Finding Pipis is fun and anyone who knows anything about fishing will tell you that you have got to feed the fish their local cuisine. Pipis.
So if you’re planning on doing some beach fishing for Dart, Tarwhine, Brim or Whitting you will need to catch some worms and or Pipis.
If you’re not sure how or need to sharpen your technique we have added a few hints to follow and a video to see how it’s done.
The Best Place to Find Pipis
The best time to hunt for Pipis is ideally at low tide. You will find them just above the water line.
They look like raised mounds under the sand about the size of a 50-cent piece. As you drive slowly along the beach you will see patches of these mounds.
The pipis are just below the surface so you will need to dig them up by hand. The kids love scouring for the pipis and filling their little buckets.
Remember that when you do find a patch and stop, park your vehicle away from on coming vehicles and vertically from the shore so you can be easily seen and other drivers recognise that you are parked.
Doin the Pipi Shuffle
Another way is to stand on the shore and do the Pipi shuffle. Face the sea and do the twist. Digging your feet into the sand.
You can feel them with your feet or you can see them as they run down the beach in the next wave.
Now that you have found some Pipis, you will need to preserve them.
Remember if you are only having a short stay please keep in mind that you only need a few handfuls
What Beach Can You Find a Pipi?
We have always found the best place to find a Pipi is along 75 Mile Beach Fraser Island.
There are absolutely heaps of Pipis in the north of the island where we are located. Especially north past Nkgala rocks.
How to Carry Around The Pipi?
What I always do to keep them fresh, I leave them dry in the back of the Ute when we travel around.
Then when we pull up somewhere to fish I just fill the bucket up with water water again so they can all have a breather and then they’ll last a few days like that.
Then I’ll let them all go and collect some more again. That way we’re not unnecessarily killing any
more than we need to.
How to Use Pipis for Bait
To do this you will need to remove the pipi from their shell.
The easiest way we have found to do this is to place the shells in ice-cold salted water.
They will become limp then using a blunt knife force the knife between the shells and twist the shells apart and open.
Next, you will need to remove the Pipi meat from the shell.
We like to place our Pipi bait in a 1lt Yoghurt container with a lid.
You will need to add Course Salt to them.
The amount will depend on how many you have caught and the size of your container.
Generally one handful of salt to 1/4 of a 1lt bucket of pipis.
By preserving your Pipis the meat will last for weeks and they will not go rotten or stink.
In the summertime, it is a good idea to place the sealed container in the fridge when you are not out fishing.
You may need to adjust the salt content if they become soft and watery.
If it does become juicy save the juice as it makes great berley.
Just tip the juice onto the sand close to where you are fishing just as a wave goes out.
The next incoming wave will wash over the sand and the juice will flow into your gutter.
The whiting will smell that scent and come from miles away.
The discarded pipi shells along with fish frames are great for burley also.
Just place them in a mesh or net burley bag.
We use a 40mm plastic pipe as a rod holder and hammer it deeply into the sand in the wash of the waves.
Attach the burley bag securely with a rope and the scent of that will wash through the water and along your fishing gutter.
Then like magic, the fish should jump onto your hook with the pipi bait and then…….
Happy Days and big smiles !!!
Related: More Fraser Island Fishing
Catching Pipis Gallery
