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Bait Presentation - Written by Brad Arthur

Bait presentation is a simple statement that actually requires a whole lot of work and

planning. When I was first asked about bait presentation, I thought that it was simply

rigging bait for fishing, but it goes much further than that. Bait presentation is presenting

the right bait, on the right rig, in the right place and at the right time. Although it may

sound like a really tough task, in reality that is what great bait presentation is all about.

Kayak anglers have become masters at rigging and trolling dead baits for gamefish as live

bait’s are a luxury that they seldom enjoy. Having spent plenty of hours on my kayak

over the past few years I’ve been quick to realise that the best bait is fresh bait or at least

bait that has been well preserved and carefully wrapped up or vacuum sealed. You can’t

help feeling confident when you defrost a mackerel that feels all slimy and looks as

though it is ready to spring back to life and swim away. While fresh bait is a huge

advantage, the right choice of bait is just as critical. Good tackle stores now offer options

like bonnies, mackerel, red eyes, wala wala, sardines and japanese mackerel and it is easy

to feel spoilt for choice. Knowing when to use which bait becomes the determining

factor. Most times you can make a certain bait choice like trying old sardines and still

catch a fish or two, when you could have caught more if you had been using mackerel or

red eyes.

Understanding the behavior of different species is vital in bait selection. If king mackerel

are your targeted quarry, then small bonito are without doubt one of the deadliest baits

available. Another bait that can be just as good, but much easier to acquire is mackerel,

these little guys account for most of the king mackerel caught by KZN’s kayak fishing

fraternity. The easiest bait to get your hands on is undoubtedly sardines and given the

right conditions they can be better than any other bait in your box. The problem with

sardines is finding good quality ones that won’t just disintegrate when you put them in

the water. Try and get IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) as you won’t have to defrost the

whole box when you just want one or two baits. Local bait is always a good option as fish

get used to eating certain baits. Halfbeaks work really well in Mozambique and northern

Zululand, but if you pull them around, say Durban, then they often yield very little. So

remember Local is Lekker! Another thing to keep in mind is Big Bait = Big Fish (or

sometimes big shark). If you’re looking for big fish don’t be afraid of pulling large wala

wala or bonito.

Once you’ve chosen the right bait, the next important job is rigging it correctly. I’m

going to concentrate on rigs for king mackerel in this article as they are by far the most

commonly targeted fish from a kayak. The most obvious ingredient to a good couta trace

is wire. Most anglers use single strand stainless wire, but there will soon be a trend

toward the use of titanium wire which has some very handy properties, the most valuable

being that it doesn’t kink like normal wire. The downside is that it is more difficult to tie

and comes with quite a hefty price tag. However, you will have a trace that could

theoretically last an entire season and catch a countless number of fish. The next vital part

in a good trace is top quality hooks. Whether you choose singles or trebles remember that

sharp hooks catch more fish.

Dusters, skirts and all the other fancy attractors available add to the appeal of your bait

and aid in getting the attention of all sorts of gamefish. Different colours work well in

different conditions, but if you stick to pink, mother-of-pearl and chartreuse you should

come right most of the time. If you fish in areas with lots of fishing pressure, then be sure

to scale down on your hardware. Try using lighter wire, smaller hooks and swivels, and

the use of flouro carbon leaders can also prove to be the difference between success and

failure. When trolling dead baits you’ll find that the lead wire on your trace will seldom

have to be longer than 20cm. So shorten your trace and get more strikes. I’d rather get

bitten off once and get 30 strikes than lose none and only get 15 strikes.

Next option on your rig is whether or not to use a baitswimmer. Opinions are going to

vary from person to person, but here are the advantages for each school of thought. When

fishing with a baitswimmer, be it a bait-o-matic/living lip type or simply a sinker to keep

your bait from spinning, you’ll know your bait is swimming straight and true. You can

paddle faster than normal and fish in strong currents without worrying about the bait

twisting up your line. Fishing without a baitswimmer leaves your bait with a weightless,

natural swimming action. You will have to fish slower than usual but when fishing places

that don’t have too much current you will catch more fish than with a baitswimmer. Your

bait also has more of an “injured baitfish” action, which will attract more strikes. There

are times and places for both methods; the trick is knowing which one to use and when.

Now you’ve got the right bait and the right rig to put it on, but it would be pointless

taking it where there are no fish. So the next question is where do you try it out? I cannot

stress how important it is to know the habits of the fish you’re targeting. Going fishing in

the right place is more than half the battle won and it’s amazing to see how often good

anglers end up at the right spots on the right days. If you know that often the couta are at

a certain spot after a strong south westerly wind, then going there in the right conditions

will greatly increase you chances of success. We’ve all heard stories of how wild the fish

were at a spot, you could’ve put anything in the water and got a bite etc, etc… so if you

pick the right spot, the fish will be easy to catch.

Once you’ve picked your spot it’s important to find a pattern or establish where the fish

are moving. When you get a bite or see other people catching fish at a certain depth, take

note of it and try and do the same thing. King mackerel will often follow the same lines

or move at the same depth. So if your down rigged bait keeps getting eaten, you know

that the fish are feeding at that depth and if you pull 2 baits at that depth you’ll probably

get double the results. Sometimes it’s because the water is cold or dirty at the top or

they’re swimming on a thermo cline. Sometimes the water is cold on the bottom and

warm on the top so try varying the depth of your baits until you find the successful

pattern of the day.

My wise uncle always told me that the two most important things in life are timing and

options. Fishing is no different and timing plays a vital role in success. Most gamefish

feed best at first or last light, but the mornings are often much calmer and easier to fish

than afternoons. Early mornings you’ll often find the fish feeding right on the surface and

as the day progresses they move deeper in the water column. Time of day is one part of

timing; the other is time of year. All the “old salts” will tell you that the couta will come a

lot closer inshore as the season progresses and during the annual sardine run they are

often caught from rocky points and sometimes even from the beach. So late in the season

you will often get some really good fish close to shore. You’ll also notice that most of the

large “crocodile” couta are caught in relatively shallow water; less than twenty meters

and also often in greenish, cool water. So if this winter you want a bus couta, try fishing

with bigger baits and staying close to shore.

There you have it; bait presentation in a nutshell. If nothing else I hope that reading this

will make you think more while on the water. Good anglers are always trying different

tricks, tactics or baits until they find the winning recipe for the day. Then they’re smart

enough to realise that what worked best yesterday doesn’t always hold true for today and

tomorrow. So each new outing requires the same thought process to find out what the

best bait, rig, place and time are…

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