LRF 'Bait' 29-07-2011

This was not a proper session, just fun and games with some interesting results. Was doing the family thing, crabbing down at a Quay on the Estuary with my girlfriend and her daughter. I decided to take the LRF rod, see if I could get anything casting out into the main channel. Meanwhile, the girls were doing well with the smoky bacon filled bags on the crabbing lines. Lots of crabs coming out of the weed, rocks and gaps in the wall. I took a break from my unsuccessful fishing, to join in. As I looked down into the deep clear water, could see lots of small fish also fighting for the bacon, thrashing at the perforated bags the bait was in.

So I rigged up with a size 16 barbless hook, with a couple of shot approx 4" up from the hook, and pushed a tiny piece of bacon onto the hook. First fish, just left it on the bottom, slightly away from the crab bait, and allowed the little guy to hook himself (super-small Scorpion fish). The next two, I let it fall, and jigged it above the bait bag, where the fish came up and snapped at the tiny baited hook. Couple of Goby type things, a lot bigger than the Scorpion fish.

Got me thinking tho, about how they 'attacked' the baited hook when in motion. I only played around for 15mins or so, as there was a picnic to enjoy, but would have liked to slip on a small lure, and see if it produced results. Then I started thinking about how this perforated bag of smokey bacon, was basically a form of 'chumming' for the fish, where upon bringing them out form their hidey holes, I was able to catch them. So I guess this could be used to increase the catch rate, bring them out to a spot with a chum bag, and then see what you could catch with a small lure. Then there is the question, even if taken on a lure, would this still be lure fishing if attracting the fish with a bait? Anyway, might experiment with it in the future, and I am sure there is already a named 'style' for this type of fishing. Some pics;