Prawn bait pellets? brand?

[AndrewH]

Well I finally got into some prawns, 80 in a 2 hr soak. I then moved locations a couple hundred feet and dropped them back down. I ended up with 10 in the second set which makes no sense other than my bait was not good anymore.

I use soaked 'first mate' prawn/crab pellets and soak them to try and soften them up. Thing is they will NOT break down even after soaking for 3 days in water. I figured after I add oil to them, the oil will wash off them over a 2 hr soak and the prawns stay in the trap as I have a few scraps of salmon carcass in the trap too.

What prawn pellets are you guys using that 'break down' so they absorb lots of oil scent and last for multiple sets?

I am wanting that oil/pellet peanut butter mixture!!!!

 

[ILHG]

Interesting question. Looking forward to responses.

I have often wondered how fresh bait such as salmon carcass would do?

 

[AndrewH]

scent gets them in and the carcass keeps them in!

 

[TanTastic84]

Couldn't you make your own fish paste?

I do that for my Brad's cut plug and super bait rigs. I take some old frozen herring, sardines or cut plug left overs and put them in my food processor and grind them into a canned tuna consistency. I add a bunch of pickling salt, put it in a jar and store it in the freezer. Works really well for me.

I would imagine one could do this with any fish and get a nice paste for crab or shrimp....

Oh, and make sure your wife/significant other is OUT OF THE HOUSE when you do this project!!! And, be ABSOLUTELY SURE you clean every little bit of your project!!!!!

 

[CBsqrd]

We use the Taplow Feeds commercial sized (25 kg) bag of prawn bait from PN&T. I find that their pellets are more oily than the brands in the smaller (4 L) buckets. To this I'll mix in enough herring oil to get the pellets well coated. I usually add some Carlisle / London Drugs Tuna cat food, Yum Yum baits, and/or leftover herring/anchovies and let sit overnight to 2 days. After a 4 - 5 hr soak, the remaining pellets won't be "broken down" but they don't have a problem catching prawns and still leave an oil slick on the water when they are dumped which indicates to me that they are still working.

Are you sure there are prawns were you dropped your second set? We've found that they can be very fickle and even 100' along the same contour in one of our favorite spots will be the difference between 100+ and <10 per trap.

Never had much luck with salmon carcasses and prawns. Was told by an old fisher that it is a predator/prey thing and the prawns avoid the salmon scent. Same reason he said not to put octopus in your crab traps. Not sure if its is true or an old fishers tale, but catch rates went up when when we stopped throwing our salmon heads/carcasses in our prawn traps and stuck to pellets and oil. Was going to save some roe though this year and add that to my prawn bait and see how it works.

 

[Islander57]

I use the Taplow pellets. I like to soak them in stink bait for a day or two before going prawning. Sometimes, not always, I add Carlisle cat food, but I'm trying to stay away from using that because it draws in the hagfish too. It could be that where you dropped your second set, the bottom terrain changed enough not to hold many prawns. I would have dropped the second set on the same spot as the first.

 

[deepcover]

I do a bit of both.

One bait jar with Carlisle / London Drugs cat food to lure them in. One with commercial pellets soaked in Ace of Baits to keep them there. Soaking might be just an hour or two, or if I plan ahead then the day ahead.

I normally leave my traps overnight to increase my chance of getting them on their diurnal cycle. Occasionally I will leave them for much (much) longer. I've come back several weeks later and the prawns are still hanging around sniffing at the pellets even while the cat food is long gone. Prawns are still fresh and tasty. They must come and go or find enough to eat just hanging around in the trap to last that long.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

I use the Taplow pellets. I like to soak them in stink bait for a day or two before going prawning. Sometimes, not always, I add Carlisle cat food, but I'm trying to stay away from using that because it draws in the hagfish too. It could be that where you dropped your second set, the bottom terrain changed enough not to hold many prawns. I would have dropped the second set on the same spot as the first.

Hag Fish.... Satan's pet serpent! Fricken hate the bastards! They look like a dick complete with STD warts. And the slime they leave behind...have fun getting it out with a pressure washer

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And in case you are wondering what their faces look like close up...

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[spring time]

I use skretting they are under the knight street bridge Vancouver side they are good

 

[ILHG]

Hag Fish.... Satan's pet serpent! Fricken hate the bastards! They look like a dick complete with STD warts. And the slime they leave behind...have fun getting it out with a pressure washer

View attachment 38319

View attachment 38320
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And in case you are wondering what their faces look like close up...

View attachment 38321​

Omg..... I have never seen that before... disgusting

 

[islander55]

Hag Fish.... Satan's pet serpent! Fricken hate the bastards! They look like a dick complete with STD warts. And the slime they leave behind...have fun getting it out with a pressure washer

View attachment 38319

View attachment 38320
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And in case you are wondering what their faces look like close up...

View attachment 38321​

Pretty sure those are slime eels , we catch a ton up in nootka sound-tahsis commercially

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Pretty sure those are slime eels , we catch a ton up in nootka sound-tahsis commercially

Yup slime eels are Hag Fish