Bait Fishing Basics

When it comes to bait selection, it is important that you use a permitted bait. Permitted baits are outlined in the first schedule of the regulation booklet that comes with your fishing licence. In most cases, the number one bait is the common garden worm. Worms are a favourite food for trout, have been an effective trout fishing bait for centuries and remain effective to this day. These worms can often be found in your veggie patch, compost pile or under lawn clippings. When searching for worms, the bigger the better. Once collected, place them into an ice cream container or bucket along with some soil to keep them happy. When gathering worms, aim to collect as many as possible. As you begin to have success, you’ll quickly go through them. When putting the worm on the hook, put the hook though the area known as the clitellum. This is the thickest and strongest part of the earthworm. The hook can then go through the worm a few times to help keep it on the hook. I like to load up my hook with as many worms as possible. You want to aim for a nice big blob of worms on the end of your hook because once they hit the water, they will start to wiggle. This wiggling attracts the trout, so the more wiggling worms, the better.

Permitted baits:

An effective bait to consider using, especially in tidal areas of rivers, is smelt. These are small bait fish that enter our lower rivers from the sea in the spring and summer. If you’re looking to get some smelt, simply strike up a friendly conversation with a whitebaiter, and they may be willing to share some of their smelt bycatch with you. Use the basic bait fishing rig and attach a smelt to your hook. If you are in a rush, don’t have time to collect worms or smelt for bait and you want convenience, cooked shrimp from the supermarket is a good option. Again, just use the basic bait fishing rig and attach a whole cooked shrimp. 

Photo 4: If you see FSB under the permitted methods column in the regulation booklet, bait fishing is allowed.

Before you decide to head out bait fishing, it’s important that you check your regulation book to see whether bait fishing is permitted. In the regulation booklet, look up the river or lake you wish to fish in. They are listed alphabetically by region. In the authorised fishing methods column, look for FSB. The F stands for Fly, the S stands for Spin and the B stands for Bait, which means that all legal methods are permitted. If you see just FS or F in a column, this means bait fishing is not permitted. 

When deciding on a fishing location, it’s crucial to take into account the types of habitats that are appropriate for bait fishing. If you are fishing in a river, you want to look for deep holes or deep slow-moving sections of river. Slow moving tidal areas of rivers are also ideal. You want to select a slow-moving area of water because in these areas the trout will be swimming around actively looking for food rather than sitting in the current drift feeding and waiting for the food to come to them. Keep in mind that one of the advantages of bait fishing is that the river conditions don’t have to be perfect. If the river is elevated and slightly discoloured, bait fishing can still be very effective as trout can use their highly developed sensory systems to locate and detect your bait. If you are fishing in a lake, stream and river mouths are hot spots. Trout will be expecting food to be delivered from the stream or river and into the lake so will be actively swimming around in search of food. 

Once you have found your bait fishing spot, you will need to cast out your bait and wait patiently as your bait sits enticingly on the bottom. When casting out your bait, particularly worm baits, be careful you don’t cast too hard, or you will flick the bait off your hook. Once you have cast out, if you can, put your rod in a rod holder or lean it up against a V-shaped stick, and keep the line taut. This will help you to detect any bites. You will know you are getting bites if you see the tip of your rod bouncing and bending. If the trout is hooked, your rod will really start to bend, and then it is just a matter of winding in and carefully landing the trout. If you haven’t had a bite after about 20 minutes, check your bait and cast out into a different part of the pool or slow-moving run.