Productive Techniques – Live bait fishing Gold Coast.

A guide to live bait fishing on the Gold coast. We use all of these techniques with great success on board our Gold coast fishing charters. Read on for some great local live baiting tips.

Despite an enormous range of various lure fishing styles used on the many target species these days, live bait fishing is one of the simplest and most effective techniques used for catching a myriad of prized species off the Gold Coast.
Anglers who seek out species such as Wahoo, Tuna, Marlin, Mackerel, Cobia, Mulloway, Mahi mahi, and even Flathead are regularly using live baiting techniques and often find them to be more successful than other techniques. 

Locating live baits – Gold Coast Live Bait Grounds

There are plenty of options for catching livie’s around the Gold coast. Inshore, Mullet and Herring are plentiful and can easily be caught in a cast net. Ideal spots are around the sand flats, canal entrances and off the many public jetties scattered around the Broadwater. Yabbies are also easy to obtain at low tide on the many sand flats and mud banks in the Broadwater and southern Moreton bay.

Offshore, there is several local reefs approximately 1 nautical mile south east of the seaway way wall. These rocky out crops hold Yakkas, Pike, Trevally and Slimies. These reefs are easily identifiable on a good day. There’s usually always boats there. Further out the 18 and 24 fathom reefs hold yakkas and trevally year round and slimies seasonally. All can easily be caught on a simple bait jig. If they don’t respond to the jig by itself, add a little flavour to it. A squid tentacle, prawn or a small piece of fish flesh can make all the difference some days.

Catching and keeping livies

The most critical factor in live baiting is actually getting the right bait to use, matching the hatch so to speak. In South east Queensland, Yakka’s, Slimy mackerel, Herring, Mullet, Trevally, Pike, squid, and Tailor are all excellent offerings and easily available for those wanting to try their hand at live baiting.
Some species have a minimum legal size limit, which of course you will have to abide by even if you are only using the fish for live bait. Don’t be afraid to go big with your baits. I’ve witnessed many Marlin and big Wahoo taken on large Tailor and Trevally.

After you have caught your favourite baits, take care of your catch and look after them. The liveliest baits are usually the best baits. A decent size bait tank is a good start, with a good supply of recycled water circulating to ensure they stay alive until it’s time to use them.

No matter the rig you choose to use, being gentle is critical for keeping the bait alive and healthy for as long as possible. 
For example, be careful handling your live baits so you don’t squash it or knock too many scales off. Using a glove or wet cloth helps. When it comes to inserting the hooks, be careful not to damage the internal organs and the lateral line of the live bait. 

Live Bait Fishing Gold Coast – Rigs

Single hook rigs

Single hook rigs are used in smaller baits such as Herring, Mullet, Trevally, Yakkas, Slimy mackerel, and even small squid. There are several ways to rig livies using the single hook technique but most are very simple and get the maximum possible life span from your selected bait. My personal favourite while fishing at anchor is a single hook through the shoulders. It allows the bait to swim naturally. Another great method is a hook through the nose. This works better when drifting. Bridle rigging using a rubber band is also a great technique.

Double hook rigs

Double hook rigs are useful with big baits or when the fish are shy and finnicky. A second stinger hook can produce good results. they do however tend to weigh the livies down a little more and obviously 2 hooks in it will also reduce the life span of the bait.

Live Bait fishing Gold coast can be very productive and extremely rewarding for those who try it. We hope you enjoyed this article and if you would like to get out and learn more about live bait fishing Gold coast. we would recommend you book one of our exciting half day fishing charters.