Baits - cut bait options and techniques

Sometimes there are so many fish around that you don't need to lure them from far away. In these situations there's no need for the vibrations of a frightened live-bait or the sight and smell of an undulating piper. A small piece of something desirable will do the job just as well. This is when cut baits are the ideal choice for the ultra-light angler.

Cutbaits are cheap and convenient. Unfortunately, they are only really effective when you have large numbers of fish around you. This can be a common situation if you know which channels or gullies the fish gather in at low tide. The use of berley can also produce the same effect, as can the judicious observation of sea birds, leading you to schools of surface-feeding pelagics (and the bottom fish that always lurk underneath).

By 'cut-baits' I mean any sort of fish or shellfish that can be cut up to fit on a hook properly. 'Properly' means that the bait is arranged so it is all gathered around the hook, and the barb of the hook is completely exposed. Since baits come in different sizes you will require a variety of hooks to suit your needs. Again, the wire Aberdeen hooks, with their long shanks and wide gaps, are excellent for cut-baits.

An exception to the general rule of keeping your bait clustered on the hook shank is the strip bait. Strip baits attract fish by their scent and movements in the water (as they're jigged, drifted or left to undulate in the tide). They are made by cutting a fresh fillet from a small mackerel, mullet or other oily fish up to about 8 inches (20cm) in length. If you scale the fish before filleting it there won't be any problem with the scales getting stuck on the point of the hook. By not preparing the fillet until it's to be used, the maximum amount of body oils will be preserved to attract fish to your offering. Although freshly-caught fish are best for this, bait frozen while in good shape does nearly as well.

Be sure to put the hook through the tail of the fillet where the skin is toughest. This will produce maximum motion and staying power. Push the point of the hook through the meat of the fillet first and then through the skin. That way the tough skin will be kept just below the point by the barb of the hook. As with whole piper, give the fish time to take the bait or you'll end up with no fish and an empty hook as well.

Squid tentacles are another very effective strip bait. Use 3 to 4 at a time and watch out. It's a very seductive bait and you'll often get a 'follower' fish trying to wrest it from the mouth of the fish that you've already hooked. This can be a disaster on ultra-light since the follower fish can easily cut the line if it's touched.

Similar in effect to strip baits are whole, small, dead fish like mullet or mackerel up to about 6 inches (15cm) in size. These are best hooked through the eyes or both lips with a 2/0-4/0 Aberdeen hook or a 1/0 salmon hook (any light wire hook will do the trick ? Ed). If you put shallow cuts in the flesh of the dead fish more oils will ooze into the water to attract game fish to the area. Using a syringe to inject tuna oil into the bait will also help. Unless your quarry is right on the surface, a 1/4 to 1-ounce sliding sinker on the leader will provide the maximum motion while jigging, drifting or anchoring in the tidal. flow. Cube baits are another valuable tool. These are solid chunks of larger mullet, bonito, or other oily fish. Of these, bonito is by far the most effective (very oily) but also the softest and easiest to lose. If you leave a section of skin on the cube bait, and put the shaft of the hook through the meat and then the skin, it won't be lost as often.

When using cube baits, a circle style hook is most effective. Circle hooks make a mess of baits if you try to insert it point first. The way to rig them is to use, a needle and thread to draw the hook shaft up into the cube. Only the eye of the hook is left exposed (just above the skin). This is the only exception, I know of to the basic rule of always leaving the point of the hook exposed. Although it seems improbable when looking at it; these hooks are ideal for use with untended lines or while still baiting. Because the bait is very soft the fish literally hook themselves if you keep a tight line and don't strike. For trevally, snapper, flounder, gurnard and other bottom feeders, a shellfish (tua-tua, pipi) is among the most useful of baits. However, shellfish are very soft and easily pulled off the hook while casting; their use demands a light touch and a sharp hook.

Don't bother trying to toughen shellfish by cooking them. An over boiled shellfish probably tastes worse to fish than it does to people. A better way to make shellfish more stable on the hook is to salt them. I gather several litres of shellfish at a time and then I coax m ay wife into helping me open them and remove the meat. once freed of the shell the meat is spread out and salted heavily. After the fluid has been drawn off by the salt, more salt is added and the meat is bottled up.

Once prepared, the shell-fish bait is stored in the refrigerator until needed. Whenever I'm going out fishing a bottle of the 'goo' always goes with me. It's a versatile bait and lasts for months. If it's not taken by a fish within 10 minutes just put it back in the bottle to reinforce its captivating aroma. After the day's fishing seal the bottle well and wash off the outside. Without these precautions you may well find your bait ejected from the refrigerator by an irate family.

The last point worth mentioning is the subject of changing baits. As you recall, cut-baits are effective because they smell good to the fish. To preserve that odour, cut-baits must be changed every 15 minutes or so to keep them working. Use the old baits for burley and you'll be wasting nothing. if you have a limited supply of cut-baits the odour can be reinforced by soaking the baits in tuna oil. Or, better yet, you can put some tuna oil in a 10cc syringe and inject it into the bait just before you use it. That way the bait creates its own chum line as it drifts in the current.

New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
Copyright: NZ Fishing Media Ltd.
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited