Best STRIP BAIT Trace // Tackle Talk & Tips

A toothy snoek opens the show, then Faf takes you off the water and onto the tying table for the trace that puts those fish in the hatch. This is the Salt Rockers strip-bait setup, broken down the way Faf actually fishes it: a short length of AFW Tooth Proof single-strand wire, a Japan Power Swivel, an SSH Baitholder 5/0, and a pink-and-pearl skirt sliding down to dress the hook. The trick is in the haywire twist at the hook end. Leave a small tag pointing straight up, because that tag is the anchor that pins your fillet in place. From there it's all about the bait. A fresh Red Eye sardine, a sharp knife, one clean fillet down the bone, then trim the edges into a slim V so the strip swims instead of spinning. Hook through the middle, drop the tag end through the tip, and a couple of light wraps of bait cotton lock it down. Faf keeps the dusters pre-made and bagged so a colour change on the water is a thirty-second job: cut, retie, fish. It is one of those traces that earns its place at a very specific time of year, when the snoek want a bigger meal than a bare jig and a wire bite-leader is the only thing keeping you connected. 📍 KZN, South Africa Chapters: 0:00 Snoek on the deck: why this trace matters 0:14 Tackle talk intro and what you'll need 0:22 AFW wire, swivels, hooks and skirt 0:56 Tools: split-ring pliers and haywire twist 1:10 Building the trace: hook-end haywire twist 1:50 Leaving the upward tag for the fillet anchor 3:00 Trimming the tag to a centimetre 3:20 Attaching the swivel with a second haywire 4:40 Finished trace: hook, wire, swivel 5:35 Threading the skirt onto the leader 6:05 Why a pre-made bag of dusters saves time 6:35 Red Eye sardine: filleting the strip bait 7:40 Trimming the fillet into a swimming V 8:20 Hooking through the middle, pinning the tag 9:00 Cotton tie-down to secure the strip 9:35 Sliding the skirt down and final rig 9:55 When to fish strip bait and sign-off Connect with us here: Website: https://www.saltrockers.co.za/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltrockers... TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saltrockers?_...