I have been holding an interesting 'off the board' message exchange about bait. Now we are into the last period of autumn, soon to be followed by colder winter months, what would be your favoured choice?

I mentioned a few months ago the bait being offered by local tackle shops was plainly disgraceful, with most on offer displaying more freezer burn that a penguin's chuff. This encouraged me to turn to a very popular bait of fifty years ago, fresh trevally, and this brought immediate success.

During the summer months the quality of anchovies took a dramatic turn for the better, and they became the catalyst of my catch rate. For many months the quality of bonito has been bloody awful, a once beautifully silver flanked fish, now turned brown with age coupled with poor storage.

Anyway, back to my question, as we now enter the colder months, what will you be carrying with confidence of keeping up your catch rate? And how will crab bait fit into the greater scheme of things?