Thread: Salted bait

I've been salting bait over the last few years. It's saved me a whole load of expense and hassle. It's an easy process, if slightly time consuming. Take bait fish fillets, place on rack over a drip tray, cover in salt and place in fridge. You will need to top up the salt three times over two to three days and you're away. The bait should be stable at room temperature, but I store it long term in a fridge. It will be very tough, especially with the skin on and definitely catches fish. The saving comes from not having a whole load of stinky bait at the end of a fishing trip which most likely will get dumped.

The irony is that I don't do a lot of bait fishing. I use it to catch livebaits or when I take kids out on the boat. However, lure fishermen take note, a small slither of salted bait on jig hooks can really turn things around on a slow day.

Koheru fillets in the final stage of salting. This will be my supply for the next year.