b'Find the tuatua beds andThe only time I need bait is when fish like trevally and snappersurfcasting and out on the west coast will also be present. of Northland where I spend most of my days casting off a beach, and I always gather my own bait.The west side does make it easy as there are so many options for sourcing fresh baits here due to the healthy fish stocks and less pressure it gets than the east side.SHELLFISHOn a big sandy beach like Ripiro on the west coast of Northland, there are a lot of different shellfish to be gathered and turned into bait.Tuatua, cockles and large surf clams are found here, and this is a key reason fish come into the beaches to feed.The best time to gather shellfish is on low tide when the sand banks are exposed, and you can wade out to find the tuatua just under the sand.Another time is to go looking for shellfish is on big moon phases like full or new moon, as the enormous amounts of water movement upset the shellfish beds and they often get trapped in potholes or guts and are even pushed up high onto the beach by their hundreds.It pays to be on the beach early as the gulls will be the first to find them and you will need to be on the B eing mostly a lurespot to get your share.A large collection of surf clams have angler when I headcome in on a big tide, shellfish are out in the boat, I tendoften washed up on a full moon.to fish 90% of the time using softbaits or jigs for my targeted species.Occasionally, we will catch live baits to target kingies and on the rare times I strayline, we usually have fresh bait that we have just caught on lures.Kahawai or mackerel turned into fresh baits are of course dynamite and really any fresh bait is always a better option than buying freezer kept bait.The cost of bait and berley astounded me recently when I had to grab tuna for a mate to take out on his boat from a shop, as I hadnt bought bait in a long time.Looking at the prices of squid, pilchards, and bonito it amazed me that you would probably be spending at least $50-70 for a good bait session these days and add this on top of the high price of fuel, fishing is getting expensive! /FISHINGINGODZONE27'