Hi, Generally i use pillies cut in half but anything should work. As far as getting them to stay on your hooks, go to your local tackle store and get your self some BAIT ELASTIC (i found gary's to be the best) it truley is magic stuff and is great for helping any soft/mushy bait to stay on your hooks when casting and also slows the 'pickers' from stealing your bait. If there are crabs or lice around or you want a bit of added attraction then add some floats to your traces they come in all sorts of fluro colours so take your pick. Goodluck