INDIANANGLER

Hi Guys,
I'm Sinclair and I do a very little bit of fishing mostly in Goa from the river banks. The fish I catch are never more than 3 to 4 inches and the bait I use is shelled prawns.
Can anyone give me any suggestions as to what bait to use if I need to get bigger fish?
Thanks

Bigger Prawns

Dude - Post an intro of yourself on the Introductions thread.. You will get better responses after that ..

Small fish of 3 or 4 inches will make a pretty good bait. Just knick the hook in near the gill cover and put a half hitch arround the wrist of the fish's tail and cast it out.

Failing that, try bigger prawns, pieces of squid/calimari or (if you have some bait elastic) mussels.

Dear Sinclair,

Once you have the correct tackle our members [who have experience on Goa] could guide you on the techniques, timing & locations for bigger fish.

All the best for big 3-4 feet one!

Hi Sinclair

Use earthworms, that is the most widely used bait in the world. What tackle do you use? And goodluck, you need a lot of it in the beginning. Do not ever get frustrated mate.

Cheers
Sualeh

earthworms in the sea?
wouldnt they just plasmolyse in salt water?

Hi Aaron
I thought Sinclair talked about fishing in Goa along the river banks!!!!

yes indeed earthworms are great as a bait, but the most common problem with them is,... little ones love these.

and in my case, whatever bait i use, it only fills the stomach of small ones.

any suggestions on that, can we keep the small fish away from out baits?

Hi Fish Man,

Solution:- Fillet fresh mackrel , Sprinkle salt on it and keep it overnight rolled in a news paper. Cube it the next day morning and use as bait.

The news paper absorbs most of the water content in the mackerel and the cut bait becomes quite firm and stays on the hook . The small fish cannot eaisly pull it off the hook but keep worrying it , and that attracts the big guys!. The bait is deadly for Bream ( pallu) Mangrove jack , Grouper etc.

Trick I learned in Mumbai from the Kohlis and have used it till date when I am using cut bait in salt water and esuaries.



Jeen

That is a good bait, Mackrel head also work well when the fish start pulling softer bait off the hook. If using whole mackrel still fishing, I noticed that a couple of shallow cuts in the body across the length works better than the fish presented plain.

thanx jeen!

great tip, i'll certainly use this next time.

any suggestions for fresh water?

regards

Will try it too. thanks Jeen.