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There is a saying in the fishing community: ten percent of the anglers catch ninety percent of the fish. I believe this saying holds true across both fishing with lures and fishing with bait.
Saltwater bait fishing is a common pastime for recreational anglers in Australia, yet time and time again I head out for a fish, and I see other anglers fishing with bait who seemingly do not know how to fish with bait effectively. What I mean by this is, these bait anglers are using fishing methods and gear which is not suited to target the species most often encountered when bait fishing in Australia.
These same anglers never seem to catch many fish, if any. I can usually tell these anglers are not having much luck with catching many fish because of their frustrated leering gazes directed towards me as I catch fish within sight of them.
There is no need to overcomplicate things when bait fishing because a simplistic approach to bait fishing will see you land more fish.
What Species Can The Australian Bait Fisherman Target?
There are some key bread and butter species in Australia which can be targeted with high success by using bait and adopting a 'simplistic approach'. To name just a few, these species include bream, dusky flathead, whiting, and trevally.
What Bait Fishing Rod To Use:
Having success when it comes to bait fishing starts early on when you purchase your bait fishing rod and reel. If you choose the wrong fishing rod, you are really going to struggle to catch fish consistently while bait fishing.
When bait fishing, you do not want your fishing rod to be too heavy unless you are targeting very large fish such as jewfish (mulloway) or sharks.
Most of the above fish species are relatively small species when you compare them to other fish such as Jewfish, Barramundi, or Murray Cod. You do not need very heavy fishing rods to target bream, flathead, whiting, and smaller sized trevally. Instead of having a heavy fishing rod, you want a rod which is sensitive throughout the rod blank so you can feel the ticks in the line as the fish pick and nibble at your bait.
Our recommendation when bait fishing is to select a 7’0” 1.5-3kg light tapered rod. This is a relatively light rod which really comes into its own when bait fishing for bream, but this same rod would struggle to land a flathead in excess of 60cms. If you are hesitant to go this light, we recommend you step up into a 7’0” 2-6kg medium-light tapered rod. This slightly heavier setup would not struggle to land a flathead well in excess of 60cms, as long as the angler has a little bit of patience and allows the rod to work with them, not against them.
The Daiwa 19 TD Hyper rods are an excellent choice of bait fishing rod, but these have now been superseded by the 23 TD Hyper (released just recently) and so we would recommend you get your hands on the most up to date version. The 23 TD Hyper’s retail for roughly $159.00.
Rod Selection Overview:
1. Light Rod Recommendation: 23 TD Hyper Light Tapered Rod (7’0” - 1.5-3kg). Model number: 701LXS. Retail Price: $159.00.
2. Medium-Light Rod Recommendation: 23 TD Hyper Medium-Light Tapered Rod (7’0” – 2-6kg). Model number: 701MLXS. Retail price: $159.00.
If the above rods are outside your price point, there are many other cheaper rods on the market, but remember to keep the above specifications in mind when purchasing a cheaper rod.
What Bait Fishing Reel To Use:
Selecting the right spin reel to be a successful bait fisherman is equally as important as selecting the right fishing rod.
When bait fishing, spin reels are the way to go. Leave the baitcast reels for lure fishing.
You want to pair your fishing rod with a reel which is suitably weighted to your fishing rod. This means, you do not want to pair your light 1.5-3kgs rod with a 5000 sized reel. The biggest sized reel we would recommend you pair with a 1.5-3kgs bait fishing rod, is a 3000 sized reel.
The reel we recommend you use on your 1.5-3kgs or 2-6kgs bait fishing rod, is a Shimano Stradic 2500HG reel with a gear ratio of 6.0:1.
The “HG” part of the reel size specification, stands for “High Gearing” which means for each wind of the reel’s handle on a 6.0:1 reel, the spool turns six times. This means when you wind your reel handle, you are winding in more line than a reel with a lower gear ratio.
Having a reel with a higher gear ratio is a little more forgiving for when you hook a fish, letting you wind in the line at a higher speed, so it is easier for the angler to keep pressure on the fish. A higher gear ratio reel is a top pick if you are fishing for bream because bream will go out of their way to try to brick you on structure.
“A higher gear ratio reel is a top pick if you are fishing for bream because bream will go out of their way to try to brick you on structure.”
The only drawback to the Shimano Stradic, is that it is slightly on the expensive side of things when it comes to a bait fishing reel – retailing for roughly $309.00.
If the Shimano Stradic 2500HG reel is outside your budget, we recommend getting an entry level reel such as the Daiwa Aird LT and again in the 2500 size – these reels retail for roughly $119.99.
