What exactly IS bait presentation?

[How-do-you-hook-a-penguin]

I've heard people saying that is important. Don't quite know what is meant by it. Can someone give me an example of good bait presentation please? Much appreciated.

[GrumpyBloke]

I think mainly putting the bait on the hook so that it doesn't move and mask the point after you cast out.Although I think some people like it to look pretty.

[lewis888]

I've heard people saying that is important. Don't quite know what is meant by it. Can someone give me an example of good bait presentation please? Much appreciated.

In my book, a well presented bait should be streamlined for casting, whipped with elastic (if need be) so that it won't disintegrate when it hits the water and the hook point should be well exposed with few loose ends to prevent fish from just ripping your bait off the hooks.

You could also include things like using pennel rigs or bait stops to stop the bait just sliding around the bend of the hook. Also when using worms I prefer to have a small fat lump of (say 5) worms bound with elastic around the hook giving a compact bait as opposed to having the same 5 worms threaded in single file up the line which would result in line bites and less chance of the fish hitting a hook when it takes the bait - this is my idea of bait presentation :fish:

[sallysludgebucket]

IMHO bait presentation is the above as well as how it 'works / moves, or fished static etc. A bait nailed to the bottom will be effective for certain species at certain times of the year, tides and conditions where a moving bait popped up off the bottom, long flowing traces can be deadly for all the same reasons.

[dabcatcher]

bait presentation......

presenting the bait your using to a fish in a way that will attract it most.

this could be 5 blacks on a 5/0 pennel. threaded neetly, pushed up together, no loose worms hanging off. streamlined for casting.

maddies .. a bunch of small rag head hooked threaded up the hook, only on the hook and lots of wriggly tails to attract the fish.

mackerel strip... below a float needs to be the right width and length matched to the species your after and simply hooked once in the wide end. hook it twice and it wont be as effective.

crab ... cut in half and whipped to the hook to form, a nice parcel. for eels pass the hok through the crab a few times and idealy no whipping.

the list could go on and on.

it really depends on the bait your using and the species your after. if your after a specific species or using a bait your not familiar with just ask here for specific advice before you go.

lots of times i see people hooking a raggy chunk of squid on a 4/0 hook for whiting. they wonder why they are missing good bites. a whiting will pull at any loose bits hanging off a hook and can get a badly threaded off a hook without getting caught. a dab or flounder will suck at loose ends of worm again pulling from thr hook. baits need to be kept neat and tidy with no loose ends apart from your small mackerel/squid tip thats right next to the hook point.

[Mike_N]

Heres a few pics on bait presentation...

[Mike_N]

heres a few with peeler crabs..

I usually use these as a genral rule of thumb main thing is to make sure the hook point is clearly protuding from the bait.

[John Mason]

Pretty much that posted in the replies above. Half the time the fish don't get a look at the bait as it's dark (when night-fishing) or the water's coloured. Main points are getting the bait to where it's meant to go without it disintegrating and then when a fish has a go at it making sure it'll be hooked either when it moves off or you strike the bite.

In clear water daylight conditions it's a bit more important as some species will be hunting by sight, hence presentations like the ragworm pix above, but I wouldn't want to try casting that very far!

Cheers - John

[Mike_N]

As john just pointed out with the ragworm pics.. you dont want to be trying to launch it very far..

When i use this for flounder Im aiming to put it only around 30 to 50 yards max.

[John Mason]

As john just pointed out with the ragworm pics.. you dont want to be trying to launch it very far..

When i use this for flounder Im aiming to put it only around 30 to 50 yards max.

I very much remember learning that lesson myself Mike!

Bloody good bait to use though as apart from anything else it makes you put the casts shorter - often that being the key to bagging up on yummy species instead of dogfish!

