I always tuck the 1/4oz sinker against the tail of a pilly before doing a half hitch above. Tidy as.

if you guys put this much thought into straylining you should get into lure fishing...

I gave up on pillies yrs ago.. 1 hit wonders...
 A good solid bait, lasts thru the nibblers that get the attention of the bigger fish..who come in push the little guys away , pick up the bait swim away like a seagull, and then precede to eat it.
 Never jerk back when feel a biat.. chances are its a little fish... give them a good 5 /10ms, even more in winter.
 Fresh mullet or trev or KY well from the fish shop or caught on previous trips..
scaled..scales mess a boat up, or rather means lot more cleaning.
Fillet, then cut into strips diagonally, and bag into zip lock bags. About 1 fillet per bag.. squeeze the air out and freeze.
 and/ or whole or 1/2 fliiets laid off the bottom of chilly bin, generous salt, close the lid for 3 or 4 days.
2x 1/2 in one bag, pour juice in, get air out in bucket water and freeze.
This way always bringing fresh bait onto the board as needed and de frosts quickly.
 The heads frames.. not tails, go thru the old 1990s electric ryobi garden mulcher.. usually do about 50/60kg at a time 2x a yr.. packed into 2L square milk bottles and frozen.

 Lure fishing, yep always throw a SB out, but fish on the baits het hit faster.. suppose thats why SBers advice tends to be leave bait at home (??)
 SB rods are great for tossing into KY / trev boil ups.. even for tuna.. lotta fun.
As to other lures, yep have them, often have a play.. then the bait out the back gets hit..

What about squid?  spent a couple yrs having squid as a choice in the bait bin (and carp couple other oddies)
I dropped squid also, just did not get hit like KY, trev, and main go to mullet. Car worked well, but those bloody scales are like mini knight in shining Armour shields to take off... and when left on , bait got picked at rather than eaten.

Been using shark as bait for a while now....stays on the hook well.

That's an interesting idea. Is it best to put the bait near or on the bottom, or higher up. What do you think, Snappa Geoff?

Couple of classic vids from our FishWhisperer doing it basics in the shallows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V42biICdaVY

Saw your  in close report ...
Locals are all for heading wide,  "close" sort 30/40m marks
As just getting to know  the area have been stopping and hitting 25/35m marks , and nailing good fish across top of the tides. When the bite goes off thu , thats it.
 Farest out has only been 34/35m
 Only one local mentioned getting in behind the beach breaks, and that was a 'quiet' remark.
 Also son nails it surfcasing all year round, so much that catch and release off the beach is regular.
 He knows how to pick rips, foul etc..
So on that basis why shouldnt the inshore work well?

Again thu , the rig is basically a stray line with sinker on the end of the main line...sort of strayline rig we work, except with as light a sinker as possible 1.5/ 2m trace.