A Beginner's Guide to using Yabby Pumps

A guide to Yabby pumping for bait

The saltwater yabby, or nipper, appears to outperform many other baits on the Australian beaches in terms of availability and attractiveness to fish. They are a top bait in estuaries, but they can also be effective in freshwater. They can also be soaked in methylated spirits, frozen, and stored for months.

Bait pumps are the preferred method of collecting yabbies in Queensland and New South Wales, and while you can get by with just a bait pump and a bucket, a few more accessories can make your Yabby gathering more effective and optimise your fishing time.

A 30 inch bait pump is an excellent ergonomic pump that is capable of sucking up Yabbies when sitting up to 2 feet down. Replacement washers are also available and the Wilson Bait Pump Washers are inexpensive and will come in handy when the washers in your pump wear out. There's no need to purchase an entirely new pump!

A bait sieve is another useful piece of equipment. Pumped yabbies can be sprayed over the sieve, allowing the sand and mud to fall through and reveal the yabby, which can then be collected. Some even go so far as to add floating foam around the edges of the sieve, allowing them to pump yabbies through it.

Finding yabby rich regions is simple, and any mud or sand bank with visible yabby holes is an excellent location to start looking. Low tide also makes it simpler to find these areas, so attempt to time your bait collecting with a low tide.

There are various ways to keep your yabbies alive for more than a day, but aerated seawater using an aerator from Davos Tackle should keep them alive for a few days. Otherwise, non-aerated seawater should keep them alive for a few hours.

Make sure to follow local laws, as there are regions where bait pumping is not permitted, and take only what you need so there is plenty of bait for the next angler.