing:

also for flathead! try and jump on some "Zerek Shrimp" soft plastic! they work a real treat! reeled in a 50cm flattie from werribee south yesterday land based!

check out the images - give them a shot :thumbsup:

[rafei1]

In regards to flat heads, what is the most effective rig, ive never caight flatheads landbased yet, because im more focused on bream, Aussie salmon and pinkies.

[Rogue_Hunter]

Russ,

You do not need anything facny for flathead. Flathead is one of the most basic fish to rig up for.

However, there are some rigs and methods that improve your catch.

What you should be do is work out how the fish eat, and then go by fishing that way.

Each fish have their preffered way of attacking\feeding and you need to go by that approach.

For example, Flathead are ambush predators that sit in the sand and wait and then ambush out. They sit facing the current thats running opposite to them. They will also sit at the top of a drop off waiting for food to travel up the drop off and into the shallow where they will wait.

They love worm style profiles. So try to match this with either your bait or soft plastic.

Chicken is great for catching FH. Its cheap and if bought fresh, hardy. Do not use chicken breast that has been frozen as it falls apart. For $2, go buy yourself a breast fillet and cut it up in long strips. You can then either just hook it at the top and let it dangle, or you can hook up thru once and then one thru the middle; your call.

You can use a paternoster rig, or a single running sinker rig. As long as the bait in the water flutters around in the current.

Flathead have very wide mouhs which are flat, hence the name. So anything from size 2 to size 4/0 will be big enough to catch you a FH. I tend to go small which allows for bi-catch with other fish in the area. My Sons PB FH is a 56cm caught on a size6 hook in less than a meter of water; the hook looked more like a piercing then anything on his lip.

If your bait is fresh, there is a good chance that it will hold on your hook. IF you find that your bait constantly falls off then its either not fresh, or the hook is too large for the bait.

Once you cast, make sure you hold the rod at all times as you can get a sense if the bait is failing off, or if its actually been eating my smaller fish.

Then there is soft plasticing for FH which more commonly used method of targetting FH .. which is another reply on its own.

YouTube has heaps of videos on this so have a quick search.

Good Luck

[shazzagraz]

In regards to flat heads, what is the most effective rig, ive never caight flatheads landbased yet, because im more focused on bream, Aussie salmon and pinkies.

IMO a running sinker rig is best for flathead. This way the bait sits on the bottom (where flathead feed). If you've been soaking your bait for a little while with no bites, give the reel a couple of slow turns of the handle to move the bait along the sea floor a little bit and hopefully get the attention of a flathead.

I took my son fishing one night at Brighton pier and was getting frustrated with him because he wouldn't leave his line in the water for any longer than 30 seconds after each cast. I kept telling him that he needed to be patient and leave the bait alone for a bit to give the fish a chance to come along and eat it, but sure enough on one of his retrieves his rod loaded up and he was onto a nice 30ish cm flathead.

I need to get him into soft plastics fishing, he doesn't have the patience for bait soaking.

Anyway, moral of the story is, keep your bait on the bottom, and a moving bait may help to gain the attention of a preying fish.

[Injekti0n]

Use Bait Mate. :D

[Russ]

Thanks everyone (especially you Rogue_Hunter) for the comprehensive replies and advice. I appreciate it. I'll report back on progress.

Cheers,

Russ