Kob as bait?

[No-Pro]

Hi guys,

Before I get attacked from all directions, I am not suggesting that one should intentionally use undersized Kob as bait.

My question is, we sometimes get undersized Kob, that was foul hooked, with damage to the gills etc. and with a zero survival chance.
Because they are undersized, you can obviously not take it and it normally end up being thrown somewhere on the beach, to become gull's breakfast when the sun comes up.
Seeing as these fish die in vain, I thought about cutting a fillet and using it as bait.
Has anyone tried Kob as a bait and what would possibly pick it up?
Would another Kob take one of it's own as a fish bait?
Or is it very likely that your next take would be a toothy?
Could it work for elf maybe?
I would like to hear your opinions.
Again, I emphasize, fish which are dead or dying, not to catch undersized fish and cut it up for bait, instead of releasing it. I stick to the size restrictions.

[Lenny]

I would not use a kob for bait , by law you have to release the fish , if its undersize or out of season [ Galjoen and Elf ]
Does it make sense , well sort off .


SLiding a Kob head , will get you a pull.  Its never happened to me , but  raggies like to come snatch you Kob of the line , I have seen a number of Kob , thats full of Raggie teeth marks over the years  , so they do get chowed .   

[pieta]

If you want bait catch some elf and you have very good bait. It do happen sometime that you hook a litle one in the gills. It won't survive any way. Before I use it for bait I will rather scratch a fire together and eat it my self.

[No-Pro]

I would not use a kob for bait , by law you have to release the fish , if its undersize or out of season [ Galjoen and Elf ]
Does it make sense , well sort off .


SLiding a Kob head , will get you a pull.  Its never happened to me , but  raggies like to come snatch you Kob of the line , I have seen a number of Kob , thats full of Raggie teeth marks over the years  , so they do get chowed .   

Lenny, I have put those half dead fish back already, 5 minutes later it wash out 10m away, dead.
So now, technically, you picked up a random dead fish on the beach, which could have died of natural causes, for all you know
Hypothetically, if you then decide to use such a dead fish, would it be any good for anything else than sharks?
It has already happened that one pull up to check your bait and there is a tiny kob, dead as can be, hanging on the line. I know what the law says about releasing, but how do you release a fish if its dead?
That is just dumping a body in the water, not a release. I normally cut them open and leave on the sand, then at least the gulls can eat it and it don't go completely to waste. Sometimes at daybreak the bergie guys come past and take it for a chow. At least then it fed someone and its death is not as senseless.

[Lofty]

As Pieta said,if the kobbie is deffinately not going to make it,rather eat it than to put it back in the water or to leave it for the gulls,otherwise make a nice shark-bait with it if that's your thing or give it to someone to slide for a shark perhaps...


p.s:if you're going to eat it I'd also braai it right there,you don't want to be caught with it going home and be  [size=78%]...[/size]

[WalkersKiller]

Yeah, regardless of if they come in dead on your line, by law you cannot keep them, for bait or any other purpose. You have to release them.

[Phish]

Hi No-Pro.
 
I am with walkerskiller on this. The law is absolute: you may not be in possession of undersize fish, whether dead or alive.
 
The law has to be absolute to prevent unscrupulous people from saying that the undersize fish was kept for consumption or to be used as bait because it was badly hooked or that it was dead or dying when it was reeled in and was pointless releasing it when in fact the fish could have been released and would have survived had it been released.
 
We are at liberty to fish and that means we are free to enjoy our fishing, whether recreational or competetive, within the ambit of the law.
 
Having said that, nothing stops you from using a kob that meets the size and bag limit requirements as bait.
 
This post is just what it purports to be: My Opinion and is not meant to offend anyone reading this post.   
 

[Inkvis]

Yeah, regardless of if they come in dead on your line, by law you cannot keep them, for bait or any other purpose. You have to release them.

That is 100% correct WK.  If I am not mistaken, and I have not read the legislation prior to this post, the wording of the act is such that you may not have an undersized fish "in your possession"..  Irrespective of whether you caught it or picked it up on the beach.. 

[chrisquinton]

the law is quite simple.
"in posession of" does not consider life or death, how you got it, or what you intend doing with it.
in posession of = guilty.

[Marthin]

dudes... i have caught undersize kob that were so small it never even moved the grapnel, came out mouth open morsdoodgeskietfontein....

