Todays tip: Cocktail baits Its no secret that fish have a variety of food in their diet, ranging from macroscopic crustaceans to large molluscs and fish, these guys eat anything (unless theyre a vegetarian fish!). Some fish are even omnivorous such as the luderick and the milk fish. An excellent way to attack all points of interest in a fish is to create a cocktail bait. Cocktail baits are combinations of different baits on a single hook (hence the name cocktail bait), they are literally a cocktail of baits. Usually a combination of 2 baits, 3 baits are sometimes used and Im sure there are anglers that extend further and use 4 baits or more. Here are an excellent selection of cocktail baits I use or have used before and what they are great for targeting: WHITING WONDER (Pipi + Squid) A simple bait, take a length of squid tentacle and place the hook through the fat end, wrap the tentacle once and hook it again, allowing the rest of the tentacle to hang freely on the hook. Cut a pipi in half and slide half a pipi onto the hook, wrapping it once, slide the pipi until it touches the part of the tentacle that is hooked, slide both baits down until they cover the entire shaft of the hook yet leave the full curve and point of the hook exposed. The whiting wonder works excellent for: Whiting Trevally Pinkies Leatherjacket Common reef species Occasional gummy sharks SQUID CONDOM (Pilchard + Squid) Dont freak out over the name of this one, a condom is not necessary! This is a very easy bait to make and is used by many snapper anglers such as Lee Rayner, it is best done with a small squid possessing a hood approximately the size of half a pilchard. To create the squid condom, remove the head from a squid and the insides of the hood, insert the head and top half of the pilchard into the hood, so that it sits neatly inside. Place one hook through the eye of the pilchard and a second hook in the tail, the squid will not only bring two baits into one, it will also help to hold pilchards together and is an excellent alternative if you have trouble keeping pilchards whole on hooks. The squid condom will catch: Snapper Gummy shark Large salmon/tailor Common large reef species PERCH POUNDER (Yabby tail + Worms) The perch pounder is freshwater dynamite, but works best on perch such as Redfin, silver perch and yellowbelly, it is comprised of a peeled yabby tail (cooked or raw) and worm(s), a single scrub worm is often best. Rigged the exact same way as the whiting wonder, the worm is hooked twice and the hook is placed through the fat end of the tail and threaded up so that the worm hangs over it with the hook exposed once again. The movement of the worm and scent of the tail drives fish mad! The perch pounder makes easy work of: Yellowbelly Redfin Silver perch Other Australian native perch Trout Bass Cod Carp (somewhat unfortunately) Eels Catfish Those are just a few suggestions of cocktail baits, try some of your own and see how they go! As always, thanks for reading and I hope this helps :)
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 12:06:41 +0000
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