Thread: Bait rig for canals

So I'm taking my young sons up to Twizel for a week of fishing, MTBing, and tearing around in the boat.
We'll hit the canals a bit, but they aren't going to spin fish or soft bait for hours on end so I'd figure we'd give bait fishing ago.
I understand that prawns are the way forward. Can someone give me an idea of how to setup the terminal tackle please.

i fish there regularly and have tried all sorts of rigs and baits, had success on pretty much all of them. i usually use a 1/4oz sinker in low flow up to a 1oz in high flow, just enough to give it a bit of bounce along the bottom. then tie a 1m ish leader off the sinker with a float, then half of that again from your float to a hook and your bait. if youre gonna fish around the cages just ditch the float.

in order from you to fish...rod line free running ball sinker (smaller the better) swivel then trace of about 1mtr on to a hook..black magic make one just the perfect size n shape for prawns.... just remember only 1 bait....you can however have a fly AND a baited hook....a boobie fly eg one that has floating balls built into it tied off same swivel works. the beauty of this type of bait system is that if fish brakes off the line it isnt attached to a sinker...

Thanks for the replies guys. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post!

Huhu grubs seem to be flavor of the year. Easy to collect and stay alive for days if kept in a cool place with the rotten wood they came from. Rig them the same as a prawn with the hook through the hard bit.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Huhu grubs seem to be flavor of the year. Easy to collect and stay alive for days if kept in a cool place with the rotten wood they came from. Rig them the same as a prawn with the hook through the hard bit.

And don't let them bite you

Cool, I can get some huhu on the way up. Great idea.

Any luck @Dama dama ?

No. I took the kids out for a couple of hours a couple of evenings ago, but no joy. I went back and fished right through dusk and until about 11:30m but nothing. Heaps of fish about and a bloke across the other side was slaying them. Caught and released about 3 and kept two. Keen to figure it all out for next time I'm up. Certainly very "different" sort of fishing.

Caught a couple in ruataniwha using normal spinning form the shore.