# Live bait catching, a little help please!?



## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

Hi all,

ok, so i have had some luck on livies with flattie and tailor, though they have always been live bait that i catch as a by-product of my normal fishing.

so i want to get a set up to catch livies in my local extuaries for chasing tailor, flatties.... maybe even a jew some day!
Mainly thinking about catching some poddies, or similar.

What is a good set up for getting poddies etc???

I was thinking bread in one of those expandable fine mesh nets? i have used bait jigs before and understand these, though i was hoping for something a bit morer passive, perhaps something i can set up and leave whilst i flick lures about? Will the aforementioned idea work ok, are there any tricks i should consider?

any advise please?

Many thanks,


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## blaggon (Jan 14, 2008)

the way i catch poddies is to use one of the larger juice bottles (the squarish shaped ones ) and cut a hole in the side, put some weights in it (a couple of snapper leads etc ), put some bread in it and sink it in about 1-2ft of water. Mullet will swim in and most cant find their way back out. its an easy way to trap them and you can have a few casts while your waiting.


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## Shorty (May 11, 2008)

or get one of those fluroresent light tubes and knock one end off and put bread in.

Blaggons way is best for yak fishing i think.(more compact)


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## deano (Nov 26, 2006)

In my experience the clear plastic bait traps are better than the mesh ones.


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

Thank you, thank you, thank you......

the kind of responses i was hoping for- effective and CHEAP! awesome will give it a try on Monday hopefully.

cheers,


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## AJD (Jul 10, 2007)

Cast net - 'if' you're in a state that lets you use them. The profish is heaps stable enough to do this.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

AJD said:


> Cast net - 'if' you're in a state that lets you use them. The profish is heaps stable enough to do this.


Yep, that goes for me too, the day cast nets are banned in QLD is the day I stop live baiting.

....but I'm guessing that you're not from QLD judging by you're response to the other suggestions. The few times I've tried trapping livies (always when holidaying in NSW!) I've given up in disgust.


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

ha ha ha,

yeah i agree totally.... no cast nets here make it a big job.... i have used them a few times up north and love them!!!! so quick, so easy, so fun. Waiting for our livies down south sux bollocks, though it is the only way.....

cheers, guys.


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## Feral (Oct 18, 2008)

You could always try a good old fashioned bait jig as well. They are surprisingly effective, just a bit of bread as burley, then start jigging away.


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## proangler (Nov 27, 2008)

I have a 6 foot cast net and I walk along the river bank and cast when I see movement. Works like a charm ;-)


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Earlier this summer a good mate of mine showed me one of the best poddy traps I've ever seen - it worked so well it was ridiculous.
He calls it "The Volcano". Basically all it is is a perspex goldfish bowl, about 30cm in diameter and about 15cm deep, and then he stretched some fly screen mesh over the top and held it in place with an elastic band. In the middle of the screen, he's cut a hole about 2" across.
He crumbles a handfull of stale bread chunks into the bowl and then sits the trap in shallow water with only a couple of inches of water over the top of it, and then sprinkles a bit more bread around the trap to get the fish interested.
When the poddies come along, a few of them will find their way into the trap and they start feeding on the bread inside the trap. As they feed and swim in circles around the inside of the trap, it releases more bread up through the hole which attracts more fish into the trap.
It was incredibly effective, and I could see why he calls it the Volcano - it was like a self burleying trap, and the more fish that went into the trap, the better it worked, and it only took a few minutes and he had a goldfish bowl chockablock full of poddies.
I've used a few different sorts of poddie traps over the years, but this was by far the most successful one I've seen to date. Well worth making one if you're after poddies.
Smeg


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks all... though im yet to succeed.....

Was in a rush on the wkend, though I had a 3lt juice bottle, so punched some holes in it, placed in a weight and 2 entry holes ( 2', angled in of course) crumbled up some bread and left it in the shallows....

Fished Sp's for a while and returned to see fish about, though none in the bottle..... pulled it in, enlarged holes, plnety of interest, though still no love. I Lost interest, so i chucked on a small hook, and tiny bread balls and pulled in a half dozen poddies...... threw the bottle out when i got home 

Will give Greg L's idea a run when i get a chance........

Thanks for the input all.

Cheers,


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## josho (Nov 3, 2007)

Mate i use one pound line a two piece fold up rod stashed up the front of the yak with a cheap reel and a tiny hook its an art but its the quickest way ive found ive done it my whole life and its harder then it looks though.

josho 8)


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

got two traps, one expanding net trap and one expanding plastic tube. The tube is an old Alvey and the net trap is a cheapie from the local tackle shop. Its pretty simple really and I dont break the bread slices up too much, just into chunky pieces. If you can see poddies about just anchor it down and wait a bit. If theres no sign of poddies in the area go somewhere else. We have to do it without cast nets but the traps are effective - just add a little patience. I know that we all want instant results but if that dictates our fishing we probably wouldn't be fishing from kayaks. Leave the rush to the stinkers and enjoy the ride...

John


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## kiwipea (Jun 17, 2008)

Read this on a fishing forum and thought it sounds a good idea. 
I do get sick of baiting up the bread balls as one bite and they gone

Get a thick rubber band. Tie 4 or 5 very short lengths of light mono onto the rubber band at different points around the band. Attach tiny hooks. Bind tiny hooks with white cotton. Connect the band to the end of your fishing line. Wrap the band around a slice of bread and cast. The fish start to hit the bread and will also hit the cotton covered hooks.

kp


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks,

been looking through everything, and although the trap seemed ok, and i left it long enough, i think water was too deep and the thick old poddies couldnt find the hole so to speak. Will alter technique.

I like the rubber band idea, could be intersting!

thanks all,


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## yaxion (Mar 13, 2009)

never tried trapping, but jigs have been my favorite method for years (for herring that is), 
allthough if little chopper tailor are around expect to lose a few hooks 

and yeah i used to do the rubber band/bread method for poddy mullet when i was a kid, slightly better than a pencil float and bread burley...


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## locky24 (May 24, 2008)

Cast net and some bread down at your local haunt just before sunset or sunrise should do the trick.


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## locky24 (May 24, 2008)

Sorry I forgot to mention DONT forget the Aeroguard !!


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## Evoids (Jan 10, 2009)

Howdy! 
Dont mean to hijack the thread but I wanted to know what sort of signs you would look for when trying to trap the poddy mullet. I live in SE queensland so I can use a cast net (I think, will have to check it out) but I was looking for a cheaper alternative until I can afford one. Probably the juice bottle idea. Cheers.


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## chris58 (Nov 25, 2007)

i have only this idea: think 2lt empty coke bottel dry ice weighted down. ;-)


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

chris58 said:


> i have only this idea: think 2lt empty coke bottel dry ice weighted down. ;-)


Ha ha ha ha, yeah, well i was hoping for LIVE bait, so that idea may be limited to collecting piles fo dead fish. fun though im sure.


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Levi,
I've used ice cream containers with a matchbox sized hole in the top. Weighted with sand with bread in it. The poddies can swim out so its best to set it on a falling tide starting with a couple of inches of water over the top. That way the fish get trapped. Never had luck with the commercial clear traps with two holes, they just seem to swim out.


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