However... since when is a fish hooked in the gills not going to make it?  at 2% survival rate it's still a better chance than a coolbox.... i've seen pictures of fish caught with half a gillplate left, been on a boat when a tuna gave a very good account of itself with half a jaw and half a gillplate...

Hooked in the gills is NOT supposed to be a deathsentence....

[No-Pro]

dudes... i have caught undersize kob that were so small it never even moved the grapnel, came out mouth open morsdoodgeskietfontein....

However... since when is a fish hooked in the gills not going to make it?  at 2% survival rate it's still a better chance than a coolbox.... i've seen pictures of fish caught with half a gillplate left, been on a boat when a tuna gave a very good account of itself with half a jaw and half a gillplate...

Hooked in the gills is NOT supposed to be a deathsentence....

Marthin, I was also talking about the ones that you didn't even know are there and come out morsdood.
The gill ones I was talking about, are ones that was hanging there for a long time and the water action combined with the hook, has practically destroyed the gill and it is about 30 seconds away from dead.
I had quite a few that got hooked in the gills, but with minor injury, which were successfully released.
I agree, a gill hook is not automatically a death sentence.

[BETTYS]

The question that is ask is cob flesh a good bait or not ?
I have only used the head ones or twice for Sharks, but didn't use the flesh.
I am sure that if it is fresh why wouldn't any other cob or other fish eat it 
Marthin I am with you, how many times you heard and read in magazines that they fish gills was hurt and then it was kept. I think it is just an excuse for people to keep the fish. If you want to keep a size fish do keep it don't find excuses. And if it is to small put it back.

[Lofty]

That's why last week I bought a few different size circle hooks,hopefully less gill/foulhookings...

[No-Pro]

That's why last week I bought a few different size circle hooks,hopefully less gill/foulhookings...

For the same reason, I tried experimenting with circles, but it doesn't work for me.
I have read so many posts on how the hook ups increased on circles, but for me, I feel that my hook ups decreased, so I switched back to my 2x J-hooks.

[Lenny]

This is just my take , and I don't mean it personally .
If you fishing for Eds , and you reel in dead Fish , size or undersize .
Your stick is too Stiff , finish and klaar. But I surposse it can happen , if the fishy is like 15 cm . Never happened to me , but small fish has gotten taxed , whilst I was figuring out , what am I 'dealing with here on the other side' . Last incident was At MAkaza , Small Elf got hooked , and the current was really hectic , next moment pulled flat , reel screaming and OFF , reeled up an mushed up Elf , tenderised .


The convenient excuse ' it was hooked in the gills ' is nonsense . Just like the Palookas I had to deal with over the weekend .


Their excuse was a new one ' nobody is here , so who cares , theres plenty  ' I told them I was here , and I care and if there are so plenty full why bag the babies ? and threw one of the Steenbrasse back .

[Jordz]

At Splash the Parkies will make you pull in your live bait to make sure that it is size. We have all heard the stories of people loosing everything besides their kitchen sink to the parkies because they were in possession of undersize fish. The law is there to protect the fish species as best as possible. If the fish dies rather throw it back. There is a whole eco-system that will use what is left of the fish to survive. The more responsible we fish the longer the fish stock survives.

Then the second point of using Kob as bait. One of the best Swim baits for big sharks off Brazzen, I have swam a kob of 1m and got broken by what picked me up. 

[Seventenths]

I think this has got a bit off topic but if undersized it must go back - Marthin I am with you 100% on this, or people start damaging the fish so that they can KEEP it - the law HAS to be clear cut cause people are not!...
 
Having said that I have used Kob as bait - a small sliver of skin and fillet from the tail section the skin - to keep it together. I have caught everything from Kob,  Geelbek, red stumps, Tuna, Pen Haaie (grrrrr) and much more... I have not used it from the shore but it works in deep water a real treat. The only thing I have not caught with it and was what I was targeting was Red Steenbras (Coppers)   but now they open again... who knows.
 
If I want to keep a fish, I keep it as long as I am within the law, but nothing makes me more proud than to release a beautiful fish to fight another day!

[Peter Gordon]

At Splash the Parkies will make you pull in your live bait to make sure that it is size. We have all heard the stories of people loosing everything besides their kitchen sink to the parkies because they were in possession of undersize fish. The law is there to protect the fish species as best as possible. If the fish dies rather throw it back. There is a whole eco-system that will use what is left of the fish to survive. The more responsible we fish the longer the fish stock survives.

100%