Frozen pillies as bait

[fire4fx]

Hi all,

Am I doing something wrong here?

I enjoy a bit of rock fishing & I've noticed on a couple of occasions that when I bait up either a full or half pilchard under a float the bait itself floats to the top of the water. Would that be because the sea is usually too rough at the time? I've checked out some books etc about baiting up but just aint sure. I'm just starting to get back into fishing after missing out on it for many years after licencing came in.

I find that especially in summer the frozen pilchards deteriorate real quick too. I may store them in a small esky in future. But I'm going to also look into buying some of the fresh stuff at the counter bench too & give that a try.

Any hints or recommendations? :rolleyes:

Thanks ahead, PS

[xtosea]

One of a few things may be causing this:
-you cast too hard and when you whip your rod the schock of the rod does not soften the cast, hook rips thru the pilly
-old pillies?
-not baited properly?
-too many scales on pilly's and therefore you can not hook up te bait properly?

Ways to help/improve would include:
-gang hooks
-salt your pilly's
-buy different pillys
-change your bait to squid or something more hardy?

Try and go and catch your bait whether it be Yakkas or slimies or tailor or squid. These baits are more hardy than pilly's. Just use the pilly's to catch bait and use the bait you catch?

Others will have more to add, there are some bronds of pilly's you can buy that are top notch from tackle stores, i can't remember which ones they are, and who packages them? Will try and find out, they are fat juicy and fresh as can be after being frozen.

All the best

Kamil

[quintrex101]

well kamil said it all, but what could be good if you also put a sinker near the pilli, that will keep it down

[storms72]

Mate pass on the sinker near the pilly, can scare some timid fish away....as kamil said always use fresh, I will only use old pillies as burley and yes they do sometimes float and also buy them from a tackle store not a servo and the servo pillies are usually the cheapest around where the tackle shop will offer you a few brands talk to the shop attendant he will help you.

If you're having any trouble keeping them on the hook just remember to put the hook the whole way through the head or tail pull it through the other side then re-insert it hear the spine at the dorsal fin area, you then use a half hitch around the head or tail of the pillie to hold it in place, cast as hard as you like it will stay in place 80% of the time.

Good luck mate.:beerchug:

[Paul & Dee]

Hi all,

To weigh your pillie down..... hide a small sinker in it's mouth. either running or split shot.

[Haji]

Try using individually snap frozen pillies. They cost a little more but you dont have to thaw a whole block and pull the pillies apart which always seems to damage them. Just put 6 or 8 individual frozen pillies in a bait container on your belt and you will find that they will quickly thaw out ready to use.

Also, ganged hooks are the go every time for full pillies, they present better and if you take care to place the hook that is closest to the line (the uppermost hook in the gang) through the eye of the pilchard you should not have any problems. I have caught Tailor, Salmon and Bream using ganged hooks, no problem with timid fish if you are fishing a wash were the fish have to grab the bait or miss out.

If you are buying hooks already ganged try to avoid the cheaper ones as they tend to break. It is far better to gang your own using quality hooks and bend the top of the hook in toward the gape of the hook. This allows the gang to operate more freely. Bend it just below the eye of the hook and before you open the eye just enough to slip the next hook in through the eye. About 45 degrees is about right for the angle of the bend.

Finally, use a swivel through the eye of the top hook, stops the bait from spinning and provides sufficient weight to keep your bait down. I use black swivels to avoid something having a go at the swivel and cutting me off.

Hope all this will be of help to you. :luck: