we used 20kg of chicken pellets and bait bin 'fish juice' in the weekend on the Manukau. got some big snaps and only one little shark. Worked for us.

Muppet wrote: Berleymate lasts ages. Proven Gurnard slayer  Give it good shakes every few minutes best from boat and you can get pellets too.

smudge wrote: we used 20kg of chicken pellets and bait bin 'fish juice' in the weekend on the Manukau. got some big snaps and only one little shark. Worked for us.

Rozboon wrote: I like the Pete Lamb Bonito bombs at the moment. Or Kina+Mussel if I'm targeting specifically.

I fish mainly at Coromandel so avoid mussel as thats one of the main things on the menu so will do little to help the fish make up their minds to leave mussel to chase mussel.
I use Kina when ever I can get it. If I can get it I chase the neighbors down there to get their waste (minus the row of course) and use that. Kina are probably the only thing snapper love more than mussel

I believe the best burley is the expected food type in the area, eg up north east in close smashed up kina and mussellls is best for snapper over the reefy/foul systems to about 60-80ft deep with a light current/tidal stream.

letsgetem wrote: I like the Salty Dog pilchard and Bonito. Comes in 3 and 5kg. Seems to have a lot of oily runny goo that disperses widely, plus bigger bits. Price $10 for 3kg is less than some others.   I want it to disperse for 2 hours, but it varies from 1-2 hours. I haven't quite got on top of how to get it dispersing at the rate I like. The wobbly pot net has big holes, so that doesn't restrict it. Its a complicated combination of how much slicing the plastic bag, and how strong the current is. Possibly by the time Im dead I will have figured it out.   usually, from lowering the berley, takes about 30 minutes for bites to start; presume the fish are attracted from elsewhere nearby. If nothing worthwhile in 60 45 minutes I usually give up there.

Catchelot wrote: I know salmon berley is popular but to me is unnatural and is illogical if you are not using salmon as your bait.

I think the really important part is to set the berley so you are fishing into the trail. If you aren't doing that then you are inviting the fish away from your bait.

Hell yeah...some drop it of the anchor, bit of wind swing on the warp and the trail is way out to the side...then others just hang off the stern, target bottom, and dont realise the currents down the bottom are very different to where the trail drops from the surface. and or the trail doesnt get to the bottom where the bait is.
I dont think the type of burely is so important...unless targeting a particular species at a particular depth
Our mullet/ trev frames / heads from making our own cut baits.. KY/ trev/ king/ albacore heads frames from fishing, bit left over bait.. so long as not ripe.. few pellets to thicken up, few kina thrown in and muscle shells and scales to add 'glitter'
 Put in 2L milk bottles...and depending on the water temp, one can regulate the dispersion by no bottle in winter to cut one side of only in summer

Good on you FQ for trying to make your own.
I still think Salmon best in terms of oil slick and short term impact - look for orange coloured salmon - probably made for a good time not a long time!

I use for straylining and also more for Salt water fly fishing - casting down berley trail and trying to entice whatever really - snapper , kahawaii, trevs etc .

The other berleys still work well - positioning of berley at right depth crucial dependant on depth current etc