Fishing Victoria Forum

Hey fellas,

Looking to buy a live bait trap for the coming summer and I wanted to check with you guys if they’re actually worth getting and if they’re actually effective at getting some nice size mullet, gars, or even sand whiting. As a lot of you already know I fish mostly at St Kilda or Port Melbourne area and I know the baits there and from personal experience they’re incredibly effective at getting nice size keepers but I just can’t catch them in numbers on a basic float rig. So yea is the bait trap worth the money or nah?

Cheers,
Longcaster98

We tried a few of the retail products but for mullet you can't beat a bit of tupperware with a hole cut in it. Cam (GTShoon) made a couple of them for a Greencape trip and in 30 mins in an estuary we had a weeks baits.

This looks good,

https://reelitin.com.au/product/reel-it ... bait-trap/

I'm with Dougie, $105 for a plastic box with a hole in the top is pretty steep, I used to catch small fish in traps all the time as a kid with tupperware containers and 1L bottles with the necks reversed inwards, can't beat them, I'm thinking of catching some live mullet at lake tyers for big flattys or tailor when I go next week

Used to gather small Bay Trout at the mouth of the Barwon River on the sand flats - Milk Bottles, half a dozen or so - Yes a glass milk bottles - length of string, about 6 feet tied around neck then the other end to a cork float - Add a fed chunks of bread, not too much, then submerge in about 3 feet of water - Leave for an hour then check - Always worked - Fish could not swim out.

croe04 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:37 pm

I'm with Dougie, $105 for a plastic box with a hole in the top is pretty steep, I used to catch small fish in traps all the time as a kid with tupperware containers and 1L bottles with the necks reversed inwards, can't beat them, I'm thinking of catching some live mullet at lake tyers for big flattys or tailor when I go next week

Yea I was just gonna get the $30 box nets from bcf not that $105 one they’re ridiculous I know a mate who has one and it hasn’t had a single mullet in it. I was thinking of using a 2L bottle with a hole but I don’t fancy getting caught by the fisheries because my entry hole was 1mm too big.

longcaster98 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 19, 2019 2:06 pm

croe04 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:37 pm

I'm with Dougie, $105 for a plastic box with a hole in the top is pretty steep, I used to catch small fish in traps all the time as a kid with tupperware containers and 1L bottles with the necks reversed inwards, can't beat them, I'm thinking of catching some live mullet at lake tyers for big flattys or tailor when I go next week

Yea I was just gonna get the $30 box nets from bcf not that $105 one they’re ridiculous I know a mate who has one and it hasn’t had a single mullet in it. I was thinking of using a 2L bottle with a hole but I don’t fancy getting caught by the fisheries because my entry hole was 1mm too big.

I've used one of those in the exact same spot Cam and I got the mullets and had zero return.

I was under the impression that here in Victoria you weren't allowed to use traps within the intertidal zones (2mtr below lowest tide point), or within x mtrs of a pier structure.
I guees if you're in a boat away from the shoreline you'd be okay.

Perhaps I need to go and re-read the handbook.