Cheers - John

[Mike_N]

Yeah I had to limit my casting, so I only put 50 yards of vraid on my carp reel... lol

It worked but I had to stand in the water as it came in which wasnt the brightest idea with only a pair of wellies on, still gave my feet a nice mineral bath though lol

Still I had a flounder of 1lb 5oz.

[Bigredyin]

Intresting thread this as being a bit of a sea newcomer can i ask, if you are using as a tipping bait say mackrel for instance would you just use a small piece threaded on the hook but still leave the hook point clear or would you cover the point with your tipping bait?

Cheer's Baz

[Mike_N]

Hi Baz,

you would want to try and leave as much of the hook point clear as you can, with tipping baits such as mackeral or squid I thread it on to the hook but sometimes if im using a small bait to tip with I'll just put it through once or twice leaving a little bit to flap about..

Aslong as the hook point if sticking out you wont have a problem but if its covered it could cause you to lose fish..

[dabcatcher]

the size of the peice of mackerel or squid you use depends on what the fish want.
sometime a peice the size of your finger nail is all thats need but other times a peice about 1in square is all they will take. try one until your getting no bite then try the other or even better is a 2 hook trace with different sizes on each.

i psh the tip bait behind the barb this not only keeps it on and the hook point clear but stops worms etc sliding down over the point.

[Bigredyin]

Thank's for that info guy's, i will give it a shot next time i go out and see how i get on.

Cheer's Baz

[big guy]

firstly it's about matching the size of hook to the size of bait, secondly the right pattern to the bait your using. then it's just a matter of keeping the hook point/ barb clear from the bait.

alot of people say that presentation is essential. but many of the best fisherman have self confessed awful looking presentation, catch alot of fish. it doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as it stays on the hook and keeps clear from the point.

i'm a real fussy bugger when it comes to bait, i almost treat my baiting up like a work of art. sad i know.

[Mike_N]

lol Im the same as you big guy... my bait presentation has to be perfect..

Just a quick reference post for someone who asked for a bit of info on a wired hook..

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q310/Bristol_channel_angler/Bait%20Presentation%20-%20wired%20crab/?action=view&current=hookedcrabonwiredhook.jpg

[eddythefly]

a fish is looking for food its not looking for something that Gordon Ramsey has put on a plate and charging 30 quid for it.
big hooks + small fish don't mix.

[OneCodBob]

Bait presentation is the key to all fishing, Its only the bait that the fish are interested in. I think the term presentation also encompasses the use of the right rig in the right conditions. As for making a bait castable and presentable, well, that has up to now been a compromise. Not any more!
Take a look at this:http://www.fishyrob.co.uk/DVice/index.htm

Discuss?

OCB.

[John Mason]

That does look an interesting gizmo, and for snag-free beaches like the ones I commonly fish I can see some applications for it.

However, I also use bait elastic to stop small fish tearing softer baits like soft crab or mussel off the hook when pecking at them.

The only concern I would have is - do they release the bait every time? I would guess so. I might order a couple and give them a try!

With a long tube like that you could also shove a couple of ounces of finely-minced groundbait in beneath your baits, thus increasing the scent-trail.

Cheers - John

[EoinMag]

I don't get how you'd get a flapper to work in one, all snood lengths will be the same length unless you made it into a three hook bomber, the site isn't too clear on how that'd work either even though they mention that it's easy.

[fishyrob]

That does look an interesting gizmo, and for snag-free beaches like the ones I commonly fish I can see some applications for it.

However, I also use bait elastic to stop small fish tearing softer baits like soft crab or mussel off the hook when pecking at them.

The only concern I would have is - do they release the bait every time? I would guess so. I might order a couple and give them a try!

With a long tube like that you could also shove a couple of ounces of finely-minced groundbait in beneath your baits, thus increasing the scent-trail.

Cheers - John


Hi John,

For the >800 casts that I have made with the DVice, it didnt eject on two occasions, both times when a king ragworm backed its tail down the side flute. Apart from that, ejection is 100%!

