Guys what the best way to present a fresh fillet of salmon or similar fish
ive been getting a few small salmon lately and get one or two then fillet them and just hook the fillet onto the hook
is that a good way or is there BETTER WAY

also is it better to use the whole fillet or just half of it

also is it legal to catch a few small undersized salmon and keep them for bait or is that illegal to do

many thanks

cheers

not too sure about the bait presentation, but i do know that it is illigal to keep undersized fish, no matter what you use them for

sometimes there are laws that allow you to keep fish under a certain size for bait perpose only.

I know they got that in NSW, but you gotta reasearch that up yourself mate

Look it up in the 2010 Fishing Victoria hand booklet

With most fish it's all about presentation of the baits, so it's good you've been having a think about it.
Now baiting up certaintly isn't rocket science theres just a few things you need to follow.
Alright, if you're fishing somewhere with current or landbased (eg. Southern PPB, WPB, Surf Beaches etc.) Then I find the best way to rig them is to have 1 hook (4/0-7/0 circle). Cut the bait to a desirable length (depending on fish) and then cut it into a long triangular shape. The point of the fillet will be the 'tow point' this is where the current with rush past and where the bait will be towed amongst. Pin the hook directly into the tow point (usually just once is fine) and then let the bait hang freely from the point. Make sure you pin it in the middle of the vertical line of the fillet. This method, will prevent your bait spinning and looking un-natural because it will sit there on the tow and the current will just run past it freely and the bait will sway with it not like spinning eratically like a fan in tidal area, like if you do it any other way.
You could probably have two hooks but it would look more un-natural if you do so.
In less tidal areas, (Northern PPB). It is very similiar but two hooks are often better (snelled or running) still making sure you pin the baits in middle of the fillet and then just tie a half-hitch. Just make sure your bait doesn't bunch up or anything like that, it should just be laying perfectly straight.
hope that helps,
stefan.

as gidget said mate, its illegal to take undersized fish. If the regulations say no minimum, then use it for bait, but for salmon, anything under 21 has to go back

ok thanks lads so anything undersize has to go back and not even used for bait


stefan - any pics of this bait presentation mate cant quiet get what ur saying fully

cheers

Sorry my drawing skills aren't up to scratch lol, but this is the concept that stafan means..

thansk rio

i usually just put the hook in the middle will that kill the bait presentation

also it being only hooked on one end wont it fall off etc while casting hard to get distance

cheers

it does depend on the bait try chucking a chunk of eel off a hook it wont come off
same goes for most fresh bait fillets the skin is pretty tough
I use mullet a lot it stays on ok - samon is much the same

cheater

If your using soft baits like pilles, pippies, mussles etc you'll have to thread the bait onto the hook a few times but be very careful not to tear the bait while doing this. Patience and being methodical is the key. Also get yourself some bait elastic, helps heaps and gives you extra assurance when doing those big casts.

Purple putting the hook in the middle of a fillet will ruin the presentation in current (wpb/southern PPB / surf etc) as the fillet will fold over itself and most likely spin - and more importantly your chance of a hookup is greatly diminished as the hook won't be very exposed and may be covered up by the bait folding.

I have tended toward using half fillets lately (cut longitudinally, so it is two long strips) as opposed to full fillets - gets as much interest and you get more baits + less spin + better hook exposure.

I fish mainly WPB so current is always an issue and I usually use two snelled 5/0 octopus hooks. I thread the hooks through a couple of times so the bait is firmly attached to the rig - pickers often chew the ends off your bait and you ended up with a hook floating free in the water so this helps keep it good. My bait looks something like this:



Having the top hook only through the bait once helps stop the spinning as if you put it through in the same fashion as the second it puts an angle on the leading edge = spin. With this method the second hook doesn't need to be pulled tight which also stops it spinning - so you get two hooks in the bait for a greater chance of a hookup without making it spin. I always use fixed hooks on both, not sliding.

PS forgot to add, as you can tell from the pic it's also a good way to rig squid, with the bottom hook through the hook and head holding them together.

thanks lads
im fishing a paternoster rig now not sure how to use two hooks on the same dropper
ive fished with eel fillet and found the bait is wrapping around the leader line but iil try and follow this advice and see what i come up with

cheers

Makes no difference putting two hooks on the one dropper - no different to putting two hooks on any other leader. Just remember if you put two hooks on the dropper, by law you can only have one dropper (2 hooks per line). Unless you use ganged hooks... in which case you could have 2x gangs of 4 hooks for a total of 8 hooks on your line (makes no sense does it.)

Paternosters do have a habit of getting tangled on themselves, but you may well find that the tangling is happening on the way back in, not on the drop - so the bait still has a perfect presentation on the bottom, until you start reeling it in. It helps if there is some current to keep the bait away from the sinker, but even if there is none, try dropping with some tension, this will let the bait keep up with the sinker on the drop, so they stay level with each other and not tangle.

Try something like this as a starter:

Get a copy of Geoff Wilsons book " Basic Fishing Knots" or google Twisted Dropper loops
It shows how to do a Tagless dropper loop ,which helps stop the droppers twiting around your main line and is very usefull when tieing paternostas

regards mick

Thanks lads iil check the tagless droper loop

also tom what kind of rig is that you have posted paternoster or running sinker looks like a cross between the two like a running paternoster lol if theres such a thing
i like that setup will hopefully feel the bites better by the looks of it (or is that not the case)

cheers

check out the new vfm mate their is an article on bait presentation in their. Great read

cheer jason

Yes mate its basically a cross I guess. If you take the sinker dropper out though it's just a running sinker, which also works well. Having the dropper just keeps the bait up off the bottom.

It is good for bite detection as the weight of the sinker doesn't "hide" the bite. Watch for line wear from the ezyrig though if using heavy sinkers, you might have to cut off a metre or two more often than normal with braid. I use 4-12oz sinkers in WPB and using 8-12oz ones you definitely notice some wear... it helps to ream out a bevel on the hole on the ezyrig though, you can just use scissors or a phillips head screwdriver to round it out... been doing that more recently and it makes a big difference.

thanks mate looks like a good rig to try out
iil use it next time and see what difference it makes in terms of bite feeling

cheers