If you are looking for a reel in the middle price point, we have fished the Daiwa BG spin reels for a long time, and they have never let us down. Again, if you choose the Daiwa BG reel, we recommend the 2500 size which has a gear ratio of 5.6:1. The Daiwa BG 2500 reel retails for roughly $219.99.
When it comes to spin fishing reels, you pay money for a higher kilogram rated drag pressure, better quality body design, and for higher gear ratios, so if this is important to you, it is best to spend the money in the first instance or else you might just end up spending more money later.
Reel Selection Overview:
1. More expensive price point: Shimano Stradic 2500HG – retails for roughly $309.00.
2. Middle price point: Daiwa BG 2500 – retails for roughly $219.99.
3. Cheaper price point: Daiwa 23 Aird LT 2500 – retails for roughly 119.99.
Recommended Rig For Bait Fishing:
The rig used for bait fishing is the area where I see most bait fishing anglers going wrong. I have seen all types of rigs used when bait fishing, but again, we stress that the simplistic approach to bait fishing is always the best approach. There is no need for sinkers the size of soccer balls, swivels, snatch clips, or wire traces.
The one and only rig we use when bait fishing for the bread-and-butter species such as bream, dusky flathead, whiting, and trevally, is a CIRCLE HOOK TIED ONTO YOUR LINE WITH A RUNNING SINKER.
“The one and only rig we use when bait fishing for the bread-and-butter species … is a CIRCLE HOOK TIED ONTO YOUR LINE WITH A RUNNING SINKER.”
What Hooks To Select When Bait Fishing:
There are many different hook types, but circle hooks are best for bait fishing. Circle hooks are hooks where their point turns back into itself forming a circular type of shape.
Circle hooks have been proven to increase fish survival rates after capture because they minimise deep hooking. Deep hooking fish can drastically impact on survival rates in fish after their capture, so if you are not looking at keeping your catch, or want your undersized catches to survive, using circle hooks is the best option.
"Circle hooks have been proven to increase fish survival rates after capture because they minimise deep hooking."
Circle hooks are not like j-shaped hooks in that often you do not need to set the hook into the fish’s mouth. More often than not, the fish will eat the bait offering and then swim off with the bait in their mouth, and as soon as there is any tension from the line to the hook, the hook will work its way into the fish’s mouth (usually pinning them in the side of the jaw). A slow lift and wind is the easiest way to make sure your circle hook finds the corner of the fish’s mouth.
When we are fishing for bream, dusky flathead, and trevally, we always use Black Magic’s size 2/0 KS hooks, but if we are fishing for whiting, a smaller hook is required due to the smaller size of the whiting's mouth, so we use a 1/0 KL hook. These hooks have never let me down.
Hook Selection Overview:
1. Hook Selection for bream, dusky flathead and trevally: Black Magic’s size 2/0 KS circle hook.
2. Hook selection for whiting: Black Magic’s size 1/0 KL hook (it specifically says “for whiting” on the packet).
A bream swimming off strong after being hooked with a circle hook.
What Sinker To Use When Bait Fishing:
When bait fishing, odds are you will be fishing in tidal flow where you require a piece of lead weight (sinker) to help your bait offerings get down to the structure where the fish are holding.
A running sinker is what we recommend using. In our opinion, there is no other way to rig up when bait fishing.
The running sinker rig is very simplistic. You simply thread your ball sinker onto your line and then tie your hook straight onto your line. Using this rig, your sinker should be free to move up and down your line, unimpeded by any knots or barriers.
The running sinker allows the sinker to sink to the bottom, while the bait naturally wafts in the water with the flow or current of the water. Often, this is just too much for the fish to handle and they will bite.
"The running sinker rig is very simplistic. You simply thread your ball sinker onto your line and then tie your hook onto your line."
A heavy sinker will not allow the bait to waft naturally in the water column and it will make the fish hesitant to bite, so choosing and selecting the right sinker is very important.
If the current is moving quickly, a larger sized sinker will be required to keep the bait down in the water column where the fish will be holding, whereas if you are fishing in water with next to no current or flow, then you want to use the smallest sinker possible. In some instances where the flow is minimal, or if the fish are not biting, sometimes using no sinker at all and letting the bait naturally waft down through the water column will see the fish turn on and start biting.
If you are fishing a zone where the current is flowing really hard, we recommend a sinker just smaller than the size of a five-cent coin, but if there is next to no current, we recommend using a sinker the size of a pea or smaller.