On the presentation, the DVice allows all your hard work in preparing the hook bait to actually reach the sea bed. Also adds a lot of distance to bulky baits being cast, such as whole squid.

Hope thats useful

Cheers

Robin

[fishyrob]

I don't get how you'd get a flapper to work in one, all snood lengths will be the same length unless you made it into a three hook bomber, the site isn't too clear on how that'd work either even though they mention that it's easy.

Hi. You can have all three hooklengths different lengths, they just need to all be longer than the end of the rif body plus the DVice. Although on paper this sounds like a tanglefest, in practice the hooklinks are all seperated whilst fishing (due to tide flow) and they just sometimes spin around each other on the retrieve. Thirty seconds spent unspinning and you are off again. Less spins with two snoods, and perfection with a single hooklink.

Cheers

Robin

[EoinMag]

So standard rigs need some modification to fit into the device then, all rigs need to be retied with the design of the device in mind?

[John Mason]

Hi John,

For the >800 casts that I have made with the DVice, it didnt eject on two occasions, both times when a king ragworm backed its tail down the side flute. Apart from that, ejection is 100%!

On the presentation, the DVice allows all your hard work in preparing the hook bait to actually reach the sea bed. Also adds a lot of distance to bulky baits being cast, such as whole squid.

Hope thats useful

Cheers

Robin

You have an email, Rob!

Having thought about this a bit more I can see some ideal uses for such a device, the most obvious being dropping a whole wriggly king rag, hooked once through the head, at long-range on a 6ft+ flowing trace.

Mostly around here the fish are close-in, requiring no specialist approach to bait presentation, but there are exceptions, such as distant gullies, where a well-presented bait, normally only castable a shorter distance, would I suspect work to advantage in daylight.

Cheers - John

[EoinMag]

Hi. You can have all three hooklengths different lengths, they just need to all be longer than the end of the rif body plus the DVice. Although on paper this sounds like a tanglefest, in practice the hooklinks are all seperated whilst fishing (due to tide flow) and they just sometimes spin around each other on the retrieve. Thirty seconds spent unspinning and you are off again. Less spins with two snoods, and perfection with a single hooklink.

Cheers

Robin


I still don't get the smaller details of loading it despite the fact that the website actuallly shows pics, any chance you have drawings of how it works, like hanging on the end of a rod ready to cast? A diagram would be cool as the detail would then be obvious as opposed to the pics which show a live application.
I'm interested so if you had that it'd be cool, cheers.

[OneCodBob]

I still don't get the smaller details of loading it despite the fact that the website actuallly shows pics, any chance you have drawings of how it works, like hanging on the end of a rod ready to cast? A diagram would be cool as the detail would then be obvious as opposed to the pics which show a live application.
I'm interested so if you had that it'd be cool, cheers.

Hello mate,
fishyrob is out field testing at the moment, but if I can be of assistance here goes
The device is connected to your main line as would be a standard lead, the hook links should be connected also as if fishing a standard method. The only difference you must make is to the lenght of the hook link, the hook link must be sufficiently longer than the overall length of the rig body and long enough so that the hooks reach comfortably into the bottom of the device, for instance if you were fishing with a standard bomber style rig,the only difference would be the length of the hook link. The baited hook/hooks are then placed into the rear of the device and pushed gently home, the device is then ready to cast as far and as hard as you need. The benefits of the device are the fact that you can now fish live king rag for instance, hooked lightly to keep them alive and wriggling, rather than a mutilated mess as you have probably encountered when trying to cast them unprotected. The other plus is that you can also cast larger baits such as whole squid a greater distance, due to the fact that the device improves the aero dynamics of awkward baits.
You have got to get yourself some my friend, as they are really proving themselves here on the south and east coast of the UK,The potential advantages that they present I should imagine would be devastating in your part of the world.
I hope that that is useful to you friend, you got to let me know how you get on with them and what you catch?

Best of luck,

OCB.