Thank you, Neville. I am somewhat intrigued by the way the Europeans just use a small sliver of squid to top off what the main bait is. I am wondering if this squid tippet is actually taken for its food value, or is it the shiny white of the meat acting as an attractor similar to why many people here use beads as attractors?

Forty years ago I was quite successful in the European surfcasting scene. In the south of England the mainstay of beach caught fish was the humble flounder, these would always figure highly in tournament catches. I would never fish without having some beads of my trace, no different to now, but then by far the most popular beads were imitation pearls.

Again I am tempted to believe it was the flashiness of the pearl that attracted flounder to the bait, which was generally beach worms. Pearls also worked well on other fish such as bass, pouting and silver (channel) whiting.

Thanks for your reply, I will certainly give your suggestion a try on the torpedo when surfcasting slows. At present in Hawke's Bay, and Napier in particular, the action on rods is extremely good.