The best bait for Victorian fishing is usually the bait you collect locally.
Beach worms can be collected from many surf beaches by using a bait attractor and a finger bait. Watch the video below. These worms are great for mulloway but pickers love them too.
Pipis or cockles can be found on surf beaches by digging in the sand with your hands or feet in the tidal zone. These are a good all-round bait.
Brown shell can be collected using a bait pump on flats in river estuaries. Bream love them. They are often found in smelly mud just below the surface. Use them on the hook with the shell.
Sandworms can be collected all year on flats in river estuaries, except after big floods. A bait pump and sieve is used. Collect them up to 1m deep in water. All fish take these.
Spew worms can be collected using a bait pump at low tide in river estuaries. Spew worms are bigger and more durable than sandworms and this helps resist pickers. Large spew worms work for big bream and mulloway.
Shrimp be collected day or night using a dip net. Try around pylons and weedbeds, or use a shrimp trap with cheese, fish or soap as bait.
Black crabs are great for bream when used whole or cut in half. Collect them from under rocks at low tide along rocky edges of river channels or flats edges.
Bass yabbies or nippers can be collected using a bait pump in some areas and are a prime bait.
Black crickets are about from January and March and make a great bait for estuary perch. Collect them by hand or with a net under street lights or beneath cow pats in paddocks.
Fish such as mullet, galaxia minnows and whitebait can be collected for bait using a recreational bait net. yelloweye mullet can be caught on rod and line and cut mullet flesh makes a great bait for mulloway, estuary perch and bream.
Catch limits, gear regulations and closed areas apply to bait collection.
Check the current Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide.
Packets baits can work well at times – try peeled prawns for bream, pilchards and bluebait for salmon, flathead and trevally, and small pieces of mince meat or cockle for yelloweye mullet.
Squid is a tough bait that works well when pickers are around, and live squid is probably unbeatable for kingfish and mulloway.
Here is a list of recommended tackle for Victorian waters.
Back to the NSW/ACT Fishing Map
Back to the NT Fishing Map
Back to the Queensland Fishing Map
Back to the SA Fishing Map
Back to the Tasmanian Fishing Map
Back to the Victorian Fishing Map
Back to the WA Fishing Map
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