If the fish are not biting, change up the size of your sinker, or do not use one altogether.
Sinker Selection Overview:
1. Heavy flow or current: sinker just smaller than a five-cent coin.
2. No flow or next to no current: sinker the size of a pea or smaller.
What Line To Use When Bait Fishing:
The biggest advice I can give any Australian bait fisherman, is that you need to go light to get the bite. This means you need to use a light line or leader, so the fish do not see your line in the water.
A fluorocarbon leader is best here because a fluorocarbon leader is near invisible to fish underwater, but you can also use straight through monofilament line if you do not want to mess about with tying line to line knots.
If you are using braided line with fluorocarbon leader, we recommend using a simple double uni knot to join your line together. A double uni knot will hold up when tangling with most Australian species that you will catch on bait. I have bait fished for a long time and am yet to have a double uni knot fail when I have been attached to a fish.
"The biggest advice I can give any Australian bait fisherman, is that you need to go light to get the bite."
Line Selection Overview:
1. Monofilament Line: any brand name will get the job done if you select a line class between 10lb-20lb.
2. Braid: J-Braid Grand or J-Braidx8 – choose a braid between 10-20lb.
3. Leader: FC Rock or Shimano Ocea – choose leader between 6lb-20lb.
Bait Presentation:
Having good bait presentation is key when it comes to bait fishing.
Having good bait presentation means after you have threaded your bait onto your chosen hook, your bait presentation looks as natural as possible, while still ensuring you have great hook exposure.
Hook exposure is imperative when it comes to bait fishing. You need to ensure your hook point is protruding from your bait so that when a fish eats your bait, the hook can either be set into the fishes lip/jaw, or it can slowly work it’s way into the corner of the fishes lip/jaw as the fish eats the bait and then the tension works the hook point into the fish’s lip/jaw. If the hook point is covered by bait, this makes hook penetration nearly impossible, and you will soon get frustrated when you cannot hook the fish.
"If the hook point is covered by bait, this makes hook penetration nearly impossible, and you will soon get frustrated when you cannot hook the fish."
1. How to rig a prawn: - the best way to rig a prawn is by threading the hook point into the prawn just below the head of the prawn and then threading it through the body with the hook point coming out again on the inside/middle of the prawn’s tail. This technique allows the prawn to present naturally and in the natural shape of a prawn when it is alive. Do not just thread your prawn onto the hook starting from the tail section because we find this does not get as much interest from the fish.
2. How to rig pilchards: - cube your pilchards into 2cms-by-2cms chunks and thread your hook completely through one side of the pilchard cube, then rotate your hook and skewer your hook back through the other side. Once this is done, move your hook to ensure the point of the hook is exposed and that the hook sits neatly and flush.
3. How to rig white bait: - simply go in one side of the white bait’s eyes with your hook point, and then come out the other eye. This technique gets a lot of interest from fish, but you will go through a lot of bait.
4. How to rig a live saltwater yabby (nipper): - simply thread your hook through the utmost bottom of the tail flap. This flap looks like a fan. You want to go in with the hook from the top side of the tail flap, before coming out the bottom side of the tail flap. Presenting your yabby like this will allow it to move around freely whilst fishing, without causing too much damage to the yabby.
Putting It All Together:
Now you have selected your bait fishing rod and paired it with your bait fishing reel, it is time to get your bait and head out for a fish with your circle hook running sinker rig.
A bite from a fish will feel like a tick in the line when bait fishing, but patience is key when it comes to hooking fish.
You will want to resist every urge in your body to strike your rod when you feel the first tick in your line. You want to wait until you feel a bigger and longer tick through the rod and line, indicating the fish has actually swallowed your hook. Once you feel the bigger tick in the line, slowly lift your rod tip up and wind your reel handle to take up some of the slack line. When you do this, you will create tension between your line and the hook, and if the fish has swallowed your bait offering, you will be ONNNN!
At that point, we recommend you panic. Do lots of panicking. Just kidding, we recommend you do the opposite. Keep a calm and level head, and use your rod and reel to angle the fish to where you want to land it. Once you land the fish, celebrate. You earned it!
Summing Up.
Bait fishing is often over-complicated by anglers when it does not need to be. This article has detailed all the tips and tricks you need to know so you can get out there and catch more fish on bait.
Bait fishing can be really enjoyable with your loved ones and family, so get out there and wet a line, but remember, keep your approach to bait fishing SIMPLISTIC because a simplistic approach to bait fishing will see you catch more fish.
The Finatic Blogger...
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