Lures get all the Instagram love but bait still puts more fish in the esky than anything else. It works in any conditions, suits any skill level, and there's no replacement for it when fish are sluggish, fussy, or you simply want a feed without overthinking it.

This is the practical bait-fishing guide — picking the right bait for the species, rigging it properly, the berley question, and the small details that turn a "no bites" day into a fish-every-cast session.

Photo by Richard R on Unsplash

Right bait, right fish. Wrong bait, no fish. Most-target species + their preferred baits:

• Bream — peeled prawn, pippi, mussel, half a pilchard, soft plastics
• Whiting — beachworm, bloodworm, peeled prawn, pippi (the king for whiting)
• Flathead — pilchard chunks, prawn, soft plastics, live mullet for big ones
• Snapper — pilchard, squid strip, half a fish, fresh mullet fillet
• Tailor and salmon — pilchard whole or chunked, ganged hooks essential
• Mulloway/jewfish — live yellowtail, fresh squid, big mullet head
• Trout (freshwater) — worms, wattle grubs, mudeyes, crickets/grasshoppers in summer
• Redfin — worms, small lures, soft plastics, mudeyes
• Murray cod — yabbies, big shrimp, cheese paste, bardi grubs

Fresh always beats frozen. Squid bought from the bait shop is fine; squid you caught that morning is gold. Same for prawns, mullet, pilchards. Catch your own bait when you can.

Four rigs cover 95% of bait fishing scenarios. Learn these and you can handle any species, any water.

Running sinker rig — the workhorse. Sinker slides freely on the line above a small swivel, then a leader of 50–100cm to the hook. Bream, snapper, flathead, mulloway. Fish takes the bait and doesn't feel the weight.

Paternoster rig — sinker on the bottom, two hooks branching off above. Whiting, leatherjackets, smaller bottom species. Lets you cover two depths at once.

Float rig (bubble float) — float at adjustable depth, hook below. Trout in lakes, garfish, bream around weed beds. Visual bite indication.

Unweighted/lightly-weighted live bait — small split-shot or no weight at all, hook through the nose or back of a live or fresh dead bait. Mulloway off rocks, kingfish, trout in fast streams.

Photo: Ben / Unsplash

Wrong hook = missed bites. Most beginners go too big. Quick reference (Aussie hook sizing — small numbers = bigger hook):

• Whiting / garfish — size 6 or 8 long shank
• Bream — size 4 or 2 baitholder
• Flathead — size 1/0 or 2/0
• Snapper — size 3/0 to 5/0
• Mulloway — size 6/0 to 8/0
• Tailor (ganged) — 3 or 4 size 4/0 hooks ganged together

Circle hooks are worth knowing — they hook the fish in the corner of the mouth almost every time, much better for catch-and-release. Don't strike with circle hooks; just let the fish swim and the hook sets itself.

Berley (chum, in American) is small bits of fish, bread, pellets etc thrown into the water to attract fish. It's the difference between waiting for fish to find you and bringing them to you.

Two simple berley methods:

• Berley pot/cage hung off the boat or jetty — slowly releases scent and small particles. Set and forget
• Hand berleying — small handfuls of mashed pilchard, bread, tuna oil, every 5 minutes. More work, but more controllable

Cheap berley recipes that work:

• Stale bread + a tin of tuna in oil — bream, whiting, garfish
• Crushed pilchards in a mesh bag — snapper, kingfish, tailor
• Chook pellets soaked in tuna oil — freshwater carp, redfin
• Pellets + crushed prawn shells — bream, whiting

Don't over-berley. Goal: scent trail attracts fish, but not enough chunks that they fill up before they find your hook.

Photo: Iain / Unsplash

• Cast slightly upstream in flowing water — let the bait drift naturally past holding structure
• Light tackle = more bites. Use the lightest line and sinker you can get away with. Heavy gear scares fish
• Fluorocarbon leaders are nearly invisible underwater and noticeably outfish straight monofilament for shy species like bream
• Small movements — gently lift and drop the bait every 30 seconds. Movement triggers strikes
• If you're fishing a snaggy reef, use a slightly weaker leader to the sinker than the main line — when you snag, you lose the sinker not the rig

The bite — for most bait fishing, wait for the rod to load up properly before striking. With small fish on light gear, the bite feels like a tap-tap-tap. Wait. Then a steady pull — that's the fish moving off with the bait. Strike then.

The strike — sharp upward sweep of the rod. Not a violent jerk; a controlled lift that drives the hook home.

The fight — keep the rod tip up, let the drag do the work, don't try to muscle a big fish in. Pump and wind: lift the rod, then wind down on the descent. Repeat.

The land — a small landing net is a game-changer for any decent fish. Don't try to lift a 1kg+ fish out of the water on the line — line breaks happen at the worst moment. Net at the side, lift in.

Bait fishing is the most forgiving way into the sport. You don't need fancy gear, you don't need years of experience, and the action is usually steady enough to keep kids interested. A 6-foot rod, a small spin reel, a packet of hooks and some sinkers, fresh bait — and you're catching fish.

Get the basics right (right bait, right hook size, fresh bait, a touch of berley) and you'll out-fish 90% of people on the same jetty. The fancy stuff comes later — most of fishing is just consistent application of the basics.