red-bait, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Translation of Afrikaans rooi aas, rooi red + aas bait, carrion.
The large sea-squirt Pyura stolonifera, an ascidian used as bait by anglers; rooi-aas. Also attributive.
1895 Agric. Jrnl (Dept of Agric. Cape Col.) 912The bait most used is crayfish, and ‘rooiaas’ (red bait) a species of Zoophyte.
1905 J.D.F. Gilchrist in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 192One of the features of the rocky parts of the coast line from Cape Point eastwards is the clusters of ‘rooias’ or ‘red-bait’.
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 217The name ‘red-bait’ is the English interpretation of the Dutch ‘rooi aas’.
1938 J.S. Dunn Sea Angling 318If the south west wind is lashing the sea with foam, on goes a piece of red-bait to a 3/O hook tied on gut, and a cast is made in the surf.
1955 C. Horne Fisherman’s Eldorado 13Red bait, often the older the better, and white mussels were for long regarded as standard galjoen baits.
1958 L.G. Green S. Afr. Beachcomber 119Now that I have converted you to dogfish, how about some redbait? This humble sea-squirt is not good company when old...Fresh red bait, however, can be used as an ingredient in fish soup.
1975 E. Prov. Herald 30 Jan. 13Muscle-crackers [sic] and red bait were found in tidal pools and in some places the rocks were stripped right to the low water line of red bait and other sea life.
1979 Signature Dec. 17Cliffs and perpendicular rocks make it difficult for the red bait cutters to get down to the rocks at low tide without crossing his land...What we really need are huge red bait ‘colonies’ where nothing but a hungry fish can snatch it from its base.
1982 Kilburn & Rippey Sea Shells 7The large tunicate or ascidian Pyura — known to fishermen as ‘red bait’ or nsenene.
1988 Izaak in E. Prov. Herald 5 Mar. 8Some anglers prefer slightly off redbait, particularly for galjoen.
1992 Weekend Post 1 Aug. 11Shellfish life was abundant, redbait squirted on virtually every rock at spring low tides...Redbait disappeared first.
The large sea-squirt Pyura stolonifera, an ascidian used as bait by anglers; rooi-aas. Also attributive.
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