CASTING live bait

Hi guys I have a few questions as to what traces should be used when casting live bait out in A~the sea from the beach in calm conditions B~the sea from the beach in rough conditions C~from the banks of an estuary D~a boat in an estuary

for edible fish kob, leervis, elf. Thanks in advance_seal1_::tight:

Sliding non return clip trace would work in all conditions.

Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E46aB7CNViM

Hi i

I usually try to work out the most natural way for the bait to swim and take it from there.

When I target leeries, I try to keep the bait in the top, 1m from the surface.

The float should be big enough to keep the livie up but not so big that the poor livie is exhausted by towing it around.

I try to use a light wire hook for the same reason.

Elf, leeries and cob will all use different rigs. I'm not experienced in sliding so won't help you there, but for casting out a bait just use a polystyrene float or a small balloon (you can put a little water inside too for added casting weight) tied on to your swivel with some floss to fish the surface for leeries and shad. This will only work in clean conditions otherwise your livie gets blown/washed all over the place. For cob who like it on the bottom, use a small running sinker on your mainline before your swivel to keep the mullet or whatever down and a meter or so flouro leader to a circle hook. For elf use a wire bite trace and remember they want to hit the tail of the bait so an extra back hook might help. Leeries want to swallow the mullet or fish headfirst so a thin but strong wire circle hook will be fine, pushed through the mullets toplip/mouthplate, point facing up. Just remember to keep your livie as alive as possible and be gentle with it and cast it gently..ag shame the amount of poor mullets I've gooied off sans a lip, I would feel worse but they just become food. Throw your unused livebait back and keep and freeze dead ones, as whole fillet baits they are also great for shad and cob etc. and sards are costly these days.

Targeting leeries on livebait does take some of the sport out of it (although a leerie on the line is great fun anyhow!) so get some plugs too to throw while waiting for bites and try to take care of the leeries when landing and release what you can for the future.

On a side note, I saw a pic this weekend of a 200+kg raggie caught on a mullet livie put out for leervis on a circle hook and normal monofilament leader and normal tackle. So be prepared, as with spoon and plugs, you never know what might pick you up.

This is how to tie the end trace for Throwing a live Shad.

This is how you pin the hooks into the fish. The back hook carries the weight of the livie. Insert the front hook very shallow just behind the lower pectoral fin under the gill area. The bones of the fins prevent the flesh from splitting open. w

Ok dunno y the pics of tyin the trace never attached so lets try again.

Cut about 1.2m trace line. Insert line through eye about 30cm.

Form a loop by crossing over the tag end forming a simple granny knot.

Now take the tag end(short end) and dou about 4 to 6 twists throuh the loop and do the same with the long end. You should end up with the following

Find the center of all the twists and open one by iether using the point of the hook or the eye of the hook. The knot should look something like this.

Lubricate the knot area well. Now gently and simuletaneously pul the hook , the tag end and the long end. The knot will now look something like this.

Pull the knot nice n tight......

End result....use a slightly smaller hook for the back hook.

Preferably better for .60mm and upward diameters.

Enjoy

Nice demo Cobia. That knot is known as the dropper loop.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for the info guys_seal1_ so cobia that trace of yours, will it be as effective when fishing off a boat in an estuary or is it best for casting off the banks? I like the idea of putting water in the balloon wouldn't have thought of it , thanks Dr halibut

Great info!!! Thanks guys!! And Cobia thanks for your effort with the demo. Copied to my "hengel" file!!!

Thanks Cobia. Nice trace.

Next demo - casting a live 30cm Elf. I need to see that!

Cool gents...

Ya back in the day when there was no sliding tricks livies were casted. A Castmaster with a 20 pound as it was called then was yhe talk of the town rod. A 3Om cast is all you really need for a Garrick or even a Kob. For a live Mullet its the exact same trace but only a single trebble that is tied on and pinned just behind the Mullets head.

The best way for targeting a Leerie/Garrick on a boat , just behind Backline or in the Backline area is to .

Tie a 5/0 to 7/0 single hook on to min .60mm diameter nylon, make the hook trace length about 1.2m Tie a swive onto the other end. Slide a 1 ounce Barrel sinker ont the line going to your rod. Tie the loose end on to the other end of the swivel. You now have a sliding sinker trace.

The pinning of the livie it quite easy. Hook is pierced through the top jaw, just above the jaw line. Dont go too deep because you will kill the fish or if its a live Shad the Shads teeth will wear through the line.

A Garrick has sand paper like teeth. Avoid Steel wire at all costs for them.

To check for right trolling speed, put the livy into the water troll as fast as it takes ensuring it looks like the livie is following the boat this is round about idle speed, maybe slightly faster. You can troll a Shad or Mullet this way. For a Mullet just scale down hook size accordingly.

Enigma thanks for the name of the knot. Lol Ballie age creeping in.