Shellfish works on many desirable species – including nearly all the ones we like to eat – and as I also like to snack on the odd fresh tuatua or two, it’s a no-lose situation when the fishing is slow!
The list of different species I’ve caught on tuatua and mussel baits is long indeed, and includes snapper, trevally, kahawai, gurnard, blue moki, stingrays, parore and eagle rays. I have even caught a kingfish around the 12kg mark on mussel at Awatoto a couple of years ago when I was just a youngster. Ahem!

Shellfish baits are also good for avoiding the less desirable species such as sharks. While nothing is guaranteed in fishing, sharks definitely prefer fish baits such as fresh kahawai, pilchards and skipjack.

Yet many surfcasters don’t use shellfish as much as they should, perhaps because they’re a right cow to keep on the hook. Even when trying to tie them onto the hook, they tend to slide around the shank and drop off, leading to more and more frustration.

It gets even worse if there’s a hot bite going on and the pre-tied traces run out. If panic sets in and it’s not done right or too quickly, bits fly off during the cast, leaving a bait that’s not going to fool too many fish.

Once the panic and colourful language is over, and the bits of shellfish innards have been cleaned off the your back and head, it should be time to reconsider how to create a tempting looking shellfish bait that stays that way during delivery, so even the most discerning of fish will eat it afterwards.

A year or so ago I was reading an overseas fishing magazine and saw a rather good idea to help tie on a good shellfish bait without all the hassles. It was brilliant in its simplicity – just a small piece of flat, shaped plastic. The only flaw was that it only worked well with hooks much smaller than we tend to use in this country.

After much head scratching and fingers full of splinters, I came up with a greatly modified version that works very well with larger baits requiring 4/0 to 6/0 hooks. 

However, even with this gadget, it is possible to make a big mistake when binding on the bait. I’ve seen many surfcasters well and truly over-bind until they end up with something that resembles a rather weird, coloured Cheerio sausage taking part in a bondage session!

The knack here is to bind the bait just enough to hold it securely, whilst leaving it with bits a pieces sticking out all over. Indeed, something more like a fish might naturally find.

In keeping with things natural, I believe shellfish baits should be fished hard on the bottom. After all, fish don’t find a lot of nude shellfish swimming round higher up in the water column, do they? So putting the bait on the seabed could be just enough to fool that wily old 20kg snapper you’ve been chasing all your life! Either a running rig or ledger rig with the bottom trace positioned low down will do the trick.

If you also need a bit of extra distance to your cast, try a ledger rig with a short, single trace tied close to the sinker. I don’t believe the sinker, if the fish actually sights it, will put them off a free meal, especially if you’ve ‘weathered’ it. Another method of getting extra distance is to use a long-trace pulley rig. Considering the angle of the line in the water, this will still place the bait on the bottom, but allow a little more movement to attract attention.

Shellfish baits definitely improve the catch rates when used with a little ‘bling’. Bright coloured plastic octopus imitations work well, as do silver or coloured beads. At night, lumo beads and tubes, along with lumo-coloured plastic octopus, also see catch rates improve vastly.

When it comes to catch rates, the argument rages on whether fresh or salted is best. Personally, my own observations reveal very little, if any, difference. If, like me, you are in the habit of snacking on a little bait whilst fishing, fresh is definitely best, but salted baits do hold better on the hook and are easier to tie on. Also, the leftovers keep a lot better for other fishing trips, where shellfish may be harder to collect.

Shellfish do give up a lot of liquid when salted. I’ve seen some surfcasters discard this as wastage, which is a bit of a shame. Believe me, it’s far better to freeze this and add it to berley mixes later.

Shucking shellfish, especially the smaller species such as tuatua, brings about a hazard I call the ‘skink effect’! Skinks have a defence mechanism when caught by predators that allows them to drop their tails. This squirms around and distracts the predator just enough for the skink to make a getaway. Shuck a tuatua wrong, slip with the knife, and you could see half your finger squirming around on the beach! Thankfully, there is a safe method to do this.

Just place the tuatua in your left hand and pull the knife blade between the two halves with the fingers of your left hand. The right hand only supports the knife. This way you will finish the day completely intact.

It certainly helps to have plenty of pre-tied baits on hand in case of a hot bite when competition fishing. I freeze these in small plastic zip-lock bags and take enough for the hot bite that often occurs during change-of-light times.

In the past I’ve also made up plenty of shellfish ‘kebabs’ when I have the time and lots of tuatua or mussels. Fortunately, with live mussels available in most supermarkets nowadays, getting the product is a lot easier than it used to be.

A few years ago, whilst competing in the NZACA Nationals, I observed a rather unusual but easy way of placing tuatua and mussels on the hook. This guy was just drilling through the thinner end of the shellfish with a battery drill armed with a small masonry bit. Next, he hooked the shellfish on through the holes and cast out! Haven’t tried it myself, but it has all the hallmarks of a good idea. After all, that’s how fish normally encounter shellfish isn’t it, and the juices will be oozing out the holes?

However, if you insist on tying on nude shellfish baits, there are plenty of suitable products on the market to help. I really like the Black Magic Bait Buddy. It’s thin and holds well – but can be a bit of a hassle getting off the hook once the bait is gone, especially if using a knife. Sharp scissors are simple but effective!

By the way, everything you do to create a good shellfish bait also applies to crayfish or crab baits. I use plenty of these crustaceans, because, like shellfish, the success rate is high.

As for likely places to deploy shellfish baits, look around for areas of broken shells, as this usually indicates a shellfish bed in the vicinity. Or, even better still, hit the beach after a good storm and you may find complete shellfish washed up. Use them as bait right on the spot, and your success rate really climbs.

You see, fish like snapper know they can get a free feed of shellfish in these conditions, so they’ll be switched on to finding and eating them. At times they will enter very shallow water to do so. This is the smart surfcaster’s way of ‘matching the hatch’ – just like our mates the trout fishers do.

	This article is reproduced with permission of    New Zealand Fishing News 2014 - by Bruce Basher Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited