Guide to live baiting
In theory, live baiting involves using live fish as bait to catch much larger fish. But in reality, it's so much more. Most popular saltwater species will chase a livebait, but ensuring you're using the right bait and the right set up can be the difference between a successful day on the water, and going home empty handed.
When you get it right, it can be one of the most effective ways to catch fish, especially kingies, and certainly one ofthe most thrilling.
TARGET SPECIES
There are a number of saltwater species that love to chase a good livie. To increase your chances of a hook up, match your bait to what your target species naturally eat.
KINGFISH are ambush predators, who will happily chase down a fast moving fish, so something small and mobile like a jack mack or kahawai will trigger their hunting instincts. Piper and squid are also great kingie live bait. If you intend to keep your kingfish, always use a gaff to secure it.
JOHN DORY are voracious predators who will happily take any small baitfish on offer. Small jack mackerels, kahawai or piper are ideal, but any small baitfish will do the trick. They won't take your bait aggressively, and they lack any “fighting power”, so they can be a little like winding in a gumboot. Therefore, a slow and steady wind up is recommended, and always net your catch as soon as it reaches the side of the boat.
SNAPPER are scavengers and opportunistic feeders, meaning they'll eat just about anything. However, there are some baits that seem to be moreconsistently successful, like yellowtail or slimy mackerel, or some squid. Smaller snapper tend to leave live baits along, but bigger snapper can't resist an energetic bait fish.
MULLOWAY are predators who primarily feed on smaller fish, so targeting them with live baits is an ideal way to land this naturally cautious species. Live baits like yellowtail scad, slimy mackerel, tailor and garfish work well.
MARLIN love small tuna like skipjack, but koheru, kahawai or slimy mackerel also work really well when being slow trolled or drifted.
HAPUKU AND BASS are very similar species and aren’t extremely fussy eaters, but mackerel or tarakihi work well for this deep dwelling species. You need a hardy live bait that can handle being dropped to the depths where you'll find the bigger bottom dwellers.
COMMON LIVE BAITS
JACK AND YELLOWTAIL MACKEREL
Commonly caught on a sabiki rig, where you can catch several fish on each drop. Mackerel tend to last longer in your live bait tank and can also survive longer once deployed on a rig than many other bait fish. Mackerel like shallow bays and reefy areas around headlands and islands, as well harbour channels, breakwaters, and wharves. They’re most commonly caught at night, or early in the morning, but can be encouraged to feed during the day with some surface burley in the shallows.
SLIMY MACKEREL
They’re an oily fish which are very active when rigged, so they create a lot of movement in the water which will attract bigger predators. But the downside is they won’t last as long in the water, as they expend all their energy quickly. Ideal for targeting snapper and kingfish.
SQUID
Using squid as live bait isn’t as common as some of the other species listed. They’re much harder to keep alive and healthy once you’ve caught them. Where you’ll fish for squid and where you’ll then fish for your target species are usually very different locations, so if you plan to use squid as a live bait you’ll need to have a plan on how to keep them alive. But they’re ideal for targeting kingfish and snapper, by rigging them through the top of their hood as this allows the squid to maintain their natural swimming action.
KAHAWAI
Ideal for targeting kingfish, especially when fishing from a stationary or drifting boat under a balloon. Look for surface activity with birds over it and cast in small lures, or lightly weighted small baits, and retrieve quickly to catch them. Or you can troll around the outside of the surface activity with some form of lure trailing behind you on the surface or just below.
.png)
PIPER OR GARFISH
Can be slightly harder to catch but they are deadly on big snapper and kingfish, so worth the effort. They are commonly found around structures, in sheltered bays particularly if they have an outcrop to protect them from strong currents. They have small mouths and are fussy eaters, so berley will certainly help. You can also net them on many beaches. If you’re targeting piper from a boat or the rocks, a tiny bait on a tiny hook fished under a small float can be a fun way to catch them.
SKIPJACK TUNA
If you’re fishing offshore, then targeting skipjack tuna to use as live baits is a must. Trolling lures is the easiest way to catch them and you’ll often find them feeding on the surface. As they’re a powerful fish, make sure you use heavier trace when targeting them. Skipjack tuna are ideal live baits for marlin.
KOHERU
Durable, long lasting, and very active on the hook, which makes them perfect for targeting almost any species, especially kingfish. They are robust and oily fish.
Found around headlands, islands and reefs, usually in clean, blue water. Commonly holding a bit deeper, berley will help bring them up. Drop small lures into the berley and work them like a soft bait (wind and twitch) and koheru will be attracted to them.
Also great in the smoker if you have any left after your fishing.
CATCHING LIVE BAITS
- Keep a good berley trail going
- Sabiki rigs are ideal for targeting most bait fish
- They like to congregate around structure
- Use light line and small hooks (pre-tied sabiki rigs are perfect)
- Mackerel and koheru can often be found in early mornings on the shadow side of islands and headlands
- If you’re after skipjack tuna to use as live baits, you need to troll small lures. These are typically trolled on a ‘bungee’ cord. Skipjack hit hard and this absorbs the shock and helps prevent the hook from simply being ripped out of their jaw. Using a double hook is also useful so that they find it harder to throw the hook
- There are no legal size for jack macks, kahawai, koheru, but some other live bait species have minimum legal sizes, so make sure you know your local rules and regulations
- You can also walk a bait catching net or use a cast net off the beach to catch smaller baits
LOOKING AFTER YOUR LIVIES
Once you’ve caught your live baits, it’s important to keep them alive and healthy. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to do this:
- Keep handling to a minimum
- When you bring them onto the boat, try to flick out the hook without touching them, and get them to dive straight into your bait tank. If you have to touch them, cover your hand with a wet cloth
- The same goes for when you’re rigging them up – cover your hand with a wet cloth to protect them
- Ensure there is a good flow of clean, oxygenated water in your live bait tank with a high water turnover
- If a bait fish is bleeding quite a lot, humanely dispose of it and use it as a dead bait
- Make sure you don’t overfill your tank with fish – they need room to swim freely, and overcrowding can result in sickness and death
- Don’t mix big live baits with smaller ones unless they’re the same species. For example – an adult kahawai will knock around a smaller mackerel causing it to stress to the point where it can lose condition and die prematurely
- If you don’t have a proper boat tank, a large bucket or container will suffice. Just make sure you’re regularly changing the water. All other tips above apply, no matter what type of ‘tank’ you’re using
- If using squid, you need to rig them quickly as once out of the water, they don’t last long
RIGGING LIVE BAITS
One of the key things to remember is that you need to match the size of your bait and your hook, and the weight of your leader to the size of the species you’re targeting. For example, if you’re targeting kingfish, you wouldn’t use anything less than 80lb Fluorocarbon leader with a 7/0 hook.
Whatever style of rigging you choose, you will need to occasionally check your live bait. This is to make sure it’s still alive, to ensure that no foreign matter is hung up on your line or to free any tangle that may have occurred.
There are a few different ways you can rig up your live bait.
UPPER SHOULDER
Ideal for kahawai, yellowtail mackerel, koheru, and trevally, and can be used for a variety of techniques including fishing baits under floats or balloons, on a sliding sinker rig and simply letting them swim freely on just the hook. You can also use this option for slow trolling a bait.
The advantages of hooking through the upper shoulder are it keeps the baitfish’s head pointing into the current, allowing enough water to flow over its gills so it stays in good condition while in the water.
This style of hooking works well with smaller hooks, as it keeps the bait presentation as natural as possible, but still delivers a good hook up rate.
The disadvantage is that it’s not ideal for deeper water or locations with strong currents, as its quite a streamlined rig, and the live bait can struggle to get down to where your target species are.
When hooking over the upper shoulder, you want to insert the hook at an angle across the shoulders, so the pointed end of the hook ends up near the bait’s head. Don’t go in so deep that you badly injure the bait fish, but it needs to be in deep enough so that the hook doesn’t get ripped out when your target fish strikes.
If you use this method of hooking, simply drop the bait fish into the water and let it go on its own. Casting the fish out from the boat could result in damaging the bait.
NOSE HOOKING
Ideal for deploying live baits in deep water, locations with strong current or for slow trolling. This type of hooking works well for more fragile live baits like slimy mackerel and skipjack tuna but can also be used for yellowtail and koheru.
This style of hooking results in a streamlined set up that holds the bait fish headfirst into the current, allowing it to get down deep in minimal time and remain healthy while it’s being fished, and also during retrieval. This method can attract strikes as the bait is being deployed and wound in.
Because of the placement of the hook, you can cast the bait away from the boat as there’s less chance of the hook ripping out.
The disadvantage of this style of hooking is the hook can swing around the bury its point into the bait’s head, which can cause the bait to die. Also, the hook can simply become dislodged easily.
To hook through the nose, place the hook just in front of the bait fish’s eyes. Like shoulder hooking, don’t go too deep otherwise you’ll injure and possibly kill the bait.
ANAL FIN HOOKING
Ideal for more delicate live baits like piper or garfish, because shoulder hooking will be easily ripped out and nose hooking makes them sluggish and less attractive to your target species.
This style of hooking is perfect for deploying free swimming live baits or under a float.
The key to anal fin hooking is to let your bait fish deploy under their own steam. Baits like piper and garfish have relatively soft flesh, so casting them out will simply rip the hook out.
Only retrieve your bait if you really have to, as the hook placement will pull the fish up backward, usually leading to its demise. But the advantage of the hook placement is that it keeps the fish near the surface, which is ideal for predatory fish.
Use a small live bait hook so there is minimal damage from the hook being placed and less weight for the live bait to drag around. This will result in better action from your bait.
BRIDLE RIGGING
A bridle rigged bait fish is free to swim more naturally and the hook is also free to hook your target more effectively. This technique is highly recommended when targeting marlin and other billfish.
Ideal for most live baits, including kahawai, koheru, yellowtail mackerel, slimy mackerel, and tuna, but keep in mind that larger bait fish will need stronger bridles, larger hooks, and heavier leaders.
Your bridle can be made out of rubber bands, dacron, or waxed thread.
Use a bridle needle to thread the bridle through the front of the eyes and draw the loop through. Drop the 2 loop ends over your hook point and twist it a few times to secure it to the hook. This will also reduce the length of the bridle if you need to. Then slip the hook point through the loop to lock the bridle in place, coming in from underneath so that the hook point is pointing upwards.
DROPPER LIVE BAIT RIG
Ideal for targeting smaller bottom-dwelling species like John dory. But will also work for kingfish and snapper.
Tie a swivel between your mainline and your leader, using uni or improved clinch knots, then add a dropper loop about halfway down your leader. Attach a sinker to the bottom of your leader.
Hook your live bait through the upper shoulder.
LIVE BAITING WITH FLOATS OR BALLOONS
Floats are ideal for smaller live baits like piper, or smaller mackerel and koheru.
Floats have a hole lengthwise through the middle so they can be threaded onto the mainline above a short trace. They need to be able to slide along the mainline until the hit the adjustable stopper knot which is tied on the line to prevent the float sliding any further. This knot allows the angler to position the bait at their desired depth.
Live bait balloons can be inflated to any size making them ideal for any size live bait. They prevent the live bait from getting caught up in and around the bottom structure and it gives you an indication of when there is a fish nearby as the balloon (and your bait fish) start moving quickly and erratically through the water.
If you’re using our Black Magic live bait balloons, inflate the balloon to desired size. You don’t need to knot the end of the balloon, simply wrap the balloon base around the grooves of the white balloon clip. Tie the clip to the top of the swivel with a suitable rubber band. When your fish strikes, the balloon will either deflate as it descends, or the rubber band will snap.
HOOK SELECTION
Choosing the right hook for live baiting depends on a number of factors.
- Are you planning to keep or release your fish?
- Are you planning to use the free spool option or will you be fishing ‘in gear’?
- Are you fishing in deep or shallow water?
Our GZ hooks are J style hooks made with an extra strong wire gauge with super sharp points. They’re ideal for deep water fishing, particularly with jack mackerel live baits. Add a sinker above the swivel to help your live bait get to the depth you need it to.
If you prefer a long shank suicide or J style hook, our LB series are ideal for larger live baits like kahawai. Rig them through the upper shoulder and under a balloon set up.
If you’re planning to release your fish, a recurve or circle hook like our KLT® range is ideal. They’re a non-offset hook, manufactured from a light gauge high carbon steel but made super strong. Recurve hooks are more likely to mouth hook your fish than a J style hook, so give you a better chance of releasing your fish n a healthy state.
Whichever hook you select, always match the size of your hook to the size of your target species. Always ensure you start with a brand new hook so you know it will be at its sharpest. Before deploying bait, double check the point and barb are free of any scales that may have gotten stuck after rigging your bait.
VIDEO GUIDE
The boys from Fishing & Adventure love chasing big fish with livies. So we figured we'd get them to tell you how its done!
No matter what fish you’re targeting, what bait you’re using, or what rigging setup you choose, it’s all about balance. Ensure your rod and reel are set up for the species you’re targeting. Make sure the type and weight of the line and leader you have spooled up have the right characteristics for the species you’re chasing and the environment you’re fishing in. Ensure you choose a hook that is the right size and style, and that your live bait is as healthy as possible.
It’s all about balance. And this will set you up for success on the water.
