Fishing with Soft Plastics
In the last ten years or so in Australia there has been a major movement in fishing circles. Soft plastic lures have made an impact on the fishing scene that has been unprecedented. Yet a lot of people are still confused and frustrated when it comes down to this style of fishing. If you walk into any tackle store and look at the range of lures and jig heads available it’s no wonder a lot of people just stick to the old tried and true method of bait fishing. But once you start to catch fish on these lures it can become addictive and you can spend all your spare money on plastic lures. In this article we will start with the basics of catching fish on SP’s.
1. TARGET SPECIFIC FISH
It is important when fishing with soft plastic lures that you target a specific fish. The reason for this is that unlike bait fishing, you are not just placing a bait and waiting for fish to come along, your actively hunting out fish, throwing a lure at it or where its likely to be and moving it past the fish to try and entice it to strike. Whether you’re fishing for flathead, barramundi, bream or snapper, if you are targeting actual fish you will increase you catch rate with soft plastic lures.
2 MATCH THE HATCH.
It is just as important when selecting your soft plastic lures, that you select specific lures that are similar to the food that your intended target is after, if the fish are feeding on small bait fish, have a lure that is similar in size and colour to the bait fish.
3. LURE MOVEMENT.
What you’re intending to do when fishing with SP’s is to imitate a wounded baitfish, as this is what most fish will target when actually feeding. They are out there waiting for an easy feed to come past, and will be tempted to strike your plastic.
So when you cast out your lure, you let it sink to the intended depth and give it a few quick lifts or flicks with your rod. Then let the lure sink back down, pause for a few seconds and repeat the process again. You will often find that the fish will strike the lure on the pause as it is sinking back down. You can experiment with different retrieves until you get it right and you find the retrieve that is working for the fish that you are targeting. It’s a good idea to place that lure in some shallow water where you can see it and flick it around so you can see the action of the lure and see what you think looks best weather it’s one flick and a pause or two flicks and a pause or a slow lift and drop, it’s all about experimentation.
4. JIGHEAD WEIGHT
When you go to purchase your lures you will find that there are literally thousands of soft plastics to choose from some are pre rigged with a hook and a weight hidden inside the lure but most are sold separately. So which do you choose??? Well after you have chosen your lure think about how you want to present it to the fish. If the fish your are targeting live in deep water near the bottom you are going to have to choose a heavier jig head, if shallow water a light jig head. Hook size is also important here as you don’t want them to be too small or too big. Measure the hook against the soft plastic and it should come about halfway down the length of the lure. It’s very important when rigging your lures up that you get the hook straight so the lure looks natural when fishing.
The mistake people make when first trying with SP’s is that they give up very quickly. They might try them for half an hour and after not catching anything will give up and go back to bait fishing. The reason is that with SP’s you won’t tend to catch smaller fish as much, but if you persevere you will find that your catch rates will increase dramatically. Catching your first fish on soft plastics can be a frustrating experience, but after you land your first, you will get hooked on this style of fishing.
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